The Russian military continues to seek a balance between maximum payload and sustainable use of the Su-34 in a single sortie. It is not yet possible to place six aerial bombs with UMPK on the bomber at once, said a retired pilot, author of the Telegram channel Fighterbomber.
According to him, a combined scheme is already working in practice.
It's not possible to hang 6 UMPK on the aircraft, but 4 UMPK + 2 UMPB is. The drops occur at different ranges, but these are all solvable issues. All six can be dropped in one pass.
This approach allows increasing the density of strikes in a single sortie. When switching to a mixed scheme, the total volume of use, according to the retired pilot, can increase — from about 10 thousand aerial bombs per month to 15-16 thousand.
Fighterbomber also noted that theoretically, UMPK can be used with Su-30 and Su-35, but in this case, the aircraft lose some maneuverability and perform their main tasks — interception and air superiority — worse.
In 2025, the Novosibirsk Chkalov Aviation Plant built up to 20 Su-34M generation "4++" combat aircraft for the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), Russian media reported.
