Tough Aeroplane

[willedoo]

Photo of a Sukhoi Su-25 Frogfoot damaged by a Georgian manpad.

 

 

 

[Deskpilot]

Georgian manpad.....??

 

 

[gandalph]

Manpad. Man Portable Air Defense System

 

 

[willedoo]

Most likely an SA-16/18. The battle damage was in the Georgian/Russian/South Ossetian conflict in 2008.

 

It's amazing what damage some aircraft can sustain and still fly. Reminds me of some of those WW2 photos of Wellingtons and B-17s badly shot up that managed to make it home.

 

 

[Kiwi303]

It's been a while since I read the magazine, but one of the magazines that was available at the library was on warplanes, one had a cutaway drawing of a Frogfoot in it some years back...

 

Make that many years back, I was in High school then.

 

If I remember the cutaway right, it has a central spine rather than being a monocoque type with the body and stressed skin providing the structureal strength.

 

Plus it has sort of upside down L shaped armour plating casing the engine to direct any failure out of the podded engine compartment and isolate the other engine on the far side.

 

From the looks of the pic the design worked, the SAM went up heat trail of the exhaust, fractured the combustor rings and catastropic loss of the spinning hot side fans. But the damage mostly went out, and was isolated from the other engine, which allowed it to get home.

 

Those designers knew what they were doing alright.