Perhaps, but enhanced defensive capabilities like MAWS. A Good T-Pod is something the Soviets will never have (soon) , so they;ll likely be strong in other areas of CAS. like the incredibly tanky nature of the Su-39. Or volume of AGMs like the amount of Vikhrs that can be carried.
(main reason i think people fear Brimstones in the near future is not entirely their performance, but rather the volume that can be carried in addition to something like a Gen 3 Tpod)
So they’ll find some way to make the Su-24 strong.
One of the unfortunate things about the Soviet tech tree, everything is nearly the same when it comes to the early variants, the one thing that would make the Su-24s unique early on is the swiveling gunpods.
Yeah, one of the reasons I hold out hope for multirole fighters like the Su-30 and Mig-35, since they both actually have modern capabilities for ground strike.
BVR does not equal high BR. Per the devs, efficiency in combat (both air and ground modes are factored but the exact metrics are unknown) is what determines BR. The last time the devs spoke about the Su-39, they said it was performing as expected, probably due to the overwhelming air to ground loadout.
So on the Su-25SM3, here’s what we know about it’s capabilities:
360° MAW system
More countermeasures
2nd Gen thermals on a front facing nose mounted optic
No IRCM system most likely
No Vihkers
The only way I see this vehicle being worth it, is if it’s given advanced Kh-25MTP missiles
As far as I know, nope.
It cannot carry Kopyo/Kopye radar pod or LLLTV pod ( since thermals in nose).
It does however have a much better target acquisition range which could potentially make it semi decent for slinging Kh-25s.
I suppose we’ll see what they do with it, even tho I’d much prefer a tech tree TM model
Yep, whilst it would have some advantages over the Su-25T with a thermal t-pod, it doesnt make much sense to add another Su-25 at the 11.3 region. So might have made sense as an a AV-8B+ Sub-sonic ARH thrower at 12.3. But if it cant do that, then I wonder what or how they’ll do it. Though the defensive systems on it make me think it would be at least 11.7+
Most likely they drawed just some random missile, because in text it’s written that L-150-16M can be used for seekers:
D7USh (Kh-58USh), 77PM (should be some Kh-31 version (Kh-31PM?) and 470P (R-27P) and no mention of R-77.
Sure, maybe, as soon as you figure out a way to strap a radar onto this plane. Keep in mind the SM3 has nothing to do with the Su-25T/39 upgrades, and is kinda it own branch based off the normal Su-25.
I don’t even know if it has the ability to mount R-73/74’s.
