The Fencer was long rumored to be the Ukrainian aircraft of choice for using the British-supplied cruise missile.
Two weeks after the announcement of the delivery of Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine, we have now confirmation that the British-supplied weapons are carried in combat by the Su-24 Fencer. The photo, shown on Twitter by Ukraine’s Minister of Defence Oleksii Reznikov, was presented to UK’s Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace as he visited Kyiv.
Wallace visited Kyiv on May 24 to discuss priorities for increasing Ukraine’s defense capabilities, particularly providing long-range weapons, as well as the country’s NATO adhesion and future plans. The Secretary of Defence also signed the photo with the caption “To all the brave ‘few’ who risk all for the glory of Ukraine”.
I was glad to host my great friend Ben Wallace, @BWallaceMP, in Kyiv.
We had a very meaningful discussion focused on priorities for increasing Ukraine’s defense capabilities, particularly providing long-range weapons such as Storm Shadow.We also discussed prospects for… pic.twitter.com/kVEo8dtFMc
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) May 24, 2023
The aircraft in the photo appears to be the Su-24MR “Yellow 60” assigned to the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade, which operates both the standard Su-24M “Fencer D” and the MR “Fencer E” recon variant. Although the MR variant is not equipped with air-to-ground weapons, it appears to have been modified to carry the missiles on the pylons usually loaded with the external fuel tanks.
#Ukraine: We obtained the first ever HQ image of the 🇬🇧Storm Shadow missile used by the Ukrainian Air Force, carried by Su-24MR “Yellow 60” of the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade.
This aircraft, refurbed in 2018, was originally a…
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