Ukrainian Su-27 received an iPad to control Western weapons

US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Logistics Bill LaPlante said that the use of tablets in the cockpits of Soviet aircraft can reduce the time to master new weapons.

“Think regarding the planes that Kyiv has, and not even regarding the F-16. They have a lot of Soviet planes. Working with the Ukrainians, we were able to take a lot of Western weapons and make them work on their planes, where the pilot basically controls them using an iPad. And they fly it in a conflict environment regarding a week following we handed it over to the pilot,” he said at a global security forum at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

According to the publication, the Ukrainian Air Force previously published a video showing a Su-27 with a regular tablet in the cockpit. The aircraft carries American AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles. The author emphasized that the tablet covers key instruments in the cockpit. This may indicate the replacement of a number of indicators with a tablet.

The publication suggested that the tablet is part of a system that is designed to compensate for the lack of interfaces on Soviet aircraft for working with Western weapons.