Though often touted as a copy of the Northrop YA-9A, the Su-25 was very much a home grown design that was produced to meet the needs for a dedicated ground attack aircraft. As the Soviets tend to be rather conservative in many of their designs, what came off the boards was a rather mundane looking twin engine jet with the engines close to the fuselage as well as long wings with many hard points and a large tailplane.

Much of this design was to ensure survivability of the plane and pilot with the cockpit being basically an armored tub. The large flight surfaces meant that bits could be blown away and the plane still fly. Same with the engines so close to the fuselage. The loss of one power plant would not adversely affect the handling of the aircraft.

As with all new designs, there were bugs to work out, especially one concerning the controls. They were not powered and there were several instances of the pilot not being able to properly control the plane at high speed. There were also a few engine issues as well as those with avionics, but as always happens, most of these were cured in short order.

The Su-25 had the benefit of being able to be developed in combat. About the time the pre-production planes were being built, the Soviets were in a major war in Afghanistan. No better way to test aircraft and systems that to use them in combat. Much was learned from the several months in country and this was passed along to the production line.

Not unexpectedly, the majority of the book is on the plane's use in combat by the Soviets in Afghanistan. It was here that crews served for one year tours in their fight against the Mujahedeen. Initially, the planes operated at low level and were quite successful. However, with the enemy being supplied with shoulder mounted surface to air missiles, down low became more and more dangerous. This required greater use of stand off weapons such as laser guided bombs. This led to improved avionics and the Su-25 has been continually upgraded as the years have gone by.

The break up of the Soviet Union saw a division of the Frogfoot fleet with many of the ex-Soviet republics having access to the aircraft and local aircrew. As we have seen recently in the Ukraine, the Russians continued their aggression in conflicts in Georgia, Chechnya, South Ossetia and other places that used to be part of the Soviet Union.

Of course, the Frogfoot found its way to other nations with Iraq probably being the biggest user of the type. While it was use with some success against Iran in their war, it was only a target during later conflicts and most were destroyed on the ground. It was also used in Angola, Yemen, Ivory Coast, Peru and Macedonia to name a few. Ironically, ex-Iraqi Su-25s have been refurbished by Iran and sent back to Iraq to help with the fight against ISIL.

In all, it is a great books with lots of photos, most in color, as well as a plethora of great full color profiles. Just the sort of thing that both historians and modelers love to see. A great read that I found quite interesting and I know you will as well.

April 2015

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