MOSCOW, March 1 (UPI) -- Russia's Defense Ministry has contracted for 92 Su-34 Fullback fighter-bombers from the Sukhoi aircraft maker.
Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdiukov signed the contract with Sukhoi General Director Igor Ozar.
The aircraft are to be delivered by 2020, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency reported Thursday.
Serdiukov said the deal marked one of the Defense Ministry's largest warplane contracts under the government arms procurement program. The new aircraft involved will help the Russian air force replace its Su-24 bombers with more advanced "4+ generation" aircraft.
"The Su-34 -- previously known as the Su-27IB -- has been long in gestation," International Institute for Strategic Studies air warfare specialist Douglas Barrie said.
"The program began in the 1980s and has suffered as a result of funding problems. It is entering service well over a decade after it was envisaged originally to be replacing the Su-24 Fencer.
"However the Su-34 will -- with the appropriate avionic and weapons systems -- provide the air force with a capable long range strike platform, with considerably more punch than the Su-24."
