Using French AASM Hammer precision-guided bombs required adjustments to the Su-25 jets in service with the Ukrainian Air Force. A photo showcasing such hardware adaptations was evidenced by a photo published by the Soniashnyk Telegram community.
This is also the first visual confirmation that AASM Hammer was integrated with the Su-25 attack aircraft: until now, this capability was only known from a public statement by the aviation chief at the Ukrainian Air Force Command, Serhii Holubtsov, in an interview with Donbass.Realii back in June 2024.
Read more: Ukrainian Air Force Shows Su-25 Pilots Carrying Out Complex and Dangerous Missions on the Frontline (Video)
If you look closely at the picture above, you can see the upgrade that enabled Su-25 to use the AASM Hammer, namely the same pylon configuration that was used for Ukraine's MiG-29 fighter jets. This pylon was also observed as the mount for JDAM-ER and SDB guided bombs, which theoretically means all the mentioned weapon systems are compatible with Su-25s.
Defense Express assumes that this design and technology was created specifically to make a unified standard of how Western precision-guided weapons should be integrated with Soviet-era aircraft in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
This approach could be aiming to speed up the integration process by developing an all-in-one versatile pylon instead of trying to figure out the ways to adapt each Western-type weapon separately.
It remains unknown if any changes were made to the Su-25's cockpit equipment to enable interaction with the AASM Hammer. Most likely, a similar technological solution was utilized as when adapting the MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft to launch AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles. In that case, the missile's electronics were connected to an iPad tablet with special software resting on the pilot's lap.
Another important detail is that the number of Ukrainian Su-25s adapted for the AASM Hammer remains unknown. To put it into perspective, there was an illustrative example featuring Ukrainian Su-24M aircraft in an official video from the UA Air Force. The footage showed that a certain number of these jets are still involved in risky near-front maneuvers as carriers of short-range Soviet weapons, specifically the Kh-25 guided missiles.
This could be a sign that, regardless of the reasons, only part of the Ukrainian aerial fleet was adapted to carry Western Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missiles or JDAM bombs.
Nonetheless, integrating Western bombs into Su-25's arsenal gives Ukrainian air support aircraft a technological advantage over the russian analogs. In the public domain, russians often complain that their Su-25s lack the ability to use modern guided weapons, such as the FAB bombs equipped with UMPK gliding kits.
Read more: Video Shows a Ukrainian MiG-29 Launch AASM Hammer Precision-Guided Standoff Bombs
