An active military bomber pilot, Su-34 flight commander with the call sign Polevoy, in an interview with blogger Kirill Fyodorov, named two aircraft he would not want to fly – the MiG-31 and the Su-24. According to him, these machines evoke a special attitude in him, although he highly rates their combat capabilities.
For me, these are scary aircraft – [more precisely] two aircraft I wouldn't want to fly, these are the MiG-31 and the Su-24. The Su-24 aircraft is quite complex in terms of piloting technique.
At the same time, the pilot noted that from the point of view of combat capabilities, the Su-24 is an excellent aircraft and interceptor.
Polevoy is a Guards Captain, Su-34 flight commander, with over 600 combat sorties. He has been awarded the Nesterov and "For Courage" medals and was recognized as the best flight commander. His opinion is based on many years of experience operating various types of aviation equipment. It is worth noting that the MiG-31, which the pilot mentions, remains one of the fastest serial fighters in the world, capable of speeds up to 3000 km/h, and the Su-24, despite its age, continues to serve as a front-line bomber.
The Su-24 tactical front-line bomber with variable-sweep wings was developed by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and entered service on February 4, 1975. It is designed for missile and bomb strikes in all weather conditions, day and night, including at low altitudes. Serial production of all modifications was carried out at factories in Novosibirsk and Komsomolsk-on-Amur until 1993. The Su-24 received its baptism of fire in Afghanistan in 1984 and was also used in conflicts in the Middle East and the post-Soviet space. From September 30, 2015, 12 Su-24M aircraft were involved by the Russian Aerospace Forces in Syria, where they performed almost half of all combat sorties. The rarest modification – the Su-24MP (jammer), whose first flight took place in December 1979, was produced in a quantity of only 10 machines.