A Russian Air Force aircraft’s landing gear failed, forcing the pilot to skid the belly of the attack jet across the runway to land safely.
The Ukraine Weapons Tracker OSINT group reported that a Russian Su-25 Frogfoot attack jet had to make an emergency landing.
“The full extent of damage is unclear, but unlikely to be flying again very soon,” OSINT group said.
Russian military aircraft white ‘Z’ symbol on its side landed, without its landing gear, at a military airbase located near the Ukrainian border. The ‘Z’ is one of the symbols, as well as the letters ‘V’ and ‘O’ that can be seen painted on Russian military vehicles and aircraft taking part in the invasion of Ukraine.
The Su-25 is a Soviet-era ground-attack aircraft designed to provide close air support for troops.
#Russia: A Russian Su-25 jet suffered damage or a malfunction and was forced to land without landing gear.
The full extent of damage is unclear, but unlikely to be flying again very soon. pic.twitter.com/YzcCFuzlte
— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) December 10, 2022
The Frogfoot began production in the USSR 1978, a few years after U.S.Congress forced the Air Force to follow through on its plans to develop and adopt its own A-10 Warthog tank-busting ground attack aircraft.
Russian Su-25 is smaller, lighter, and faster than the Warthog, although it has many of the same “flying tank” characteristics and was designed for essentially the same mission.