Ever since I was a kid I have always been interested in airplanes. When I was a kid I have made a lot of plastic models of World War I & II airplanes. (Maybe I should have gone into aerospace engineering.) I am particularly interested in Russian combat planes and helicopters. Among Russian combat planes, my favorite is Sukhoi series. There is one man behind the design of Sukhoi series that includes SU-27, SU-30, SU33, SU34, SU-35, SU-37, SU-47, and SU-57. His name is Mikhail Aslanovich Pogosyan. This man is a genius! He is currently the director of the Moscow Aviation Institute.
If you watched the latest Top Gun movie, Top Gun: Maverick, you would have seen an appearance of supposedly Russian fighter jets with unbelievable maneuverability. I believe they are depicting SU-57. Among Sukhoi series, I am particularly fascinated with the fighter-(tactical) bomber SU-34. Its official nickname is the waltzing bomber, but some people called them ducks. The reason is that if you look at the airplane from the front, it looks like a duck. SU-34 is a unique airplane in many respects. First impressive aspect is its maximum payload. It can carry payload (bombs and missiles) as heavy as the airplane itself weighs (22,500kg or 49,604lb). Second, it is the only aircraft in the world in its class which is capable of carrying not only monstrous bombs like FAB-500 – FAB-3000, but also hypersonic misslies and strategic cruise missiles (8,000km). So if needed, it can be also used as a (mini) strategic bomber. Another unique aspect is that this airplane has its own internal battery for ignition, so it does not require mobile external batteries like other airplanes do. (You might have seen those mobile batteries near airport terminals.) This is also the only airplane in its class that a pilot can stand up inside cockpit and stretch his legs.
According to Andrei Martyanov, there has never been anything like SU-34 in the history of aviation. Take a look at the beauty:
This one shows SU-34 dropping a monstrous FAB-3000:
You can learn a lot more about SU-34 from “Episode 38. SU-34 The chronicle of the waltzing bomber”
by my favorite YouTube channel COMBAT APPROVED. It is a Russia military documentary series and the YouTube one is English dubbed. The original Russian one is available on RUTUBE as the channel called Военная приемка (translation: Military inspection). (No English closed caption.) The original Russian episode is СУ 34 Хроники вальсирующего бомбардировщика Военная приемка (translation: SU-34 Chronicles of the waltzing bomber Military inspection):
Here is another episode about SU-34, Военная приемка. СУ-34. Работа в зоне СВО (translation: Military inspection. SU-34. Work in SVO zone. SVO means in English SMO=Special Military Operation. It is the initials of Специальная Военная Операция in Russian.):
Update: If the embeds of videos on RUTUBE give the error message: “Данное видео временно недоступно. Приносим Вам свои извинения.” (translation: This video is temporarily unavailable. We apologize.), use the linked titles instead to watch them.
