The Rooks Have Arrived. And in this case, it is not at all about the textbook landscape painting by the Russian artist Alexei Savrasov, but about the famous Soviet subsonic armored Su-25 attack aircraft. It was he who was nicknamed "rook" back in the Afghan war. This nickname was given to the car for a reason. She fully justifies him.
The Soviet Su-25 attack aircraft first took to the skies on February 22, 1975. However, the powerful and formidable machine was adopted only in 1981. The Afghan war has become the baptism of fire for the attack aircraft. There, the plane showed itself excellently and recommended itself, despite the fact that a fairly large number of attack aircraft were lost during the war. (according to some estimates, up to 35 aircraft), primarily due to the appearance of a new type of MANPADS in the Mujahideen, namely the Stinger system, which the locals were lovingly supplied by "friends" from the United States, ultimately growing out of local movements such a terrorist group as Al Qaeda.
The Mujahideen were afraid of the Su-25 for a reason. Air supremacy largely ensures the success of military operations. And the Su-25 didn't just provide support. Thanks to its serious armament, reliable armor and the ability to fly and fire at subsonic speed, the attack aircraft can suppress all hostile targets on the ground. At the same time, even before the appearance of the Stingers, service on the Su-25 in Afghanistan was very dangerous. Sometimes aircraft returned to the base with more than 150 holes in the fuselage.
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The Su-25 fired from an automatic large-caliber cannon, used air-to-ground and air-to-air missiles (both guided and non-guided), and threw bombs. In total, 32 types of weapons can be supplied to the attack aircraft, including precision bombs and artillery containers. With full combat load, the aircraft can move at a speed of 950 km / h, which made hitting it from the ground a very difficult task (cruising speed is 750 km / h).
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As for the nickname in honor of the famous bird - the rook, the Su-25 earned it for its fighting style and high efficiency. Like a large black bird of prey, the Su-25 is capable of picking out targets from any cover or fold in the terrain. It is the latter that are traditionally used in Afghanistan as one of the main trump cards. The stormtrooper, on the other hand, found its targets in a complex landscape and destroyed them in the same way as the rook finds and catches, prying out its prey from the most inaccessible places.
If you want to know even more interesting things, then you should read about what is the phenomenon of the self-propelled gun "Shilka".
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/250220/53562/