Full-rate production of the Russian Air Force’s new Su-34 fighter-bomber is underway at the Sukhoi production facility in Siberia, a company spokesman said this week, reports the Russian News & Information Agency. The facility will be able to crank out 20 aircraft simultaneously. The two-seat Su-34 Fullback is slated to replace the Su-24 Fencer, which Sukhoi has been upgrading to extend the service life. RIA reports that Russia plans to field 58 Fullbacks by 2015.
Fresh off the first combat deployment of its new EA-37B, the Air Force is nearly doubling the planned number of new electronic attack jets and projecting more than $3 billion in spending on the program in the next five years.