Russia’s ‘A-10 Warthog’: The Su-25 Frogfoot Can ‘Hulk Smash’ Anything

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Key Point: The Su-25 Frogfoot, often likened to the U.S. A-10 Warthog, is a close air support aircraft known for its firepower and versatility.

-Despite its impressive arsenal of air-to-ground and air-to-air munitions, including missiles, rockets, and a powerful 30mm cannon, the Frogfoot struggles in the modern battlefield. Its relatively slow speed and limited maneuverability make it vulnerable to man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) like the Stinger.

-In Ukraine, the Frogfoot has shown mixed performance, with some successes against armored vehicles but also significant losses to anti-aircraft fire. Its combat effectiveness remains under scrutiny in high-intensity conflicts.

Is Su-25 Frogfoot Nimble Enough to Be a Factor in the War in Ukraine?

The nickname “Frogfoot” doesn’t exactly put the fear of God in you, but the Su-25 close air support jet can reach out and touch enemy tanks to significant effect. 

Known to the Russians as the Grach, the Su-25 is similar to the A-10 Warthog. The Frogfoot was designed to “plink” armored vehicles and deliver doom to troops on the ground.

 Let’s examine this airplane because it has an interesting air-to-ground mission.

More About the Su-25Frogfoot

The Su-25 is a single-seat jet that was designed and built by the Sukhoi Design Bureau Joint Stock Company and the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association. 

It made its first flight in 1979. While designed for close air support to eliminate ground targets, the Su-25 can also engage slower-flying aircraft such as helicopters.

The Su-25B or Frogfoot-B is a two-seat trainer, while the Su-25UTG was supposed to fly off the cursed and inactive Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier. 

Many Countries Feature It in Their Fleets

The Su-25 is popular in the export market. Air forces from Angola, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, North Korea, Peru, Slovakia, and Turkmenistan all fly it.

One strong point of the Su-25 is its modern cockpit, which is reinforced to protect the pilot during its air-to-ground missions. It is aviator-friendly, and its popularity overseas means it is relatively easy to fly.

This Warbird Is a Weapons Truck

The most impressive aspect of the Frogfoot is the weapons. I had to peruse Airforce-Technology.com to get the lowdown on the entire suite of munitions that the Su-25 can deploy.

“The wings have ten pylons for carrying a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapon systems selected for the mission. Air-to-ground missiles include Kh-23 (NATO codename AS-7 Kerry), Kh-25ML (AS-10 Karen) and Kh-29l (AS-14 Kedge). The air-to-air missiles carried on the smaller outboard pylons are the R-3S (AA-2D Atoll) and the R-60 (AA-8 Aphid). The aircraft can be fitted with UB-32A pods for 57mm S-5 rockets, B-8M1 pods for 80mm S-8 rockets, S-24 240mm guided rockets and S-25 330mm guided rockets.”

Did you get all that? That list is impressive. The Frogfoot can engage air targets, but it really impresses with the number of ground attack missiles and rockets it can carry. 

Like the A-10 Warthog, the Frogfoot has a powerful cannon. This cannon, called the 30 mm AO-17A, is located underneath the left side of the fuselage and can fire 3,000 rounds a minute. 

Up-to-Date Jamming Features 

The Frogfoot also has a modern targeting system with a laser designator, and it can conduct electronic warfare to confuse anti-aircraft systems. 

It can also distribute chaff and flares to further spoof efforts to blast it out of the air from the ground or from enemy fighters.

The Su-25 has two Soyuz/ Gavrilov R-195s turbojet engines. It can climb 190 feet per second and achieve a slow but steady 590 miles per hour.

What Is the Latest Update on Combat Performance in Ukraine?

The Su-25 Frogfoot hasn’t exactly “leaped” to success in Ukraine – likely because of its less-than-stellar speed. 

Soldiers from the Ukrainian army shot down a Su-25 with a MANPAD missile last month in the Kramatorsk region. 

However, the Russians reportedly used the Su-25 to “devastate” Ukrainian armored vehicles in the Kursk region weeks ago. 

A video from that engagement can be found here.

The Frogfoot strikes me as a weapons truck that is easier to shoot down with portable, shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles such as the Stinger. It is good for tank or armored personnel carrier elimination and close air support, but its lack of speed is a problem. 

We’ll keep investigating its performance during the war in Ukraine to see how successful it will be. 

So far, the combat record has been mixed, but I’m impressed with the firepower. The problem is the lack of speed and maneuverability needed for it to survive in modern combat. 

About the Author

Brent M. Eastwood, PhD, is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare, plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.