Who needs the Army Corp. of Engineers when you have SU-34's

On April 18th two Russian SU-34 Fullbacks took off on a kill mission to destroy an ice damn that had built up on the Sukhona river in South West Russia. The ice damn was threatening to flood an area where 4500 people live. An interesting solution to what must be a common problem in certain areas of Russia but it seams like it would be a more expensive solution than other more traditional methods of ice clearing.
They drop what looks like parachute assisted bombs on the ice and are reported as being pinpoint precision. I'm not so sure about that. Heh.

Two Russian Sukhoi Su-34s took off from an aerodrome in Voronezh Region on an unusual mission on Monday, to bomb the ice on the Sukhona River. The jets were sent to break up ice that had been forming a natural dam on the river in the Vologda Region that threatened serious flooding. It is expected that the bomber jets will drop pinpoint explosives to assist the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) in getting the huge ice floes moving.

theaviationist.com...

a reply to: Sammamishman

They drop what looks like parachute assisted bombs on the ice and are reported as being pinpoint pr

Runway busters.

But who would try to land on an ice dam...?

a reply to: Sammamishman

It might be more expensive, I have no idea of the math there but...it is cool thinking isn't it?

a reply to: Jonjonj

Its definitely got that "We do things the Russian way, now hold my vodka and watch this...." vibe.

I think a pack of explosives dropped out of a helicopter and remotely detonated would have had the same effect and cost a fraction of what it took to send the SU's with live munitions there but it's not my money and it did make for an interesting story, so more power to them. Lol.

They got bombs left over from killing Isis. Some threat they were.

a reply to: Sammamishman

I think there is a comedy sketch in this:

Meeting at town hall-So then, about this ice dam, gonna cause a heap 'o problems...any ideas?

Someone at the back of the room-SU-34's dropping bombs on parachutes!!!
Erm... ...

Someone else at the back- actually, we can do that...

It WOULD be pretty awesome, right?

Really though, what could the Army Corp of Engineers do?

They can't stop a flood (Katrina), let alone start one.

Sounds like a two in one. Remove a potential natural disaster by target practice

originally posted by: SammamishmanThey drop what looks like parachute assisted bombs on the ice and are reported as being pinpoint precision. I'm not so sure about that. Heh.

I recently read somewhere that one of the most interesting things that was gleaned about the Russian Air Force from their recent Syria campaign (or one of the things they were subtly showing off) was that in addition to their cruise missile and PGM capabilities, they have also spent much more time improving their good, old-fashioned CCIP systems, allowing their aircraft-dropped dumb bombs to hit CEP's of 10-30m, which while not fantastic, is far better than earlier systems could (and far cheaper than using PGMs as well).

I'm not sure about the veracity of the speculation, but it certainly sounded like exactly the kind of "perfection is the enemy of the good enough" solution that the Ruskies are so renowned for.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Nice post!


Looks like a duck!

treated as a training mission no doubt, and why not? training while doing good, good for them.

a reply to: Quantum12

Always thought it should have been the SU-34 Mallard.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Lol,

You did a great job on your thread.
Sorry about the duck. The SU-34 looked like a duck to me!