During the Spotters’ Day of Anatolian Eagle 2023 exercise, a Su-25 attack aircraft of Azerbaijani Air Force hit the target with a bomb fitted with Turkish KGK winged guidance kit. Aviation photographer Cem Doğut captured the moments of Su-25 carrying the smart munitions underwing. Integration of KGK would give Azerbaijani Su-25 attack aircraft a long range engagement capability, something other Su-25s lack.
Su-25, developed in Cold War era, is still used in many ex-Soviet states and African countries. With its tanky armor and generous capacity for armament such as bombs, missiles and gunpods; Su-25 keeps its revelance much like the American A-10 Warthog with the help of modernizations. Speaking of which, it wouldn’t be hard to observe Azerbaijan’s joint modernization efforts with Turkiye.
It is known that TÜBİTAK SAGE and ASELSAN are highly involved in firepower upgrades of Su-25, first exemplified by the appearance of QFAB-250-LG. QFAB-250-LG is essentially the ASELSAN’s Paveway counterpart LGK (Laser Guidance Kit) adapted for use on FAB-250 bombs which has a different form compared to NATO standard Mk82 general purpose bombs.
Aside from QFAB-250-LG and KGK there are intentions, if not plans, to use TOLUN family of small diameter bombs on Su-25 via SADAK-4T and SADAK-2T smart multi-racks. With carrying capacity of Su-25 considered, up to 20-24 TOLUNs can be carried in a single sortie, making a durable and budget friendly bomber. As reported bt The Drive, the idea of carrying a large number of small diameter bombs has recently been tested with A-10 carrying 16 GBU-39 SDBs.
