Four new Sukhoi Su-34 multirole tactical bombers arrived at the Lipetsk-based Air Force Combat and Conversion Training Centre (CCTC) from the Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association (NAPO) on 28 December 2010. The aircraft were serialled 06, 07, 08 and 09 and became the first batch delivered under the five-year contract made in late 2008 by the Sukhoi company and Russian Defence Ministry for 32 aircraft of the type.
The first of the four Su-34s was assembled and test-flown by NAPO late in August 2010, with the rest following suit during the autumn. The acceptance took place at the manufacturer plant in December, after which, once weather conditions had improved, all of them were ferried from Novosibirsk to Lipetsk on 28 December 2010, having covered about 3,000 km within about 3.5 hours.
Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry has taken delivery of five production Su-34s. Three of them (serials 02, 04 and 05) are undergoing opeval at CCTC in Lipetsk, while two (01 and 03), along with several LRIP aircraft, were used in the final stages of the official test programme at the Chkalov State Flight Research Centre (GLITs) in Akhtubinsk. Last summer, the Lipetsk-based Su-34s crossed the country to participate in large-scale Exercise Vostok 2010.
RusAF Commander-in-Chief Co.-Gen. Alexander Zelin said during his visit of the city of Voronezh on 1 September 2010 that the new aircraft would be fielded with the Voronezh air base operating previous-generation Su-24M tactical bombers at present. As part of the Air Force reorganisation, the axing of the air regiments stationed at Shatalovo and Buturlinovka air bases in the Smolensk and Voronezh regions respectively will result in activating in Voronezh one of the largest air bases in the country. It is supposed to operate Su-24MR and MiG-25RB reconnaissance planes as well as Su-25 attack aircraft in addition to the Su-34 and Su-24M bombers – about 100 warplanes in all.
The ferrying of the four new Su-34s from Lipetsk to Voronezh is slated for 2011 when the overhaul of the airfield has been complete and the Su-34 acceptance report has been signed.
Akhtubinsk-based GLITs is to complete the Su-34 acceptance trials early in 2011. NAPO is going to ramp up the Su-34 output rate later on. Sukhoi Director General Mikhail Pogosyan said at the Farnborough air show last year that the output rate was to grow up to 12–20 unit a year.
