Su-22M4 (Germany)

This page is about the strike aircraft Su-22M4 (Germany). For other versions, see Su-17/22 (Family).

◊Su-22M4

◊Su-22M4

Description

During the 1980s, the Soviet Union and its allies began adopting upgraded variants of the Su-17 fighter-bomber, which was exported as the "Su-22" for Soviet allies. The East German air force would receive 48 of the latest Su-22M4 fighter bomber, along with 8 of the twin-seat Su-22UM-3K trainer aircraft. The German Su-22s would serve as a frontline strike aircraft for the Warsaw Pact countries, and as a primary line of attack during a possible war with NATO. The Su-22M4s would remain in East German service until the re-unification of Germany, when almost all of the German Su-22s were either scrapped or sold off as they were incompatible with NATO hardware and standards. Only a few Su-22M4s were kept and repainted in Luftwaffe liveries for briefly serving as evaluation and testing aircraft.

Introduced in Update "La Royale" as a continuation of the fighter-bomber line, following its weaker brother, the Su-22UM3K, in the tech tree, the Su-22M4 is the top-range Su-17/22 model, and is nearly identical to the Su-17M4 in the Soviet aircraft tree. This aircraft is characterized by its upgrades over its predecessor in the tree, mainly in that it can carry advanced guided ordnance such TV guided weapons in addition to the familiar laser guided ordnance. The aircraft is also no slouch in the air-to-air department either, now carrying over 250 countermeasures and the all-aspect R-60MK missiles, delivered swiftly to the enemy's location using the upgraded engine and avionics. All in all, this aircraft serves as a true titan of multirole performance for the aircraft of the German top ranks, excelling at both air to air and air to ground tasks, making it a force to be reckoned with in mixed battles.

General info

Flight performance

Describe how the aircraft behaves in the air. Speed, manoeuvrability, acceleration and allowable loads - these are the most important characteristics of the vehicle.

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at 11,000m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	2,027	2,011	19500	27.3	27.5	167.9	161.3	___
Upgraded	___	___		__._	__._	__._	__._

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear	Drogue chute
_	_	_	_	_	_

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
		___	___	___	~__	~__

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< ___	< ___	< ___	-

Engine performance

Engine			Aircraft mass
Engine name		Number	Basic mass		Wing loading (full fuel)
Saturn AL-21F-3		1	11,245 kg		438 kg/m2
Engine characteristics			Mass with fuel (no weapons load)				Max Gross Weight
Weight (each)	Type		12m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	40m fuel
1,800 kg	Afterburning axial-flow turbojet		12,385 kg	13,102 kg	14,031 kg	15,045 kg	19,302 kg
Maximum engine thrust @ 0 m (RB/SB)			Thrust to weight ratio @ 0 m (WEP)
Condition	100%	WEP	12m fuel	20m fuel	30m fuel	40m fuel	MGW
Stationary	6,400 kgf	9,039 kgf	0.73	0.69	0.64	0.60	0.47
Optimal	7,232 kgf (1,200 km/h)	13,188 kgf (1,417 km/h)	1.06	1.01	0.94	0.88	0.68

Survivability and armour

Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.

Armaments

Ballistic Computer
CCIP (Guns)	CCIP (Rockets)	CCIP (Bombs)	CCRP (Bombs)

Offensive armament

The Su-22M4 (Germany) is armed with:

• A choice between two presets:
  • 2 x 30 mm NR-30 cannons, wing root-mounted (80 rpg = 160 total)
  • 2 x 30 mm NR-30 cannons + 256 x countermeasures + 12 x large calibre countermeasures

Suspended armament

The Su-22M4 (Germany) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
23 mm GSh-23L cannons (250 rpg)	1		1			1		1
100 kg OFAB-100 bombs	5		1	4	4	1		5
250 kg OFAB-250sv bombs	1		1	3	3	1		1
250 kg OFAB-250Sh bombs	1		1	3	3	1		1
500 kg FAB-500M-62 bombs	1		1	2	2	1		1
500 kg FAB-500Sh bombs	1		1	2	2	1		1
ZB-500 incendiary bombs	1			1	1			1
S-3K rockets	7			7	7			7
S-5K rockets	32		32			32		32
S-8KO rockets	20		20			20		20
S-13OF rockets	5		5			5		5
S-24B rockets	1		1	1	1	1		1
S-25O rockets	1							1
Kh-25ML missiles	1			1	1			1
Kh-29L missiles				1	1
Kh-29T missiles				1	1
S-25L missiles	1							1
R-60MK missiles		1	2			2	1
820 l drop tanks	1			1	1			1
Maximum permissible loadout weight: 4,160 kg Maximum permissible wing load: 2,100 kg Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 700 kg

Default weapon presets

4 x 820 l drop tanks 2 x R-60MK missiles 6 x R-60MK missiles 20 x 100 kg OFAB-100 bombs (2,000 kg total) 10 x 250 kg OFAB-250sv bombs (2,500 kg total) 10 x 250 kg OFAB-250Sh bombs (2,500 kg total) 8 x 500 kg FAB-500M-62 bombs (4,000 kg total) 8 x 500 kg FAB-500Sh bombs (4,000 kg total) 28 x S-3K rockets 128 x S-5K rockets 80 x S-8KO rockets 20 x S-13OF rockets 6 x S-24B rockets 2 x S-25O rockets 4 x Kh-25ML missiles 2 x Kh-29T missiles 2 x Kh-29L missiles 2 x S-25L missiles 4 x 23 mm GSh-23L cannons (250 rpg = 1,000 total) 4 x ZB-500 incendiary bombs

Usage in battles

Describe the tactics of playing in the aircraft, the features of using aircraft in a team and advice on tactics. Refrain from creating a "guide" - do not impose a single point of view, but instead, give the reader food for thought. Examine the most dangerous enemies and give recommendations on fighting them. If necessary, note the specifics of the game in different modes (AB, RB, SB).

Pros and cons

Summarise and briefly evaluate the vehicle in terms of its characteristics and combat effectiveness. Mark its pros and cons in the bulleted list. Try not to use more than 6 points for each of the characteristics. Avoid using categorical definitions such as "bad", "good" and the like - use substitutions with softer forms such as "inadequate" and "effective".

Pros:

Cons:

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===, also if applicable).

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Su-22M4 (Germany) from live.warthunder.com.

See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Related Development

• Su-17/22 (Family)

Other jet planes with variable sweep wings

• Tornado (Family)
• MiG-23 (Family)
• F14 (Family)
• F-111A

External links

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• other literature.