MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) – The Sukhoi aircraft maker will deliver a total of 30 Su-34 Fullback strike aircraft to the Russian Air Force by the end of 2014, the Defense Ministry said.

The Su-34s are manufactured by the Novosibirsk aircraft plant, part of the Sukhoi holding, located in Russia’s Siberia region.

“The current [2013] year plan on the delivery of 14 [Su-34] aircraft under the state defense order will be fulfilled, and the plant has promised to deliver another 16 fighter-bombers next year,” the ministry said in a statement Friday citing a report by the Novosibirsk plant.

The Air Force is due to get a total of 124 Su-34s by 2020 under two contracts with the Sukhoi holding. According to official data, 29 series-production Su-34s have been delivered to the Russian military so far.

A two-seat derivative of the Su-27 fighter, the Su-34 can carry a payload of up to eight tons of precision-guided weapons over 4,000 kilometers.

The aircraft will eventually replace all of the ageing Su-24 Fencer strike aircraft in service with the Air Force and the Navy.

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