Su-25 Frogfoot in Action

Squadron/Signal recently re-issued this title - Su-25 Frogfoot in Action and it is as nice a reference as ever. When the title was first released in 1992, it had a timely cover depicting an Iraqi Su-25 that was about to become Eagle prey.

The author starts his coverage of this interesting aircraft with the Sukhoi T-8 prototype. Inspired by the tank-killing A-10 Thunderbolt II that was entering production in the west, the T-8 bore a superficial resemblance to the loser of the AX program, the Northrop A-9. Appearances aside, this aircraft bears the spirit of the Il-2 Sturmovik tank killer of WW2 with the firepower of today.

Unlike the A-10, the Su-25 would be the first into combat, conducting close air support and interdiction missions in Afghanistan. Soviet pilots were thankful for the armor and ruggedness of the aircraft as the combat losses were relatively low. While the Su-25 was pressed into combat rather early in its career, it still deployed into eastern Europe as a counter to NATO armor. The Su-25 would enter service with Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria, as well as with Iraq and North Korea.

While the USAF never did field a two-seat training version of the A-10, the Soviet Air Force did with the Su-25UB. As sufficient numbers of the two-seater became available, some of these were modified into all-weather attack aircraft by cramming new avionics into the space previously used by an instructor-pilot. Another variant was given a tail hook and used as an aircraft carrier trainer to qualify pilots to the new class of aircraft carriers.

As with all of the In Action series, the title is full of nicely captioned black and white photos as well as the standard full-color centerfold containing color profiles of selected Su-25 examples.

This is a great reference for the modeler and aviation historian alike. While a few other titles have appeared on the shelves since this title was first released, it remains the best overview reference of the subject at a very reasonable price.

My sincere thanks to Motorbooks International for this review sample!