"This year the [Novosibirsk] aircraft factory must deliver 16 Su-34 frontline bombers," Mikhailov said, adding the factory is ready to exceed the production target. "Three aircraft will be delivered soon," said the director of the Moscow-based United Aircraft Corporation's Military Aviation Programs Directorate.
Mikhailov described the aircraft as solid, sound and able to cover long distances with refueling. "In other words, it meets all the requirements for the frontline bomber," he said.
The Su-34, based on the Su-27 fighter, is fitted with twin AL-31MF afterburner turbojet engines and can carry a payload of up to eight tons of precision-guided weapons over 2,500 miles. The aircraft will eventually replace all the Su-24 strike aircraft in service with the Russian Air Force and Navy.
