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The Su-25 (NATO reporting name Frogfoot) was designed by Sukhoi as a result of studies in the late 1960s on an aircraft to fill the Shturmovik ground attack role (so-named after the famous Ilyushin Il-2 of World War Two renown). It is comparable to the A-10 Thunderbolt II, although it more closely resembles the Northrop YA-9, which lost the USAF competition that produced the A-10.
The Su-25 made its first flight in 1979. The Frogfoot is heavily armed, with a 30mm cannon and various air-to-ground munitions; it can carry more than 4,000 kg of weaponry in the ground-attack role. It is also very tough, and provides the pilot with a lot of protection.
The Su-25, which is called Grach (rook) in CIS service, was heavily used by the Soviet Union during its operations in Afghanistan in the 1980s. Many were lost to shoulder-launched SAMs in combat. More advanced variants, the Su-25T (alternatively, Su-34, although the OKB appears to have given that designation to a 'Flanker' derivative) and later Su-25TM (Su-39), were developed with an improved nav/attack system, better survivability, and capability of carrying new precision-guided weapons. Only a handful of each version has been produced.
The Su-25 is no longer in production, but it is still flown by the air forces of Afghanistan, Angola, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Republic of Macedonia, North Korea, Peru, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
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