It designed and built a mockup of S-6, a delta wing aircraft powered by two Tumansky R-21 turbojet engines and with a crew of two in a tandem arrangement.

A key feature was the ability to cruise at supersonic speeds at low altitude for extended periods of time in order to traverse enemy air defenses.

[2] The day or night and all-weather capability was achieved – for the first time[2] in Soviet tactical attack aircraft – thanks to the Puma nav/attack system consisting of two Orion-A superimposed radar scanners for nav/attack, a dedicated Relyef terrain clearance radar to provide automatic control of flights at low and extremely low altitudes, and an Orbita-10-58 onboard computer.

[1] The crew was equipped with Zvezda K-36D ejection seats, allowing them to bail out at any altitude and flight speed, including during takeoff and landing.

Surviving Su-24M models have gone through a life-extension and updating program, with GLONASS, upgraded cockpit with multi-function displays (MFDs), HUD, digital moving-map generator, Shchel helmet-mounted sights, and provision for the latest guided weapons, including R-73 (AA-11 'Archer') air-to-air missiles.

The variable geometry wing provides excellent STOL performance, allowing a landing speed of 230 kilometers per hour (140 mph), even lower than the Sukhoi Su-17 despite substantially greater takeoff weight.

The Su-24 has two Saturn/Lyulka AL-21F-3A afterburning turbojet engines with 109.8 kN (24,700 lbf) thrust each, fed with air from two rectangular side-mounted intakes with splitter plates/boundary-layer diverters.

In early Su-24 ("Fencer A" according to NATO) aircraft these intakes had variable ramps, allowing a maximum speed of 2,320 kilometers per hour (1,440 mph), Mach 2.18, at altitude and a ceiling of 17,500 meters (57,400 ft).

The revised aircraft also gained three side-by-side antenna fairings in the nose, a repositioned braking chute, and a new ram-air inlet at the base of the tail fin.

[6] Initial Su-24s had basic electronic countermeasures (ECM) equipment, with many Su-24s limited to the old Sirena radar-warning receiver with no integral jamming system.

[11] In August 1999 Tajikistan protested over an alleged strike involving four UzAF Su-24s against Islamist militants in areas close to two mountain villages in the Jirgatol District that, despite not producing human casualties, killed some 100 head of livestock and set ablaze several crop fields.

[12] In the final stages of the 1996-2001 phase of the Afghan civil war, Uzbekistan launched airstrikes against Taliban positions in support of the Northern Alliance.

During a mission to attack a Taliban armoured infantry unit near Heiratan, a UzAF Su-24 was shot down on 6 June 2001, killing both crew members.

In August 2008, a low intensity conflict in the breakaway Georgian regions of Samachablo and Abkhazia, escalated into the 2008 South Ossetia war.

A BBC reporter was on the scene soon after the event and filmed an aircraft part at the crash site showing the emblem of the 1124 Squadron, flying the Su-24MK.

[23] The SAF suffered its first Su-24 loss, an upgraded MK2 version, to an Igla surface-to-air missile on 28 November 2012 near the town of Darat Izza in the Aleppo Governorate.

[31][32] While the Russian Air Force (VVS) aviation group deployed at Khmeimim base in Latakia included modern types such as the Su-30SM, Su-34, and the Su-35, the vast majority of airstrikes (over 80%) were conducted by Su-24Ms.

[citation needed] In late May 2015, a pair of Russian Su-24s made a low pass over the USS Ross in the Black Sea.

[42] In March 2015, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir committed Sudan to join the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen against the Houthis.

[45][46] Houthis published photos of an allegedly captured Sudanese pilot and metal parts claiming it as the aircraft wreckage.

[57][58] Lack of standoff missiles meant that Ukrainian crews had to fly into range of Russian air defences to strike their targets.

[61][62] Another bomber was reported lost on 3 April, when a video emerged showing the crash site with the remains of a blue-coloured AL-21 engine employed by the Su-24.

[65][66] On 9 August, explosions at Saky Airport in Novofedorivka, Crimea, destroyed and damaged several aircraft on the ground, among them at least five Russian Naval Aviation Su-24s.

[70] In May 2023, the United Kingdom supplied Ukraine with Storm Shadow air-launched cruise missiles,[71] allowing Su-24s to launch strikes from a safer distance.

[72] On 24 May, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted a composite image of a Su-24MR carrying a Storm Shadow missile on its right wing glove pylon.

[73] On 2 July, it was reported that Ukrainian Su-24s were modified with pylons taken from decommissioned RAF Panavia Tornado GR4s in order to carry and launch the Storm Shadow missile.

[77] On 13 September 2023, an attack on Sevastopol Shipyard resulted in damage to port facilities, the submarine Rostov-na-Donu and the landing ship Minsk, both of which were in dry dock.

[83] On 4 November 2023, Ukrainian Su-24s launched at least three cruise missiles, either Storm Shadows or SCALPs, striking the newly built Russian corvette Askold at the Zalyv Shipbuilding Yard in Kerch.

[86] On 5 December 2023, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk stated that a Ukrainian RBS 70 anti-aircraft missile took down Su-24 aircraft using RBS-70 MANPAD in Odesa Oblast.

Su-24 Su-24M ('Fencer-D') Su-24M2 ('Fencer-D') Su-24MK ('Fencer-D') Su-24MP ('Fencer-F') Algeria Iran Libya Russia Sudan Ukraine Azerbaijan Belarus Iraq Kazakhstan Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Syria Uzbekistan Data from Sukhoi,[2] Combat Aircraft since 1945,[128] deagel.com,[129] airforce-technology.com[130]General characteristics Performance Armament Avionics