SIPRI's report said that recently, Ukraine has upgraded and added sea-attack functions to the Su-22 attack aircraft series of the Vietnam Air Force.
 |
| According to this source, to carry and fire anti-ship missiles in sea battles, the Su-22 must have radar. Currently, in the upgrade packages, only the Su-22M5 variant is equipped with the PhaThom multi-function radar (replacing the Klen-54 system) capable of guiding anti-ship missiles. Photo: PK-KQ. |
 |
| In addition, Sukhoi also proposed another solution which is to use the Komar-17 external radar, similar to the Kopyo-25 radar installed on the Su-25TM. These are two options to help the Su-22 independently carry anti-ship missiles, but they must be implemented by Sukhoi. Besides the above two projects, there is currently no other upgrade package that provides guidance radar for the Su-22. Photo: PK-KQ. |
 |
| Therefore, it can be affirmed that Vietnam's Su-22, modernized by Ukraine, is not yet equipped with radar. If it wants to fire anti-ship missiles, the target must be directed from another source such as the Su-30MK2 aircraft or a radar station on land. Photo: PK-KQ. |
 |
| In this case, the Su-22 would require the ability to connect information and a system to transmit target data between aircraft or ground command posts. This is a very complicated requirement, especially for an old attack aircraft like the Su-22. |
 |
| So when it cannot carry anti-ship missiles, what means will the Su-22 use to attack enemy ships to achieve the highest efficiency? The answer lies in the Kh-31P anti-radar missile, which is the most suitable weapon to equip the Su-22 for sea combat missions at the present time. |
 |
| Although not a dedicated anti-ship missile, if the Kh-31P can destroy the radar system, the enemy warship will be no different from a floating target, easily destroyed by unguided bombers. The Kh-31P missile does not require the Su-22 to guide it through radar but through specialized standardized control equipment. |
 |
| This device has the task of collecting electromagnetic data from enemy radar and then transferring it to the aircraft computer for processing, then receiving the processed data and then issuing commands to the inertial trajectory computer and selecting the bullet's seeker mode. |
 |
| The Vietnam Air Force's Su-22s were equipped with older generation anti-radar missiles, the Kh-25MP, and the Vjuga-17 launcher. |
 |
| However, because the Vjuga-17 was born long before the Kh-31P entered service, to coordinate well with this type of ammunition it will need to be modified a bit, along with installing new mounts and software compatible with Kh-31P ammunition for the Su-22. |
 |
| The above operations are not too complicated and are much cheaper than the option of installing a guidance radar or adding a communication and data transmission system as mentioned above. Therefore, SIPRI believes that this is likely the content of Vietnam's Su-22 upgrade package, so that this fighter can take on the function of sea combat. |
According to Baodatviet
