Aircraft - World Peacekeepers Su-27 Flanker
Ordnance - World Peacekeepers Su-27 Flanker and A-10 Thunderbolt II


The Oktober Guard needs air support. They're well-known for utilizing the Mi-24 "Hind" helicopter, but they also need a fast-mover since a helo is going to be a sitting duck when a Skystriker comes streaking along. The only readily-available Soviet/Russian jet fighter in Joe scale is the World Peacekeepers Su-27 Flanker, which suits me just fine since it's badass.

There are many varieties of the Su-27, which speaks to its versatility and ability. This particular one has a tailhook at the back, which suggests that it's designed for carrier operations. But the actual Su-27 variant designed for carriers is the Su-33, which also has canards added at the front, so this is clearly not one. However, given the special operations nature of the Oktober Guard, it makes sense that their fighter support would be able to operate in as many environments as possible, so this is not an issue.

This custom is named after the firebird (zhar-ptitsa), a mythological creature from Slavic mythology, which allows the translation and the NATO reporting name for this jet to be the same - Firebird. The paint job is a splinter camo pattern, based on a pattern found online which is apparently intended for winter operations. Splinter patterns with sharp edges and angles apparently work quite well to deceive observers as to an aircraft's position, distance and speed.

The toy comes with 12 hardpoints, but only 10 pieces of ordnance. Fortunately, the World Peacekeepers A-10 comes with more ordnance than hardpoints, so two bombs from that toy complete the Firebird's loudout. It's armed to the teeth.

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