The deliveries of new close air support aircraft to the Russian Air Force will start by 2020, Air Force Spokesman Colonel Vladimir Drik said.

“The Air Force units will start receiving this aircraft by 2020,” Drik said earlier this week.

“It will gradually replace highly-reliable Su-25SM Frogfoot attack planes,” he added.

According to Drik, the new aircraft will meet the demands of modern warfare and feature elements of “stealth” technology, the whole range of tactical weaponry, modern radar and navigation equipment.

Meanwhile, Russia will continue to upgrade its outdated Su-25 attack aircraft to Su-25SM version, which has a significantly better survivability and combat effectiveness.

The Russian Air Force currently has over 30 Su-25SM planes in service and plans to modernize about 80 Su-25s by 2020, Drik said.

Source: RIA Novosti