Inside the factory that manufactures Russia's Su-34 fighter-bombers.
The Novosibirsk aircraft manufacturing plant is the only place that produces Su-34 fighter-bombers for the Russian military and foreign customers.
 |
| The Novosibirsk Aircraft Factory (NAPO) is one of Russia's largest aircraft manufacturing facilities, belonging to the Sukhoi corporation, according to Livejournal. |
 |
| This is the only location with a production line for the Su-34 (NATO designation: Fullback) heavy fighter-bomber. |
 |
| Each area within the workshop will be responsible for a specific part of the fighter jet, such as the outer shell, electrical and electronic systems, hydraulics, and weapons. |
 |
| The curved shape and large size of the Su-34 require technicians to use rather unusual postures during the assembly process. |
 |
| The Su-34's close-range weapon is the GSh-30-1 30 mm cannon, which is factory-installed. The aircraft's fuselage near the cannon barrel is not painted; instead, it is reinforced with titanium to prevent the paint from igniting from the muzzle flash when the pilot fires. |
 |
| Each Su-34 fighter-bomber has up to 57,000 different parts, all of which must be carefully assembled to meet Sukhoi's most stringent standards. |
 |
| After assembly, the aircraft's fuselage will undergo a thorough inspection to check for leaks. Then, the Su-34 will proceed to the final assembly area. |
 |
| The assembly process for the Su-34 takes about two months. Each year, the NAPO factory can deliver approximately 18 aircraft to customers. |
 |
| After assembly is complete, the aircraft will be painted in the color requested by the customer, ready for flight testing. The identification number will be painted on after the customer accepts the product acceptance results. |
 |
| The Russian Air Force is currently the only force operating this advanced fighter-bomber, with approximately 103 aircraft distributed across six different air bases in Russia and Syria. |
 |
| Algeria is planning to order 12 Su-34s and may increase the order to 40. Dubbed the "flying tank" with an 8-ton payload of bombs and missiles, the Su-34 is a modern ground attack aircraft designed to replace the Su-24 bomber. In addition to ground attack missions, the Su-34 also has good air combat capabilities with its short- and long-range missiles. |
According to VNE
