The Ukrainian Air Force is using iPads in the cockpits of its Soviet-era jets to enable rapid integration of modern Western air-to-ground weapons. This information is confirmed in the images that show the tablet installed in cockpits during combat missions.
“War” iPads
Although the iPad is not a device designed for use in war, it is used on commercial planes to assist pilots in various tasks related to flight-related information. However, the scenario here is completely different. The iPad is installed in the cockpit of warplanes to manage weapons.
This fact was confirmed by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Maintenance, William LaPlante. Although many doubts remain about the tablet and its exact functioning, there are now images that show it installed and in real-fire use.
LaPlante was speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies' (CSIS) annual Global Security Forum on April 24, 2024, when he was asked to give examples of successful programs that quickly developed capabilities and placed them in the hands of the military. . One example he chose was the tablets in the cockpits of Ukrainian fighters:
There's also a series of... we call it 'air-to-ground', that's what we euphemistically call it... think of the planes that the Ukrainians have, not the F-16s, but the many Russian and Soviet-era planes. Working with the Ukrainians, we were able to use a lot of Western weapons and put them to work in their planes, which are basically controlled by the pilot via an iPad. And they start flying into conflict a week after we give them to them.
The Under Secretary of Defense did not provide further details, but it is worth noting that a video recently released by the Ukrainian Air Force shows a Su-27 Flanker equipped with exactly this type of system – possibly an iPad, although they could use another type of tablet available in the Marketplace.
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Touch of modernity in Soviet-era planes
The video in question shows the Su-27 using US-supplied AGM-88 high-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), which provided these fighters, as well as the Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrums, with air defense suppression and destruction capabilities. enemy (SEAD/DEAD).
In part of the video, as you can see in the initial image, the tablet shows a navigation map, as well as other indiscernible data. The fact that the tablet's size, fixed horizontally, blocks the main cockpit instruments suggests that it displays a variety of flight-critical data, in addition to being used for navigation.
Bottom view of a Ukrainian MiG-29 carrying a Hammer munition, also seen in the upper right corner. Via X/Sagem
Based on LaPlante's observations, it appears that the same tablet is also vital to the deployment of several Western-supplied air-to-ground weapons.
After the integration of HARM, Soviet-era Ukrainian fighters also began using Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER) precision-guided bombs. They have since added French-supplied Hammer rocket-assisted bombs to their inventory lists.
The UK has also committed to sending dual-mode Paveway IV precision-guided bombs, although it is not currently known which planes will carry them.
In the case of HARM, JDAM-ER and Hammer, it was assumed that they are probably used against targets with known coordinates, which are pre-programmed on the flight line before the jet takes off.
The pilot then has to navigate to the area, perhaps also assisted by a tablet with GPS navigation, and then release the weapon, which is guided to the target using its GPS-assisted inertial navigation system.
