MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - The customer of the SU-25TM attack plane will not issue its preliminary report on the results of the aircraft's ongoing flight tests before November or December 2002, chief constructor of the Sukhoi design bureau Vladimir Babak said on Friday.
Shortage of funds will provide for extending the terms of the planes' construction at the Ulan-Ude plant and pushing back the deadline for joint state tests to 2004, Babak told Interfax- Military News Agency.
SU-25TM planes have made more than 120 of the 600 flights envisaged by the joint state test program. About 200 flights must be made to obtain preliminary authorization of the aircraft's mass production.
The first modernized SU-25TM attack plane was produced by the Ulan-Ude plant in 1995 and the second two years later, Babak recalled.
Mass production of the plane is underway in accordance with a decision to manufacture six aircraft in Ulan-Ude that was made in 1998. Two attack planes are ready. Submission of one of them for state tests is under consideration.
"The SU-25TM is the modernization variant of the SU-25 Frogfoot attack plane that is included in the Russian State Armament Program for the period of up to 2010," the chief constructor said.
Russia is negotiating supplies of newly-produced SU-39 planes (export-oriented variant of the SU-25TM) to several countries, Babak said. He declined to name the other party to the negotiations saying it was commercial secret. According to him, export of SU-39 planes will not begin before 2004 or 2005. The aircraft's market price will amount to USD15m-19m.
The SU-25MT armored attack aircraft is fitted with two P-195 turbo-jet engines, their thrust mounting up to 4,500kg each. The engine's service life is 3,000 hours. The maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 20.5t, maximum combat load is 5t, and maximum armor weight is over 700kg.
The aircraft carrying two bombs weighing 500kg each and two R-60 missiles can hit a maximum speed of 950kmph. Its operation range is 510km with a combat load of 1,360kg on an altitude of 8,000m, 630km with a combat load of 2,360kg and two suspended fuel tanks on an altitude of 8,000m, and 900km with two Kh-35U missiles, two R-77 missiles and four PTB-800 suspended fuel tanks anti-tank bombs on an altitude of 900km. The range with all tanks filled, including suspended ones, amounts to 2,500km. The airframe's service life is 4,500 hours.