It’s frustrating to see that, despite multiple well-sourced reports and community input, key Russian aircraft are still missing their historical targeting pod capabilities, which significantly impacts their usability in ground attack roles.
- Su-27SM: Still lacks the Sapsan-E targeting pod. Report
- MiG-29SMT: Also missing support for the Sapsan-E or other compatible EO pods. Report
- Su-25T/TM: Still missing the KHOD targeting pod, which provided thermal and TV capabilities necessary for modern precision strike. Report
Meanwhile, comparable aircraft from other nations have fully functional thermal or optical targeting systems — F-16s, Tornado GR.1/GR.4, Harriers, Jaguars, etc. On top of that, every new top-tier aircraft added to the game — even those at lower BRs — always comes with thermal targeting capability, while most high-tier USSR jets are still left without it.
Only the Su-30SM and Su-25SM3 have built-in thermal imaging, and Su-34 can only display a thermal image via Kh-38MT missiles — which is hardly a proper substitute for a real targeting pod.
This leaves Russian CAS aircraft at a notable disadvantage, especially in high-tier combined battles where spotting and engaging targets from a safe distance is critical.
These are not performance upgrades — they are missing historical features that were explicitly designed into the airframes. There’s no justification for their continued absence while other nations receive full sensor suites. At this point, it feels more like neglect than balancing.
Gaijin, please give these aircraft the targeting tools they were built for.