Aerofax: Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot: The Soviet Union's Tank-Buster

When the USA launched a new battlefield attack aircraft program which eventually led to the development of the A-10 Thunderbolt II, the Soviet Union saw the need to create an equivalent. The Soviet aircraft industry had considerable experience in attack aircraft design to fall back on, dating back to the most famous of these types, the Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik of the World War II era. When a contest was called to produce a latter-day Shturmovik, the Sukhoi Design Bureau emerged as the winner with its T-8 project, beating competition from the Ilyushin and Myasiishchev bureaus. After a series of design changes the aircraft entered production and service as the Su-25. The book describes the Su-25's development history and its extensive combat career, starting with Operation Romb, when the then-experimental Su-25 received its baptism of fire in the Afghan War, to the conflicts in former Yugoslavia and the drug-busting operations in Peru. The type's Afghan War involvement receives extensive coverage, as does the Su-25's use in the Chechen Wars. A detailed list is given of the type's many operators, which even included a NATO country (Slovakia). In addition to the main versions up to and including the Su-25TM (Su-39) 'tank killer'. Due attention is paid to the latest programs to upgrade the Su-25 with modern requirements both in Russia and elsewhere. The book includes color artwork and detailed scale drawings in the usual Aerofax style.