ADEX 2024 – Upgraded Su-25 Laçin attack aircraft presented for the first time in the Caspian region
Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) demonstrated its upgraded Su-25 “Frogfoot” attack aircraft called LAÇIN for the Azerbaijani Air Force at the ADEX-2024 exhibition in Azerbaijan
The agreement on the upgrade of these aircraft was signed in the summer of 2023 at the IDEF-2023 exhibition in Istanbul, as TAI reported on its website.
As EDR On-Line was told in Baku, the Su-25 allocated for upgrade was delivered to Turkey and, after completion of the upgrade to the Laçin standard, was transferred to the Azerbaijani Air Force in May this year. As part of the upgrade, Turkish companies integrated some high-precision missiles and bombs of Turkish design into the weapons control system of the Azerbaijani aircraft.
In particular, the upgraded Su-25 Laçin was presented at the ADEX-2024 static display together with the SOM cruise missile from Roketsan and the OFAB-250-LG guided aerial bomb with a laser guidance system from Aselsan. The upgrade of the Azerbaijani Su-25 attack aircraft was divided in two stages. As part of the first stage, Merhale-1, the aircraft received the UBAS fire control system for the integration of weapons such as the MK83 1,000 lb and MK82 500 lb guided bombs equipped with the KGK guidance kit. Aerial bombs with the KGK kit can hit ground targets with high accuracy at ranges of up to 100 km in any weather conditions without the carrier aircraft entering the enemy’s air defense zone.
KGK has a maximum range of 60 nm when released from high altitudes and 20 nm when released from low altitudes. The KGK wing kit developed by Tübitak Sage, the Defense Industries Research and Development Institute of Turkey, has already been integrated on Turkey’s F-16 and F-4 Phantom fleets.
The second stage of Merhale-2 involves a complete redesign of the aircraft’s avionics and the integration of weapons such as GPS-guided HGK bombs, as well as SOM cruise missiles.
Deliveries of SOM cruise missiles to Azerbaijan should begin in the near future, and these weapons will be installed on Akinci heavy drones, as well as Su-25 attack aircraft.
According to the Military Balance reference book, as of 2024, the Azerbaijani Air Force had 14 MiG-29 fighters (including three MiG-29UB versions) and 38 Su-25 attack aircraft (including five Su-25UBs). As it became known at ADEX-2024, Azerbaijan began to receive Chinese-Pakistani JF-17C fighters, which will replace the MiG-29.
Photo by N. Novichkov
