NOURNEWS- The Sukhoi-22 fighters, also known as the Fighters, have been used by the IRGC Air Force for several years with significant improvements in the field of air weapons, and today have become one of the IRGC's practical and, of course, strategic weapons.
The Sukhoi Su-22, also known as the Fitter-F, is a variable-wing strike bomber capable of flying "supersonic", which is the export version of the Sukhoi-17 strike bomber. He served in the Soviet Air Force for the first time.
The fighter, which made its maiden flight in 1966, is powered by an AL-21F (and in some cases R-29) propulsion with a thrust of 17,000 pounds in normal mode and 24,500 pounds in reverse mode, which gives it the ability to Achieving a flight ceiling of 46,500 feet (14 km), a cruising speed of 1860 km / h at high altitude and 1400 km / h at sea level and a top speed of Mach 2 (twice the speed of sound).
The fighter has a range of 2,700 to 1,000 kilometers with two external fuel tanks and conventional weapons, and 2,300 kilometers without a weapon. The fighter can also carry up to 8,000 pounds (3,600 kg) of weapons.
Weapons that the fighter is capable of carrying include R-60 air-to-air missiles, Kh-25 and Kh-29 laser-guided and surface-to-air missiles, and Kh-58 anti-radar, FAB family free-range bombs. Cited.
The story of Sukhoi-22's service in the first Gulf War and the invasion of Iraq by coalition forces goes back to the days when dozens of Iraqi planes, including the Sukhoi-22, fled to Iran to escape the damage of US and coalition attacks on Iraqi bases. . After taking refuge in Iran, the Fitters were out of action for many years and out of flight; Of course, efforts were made in the early years to operate these fighters, which were successful in the early stages, but were dropped again for unknown reasons.
The Syrian Air Force's successful use of Sukhoi-22 fighter jets to counter and destroy the positions of Takfiri and ISIS terrorists indicated that these fighters would be effective if they became operational, which is why the IRGC Air Force came to the fore this time.
The first official presence of Sukhoi-22 and the announcement of the operation of these fighters was the parade of the Armed Forces on September 22, 2016 in the city of Bandar Abbas, in which 3 overhauled fitter planes passed in front of the station. The next step was in August 2016, when with the overhaul and upgrading and operation of 10 Sukhoi-22 fighters that had been left in the hangars for years, these fighters entered the operational and, of course, combat phase again.
Over the years, a variety of weapons have been installed on the IRGC's Sukhoi-22 fighters, including JDAM guidance bombs, Simorgh's 750-pound cluster bomb, Bina surface-to-air missile, Yassin bombs, and Yassin bombs. ... Cited.
But recently, on the anniversary of the visit of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces to the exhibition of the achievements of the IRGC Air Force in 2014, 3 clips of this visit were published, which contained new images of some of the new achievements of this force. In part of this clip, pictures of the firing of an air-to-air missile from the Sukhoi-22 fighters of the IRGC Air Force were published, which is in fact an example of the Fajr-4 guided missile.
The use of ballistic missiles as an airplane launcher is an idea that dates back to the late 1950s and the Bold Orion missile. At that time, after several successful and unsuccessful tests, the project was abandoned due to poor system guidance and low accuracy. But with the advancement of satellite-based guidance technologies in recent years; The issue of the use of air-to-air ballistic missiles has again been on the agenda of the military, including the Russian Kinzhal missile, which is based on Alexander's ground-to-ground ballistic missile, and the Israeli regime's EXTRA missile, which is part of the F-16 fighter jet project. The firing regime can be pointed out.
Why go for ballistic missiles?
Throwing ballistic missiles from flying platforms can create good capabilities for these missiles to work. Increasing the missile's launch height, as well as the high speed of the fighter during launch, saves significant energy in the missile, which releases the missile to release free energy and ultimately affects components such as range and weapon speed.
For example, Russia's Kinzhal missile, which is based on the Alexander missile, will have a range of 2,000 kilometers if it fires a MiG-31 fighter and 3,000 kilometers if it fires a Tu-22M3 bomber, while the missile has a maximum range. Alexander is 500 km, which means a 5 to 6-fold increase in the range of the missile in the air version.
In addition to the win; Increasing projectile speed is another advantage of ballistic missiles firing from air launchers. Due to the speed of the aircraft during the flight, more kinetic energy is stored inside the missile after launching the missile, which will release this energy after hitting the target, and as a result, the warhead will be more effective.
Now the IRGC Air Force is on a rare initiative; One of the country's artillery missiles has been installed as an air ballistic projectile on its Sukhoi-22 fighters; Fajr-4 rocket is a family member of the well-known name of Fajr rockets, which has a caliber of 3 mm and in the non-guided model and two guided models. The guided version of the Fajr-4 rocket has guided bullets in the middle of the fuselage and the rear wings are similar to the rear wings of the Fateh family's missiles.
The rocket is about 5 meters long, and in previous years another version of its guided model, the F4CL, was unveiled in the form of a combined guide, with an optical sequer in its original form.
Not much information is available about the range, the weight of the warhead, etc. The Fajr-4 rocket is not available; But by examining the range of other members of the Fajr rocket family of Fajr 4 rockets, it is possible to estimate a range of at least 100 km for this model. On the other hand, launching such a rocket from an air launch platform such as a fighter, due to the same component of speed and initial energy that was mentioned earlier, can be taken and considered faster than the basic ground examples for this missile.
The clip also shows that, along with the Fajr-4 missile, a free-fall FAB-250 bomb is being dropped, which is actually used to measure the speed of altitude reduction to test the missile's flight parameters.
Among the main applications that can be considered for the new achievement of the IRGC missile; Suppressing the enemy's air defenses and launching Duraista air-to-air missiles with high reliability from hitting the target, as well as the effectiveness and greater explosive power of warfare.
It is necessary to mention that in the past years, our country has made significant achievements in various guidance systems, including optical and infrared search engines such as the Persian Gulf missile and Fateh Mobin, radar such as the Hormoz missile, etc. If the Fajr-4 missile is developed, the combination of the Sukhoi-22 and this missile can be used as a tool to carry out air defense, anti-ship and anti-ship operations.
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