Su-24

The Sukhoi Su-24 (NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weathertactical bomber developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It was the first of the USSR's aircraft to carry an integrated digital navigation/attack system. The Su-24 started development in the early 1960s and first flew in 1967. It entered service in 1974 and production ceased in 1993. It remains in service with the Russian Aerospace Forces, Iranian Air Force, Ukrainian Air Force, Algerian Air Force and various other air forces to which it was exported. DevelopmentBackgroundOne of the conditions for accepting the Sukhoi Su-7B into service in 1961 was the requirement for Sukhoi to develop an all-weather variant capable of precision air strikes. Preliminary investigations with S-28 and S-32 aircraft revealed that the basic Su-7 design was too small to contain all the avionics required for the mission. OKB-794 (later known as Leninets) was tasked with developing an advanced nav/attack system, codenamed Puma, which would be at the core of the new aircraft. That same year, the United States' proposal for its new a