In recent years, a joke has been widespread in the ranks of the US Air Force: “When my grandfather flew an F-4 Phantom II fighter, he was sent to intercept the Tu-95. When my father flew the F-15 Eagle, he was also sent to intercept the Tu-95. Now I fly the F-22 Raptor and also intercept the Tu-95. In fact, there is no joke in this. The Soviet / Russian Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber (NATO codification: Bear, "Bear") is a real aviation long-liver, which has been in the sky for 66 years, which is even more than the planned retirement age for Russian men, which is trying with all its might to push the government through …
Tu-95 is a really respectable plane, but at the same time it is still the most useful one. Among other things, the Tu-95 is the world's fastest propeller-driven aircraft and the only serial bomber and missile carrier on the planet equipped with turboprop engines (at the moment). The prototype of the famous strategic bomber made its first flight on November 12, 1952. November 2018 will mark 66 years since this aircraft first took to the skies. Outstanding result for the aircraft industry.
Today we can say with confidence that the "eternal" Tu-95 bomber has already become a real legend. The aircraft is still in demand and efficient, and this is in the era of constantly updated aviation technology. A giant aircraft with turboprop engines, capable of easily covering more than 10 thousand kilometers with 12 tons of bomb load on board, appeared after the top leadership of the Soviet Union set the task in 1951 to develop a bomber that could strike the main ground targets of the Americans. The aircraft was ready by 1952, the first prototype took off in November 1952. Initially, NATO did not attach much importance to this bomber, believing that in the age of jet aircraft, the machine would quickly become obsolete.
Everything changed in 1961, when the Tsar Bomb was dropped from the Tu-95 bomber. The shock wave from the explosion of this thermonuclear ammunition with a capacity of more than 50 megatons in TNT equivalent easily demolished the aircraft, and the nuclear mushroom formed after the explosion rose to a height of 60 kilometers. The light from the explosion caused third-degree burns at a distance of 100 kilometers from the epicenter. The observers, who were at the station 200 kilometers from the explosion, suffered from burns to the cornea of the eyes.
The explosion of this Soviet bomb was an event that shocked the world, while the air forces of many countries paid close attention to the Tu-95 strategic bomber. In the Soviet Union, in turn, NATO states were intimidated, spreading information that Tu-95 aircraft began to make patrol flights outside the borders of the USSR. As soon as the Russian "Bear" appeared on the radar, the foreign air force immediately raised aircraft to intercept and escort it. From 1961 to 1991, this happened so often that the pilots of many armies simply got used to the Tu-95, and the interception of these aircraft became a routine, many even began to be photographed against their background.
At the same time, the potential of the bomber was used not only in long-range aviation, but also in the navy. The Tu-95RTs (reconnaissance and target designation aircraft), as well as the Tu-142, a long-range anti-submarine aircraft based on the Tu-95RTs, were specially designed and built for the Soviet Navy. This modification was supposed to be responsible for the fight against enemy submarines on the high seas. The APR-1, 2, 3 anti-submarine air-launched missiles were specially created for it, and the aircraft was also the carrier of the X-35 anti-ship missiles.
The Cold War, which ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union, left patrol flights of the Russian Medved in the past for a long time. NATO air forces again remembered this bulky bomber only in 2007, when Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian armed forces would once again carry out aerial patrols outside their country's borders. So for the Tu-95 veteran, a new round of active military service began.
In 2014, the Canadian Minister of Defense said that every year in the Arctic, Canadian Air Force planes intercept from 12 to 18 Russian strategic bombers. Japanese fighters are often used to intercept Russian aircraft. These flights periodically provoke protests from Japan and the United States. The last time fighters of the Japanese and South Korean Air Forces took off to intercept Russian Tu-95MS missile carriers was in July 2018. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the planes made a planned flight over the neutral waters of the Yellow Sea and the Sea of Japan, as well as the western part of the Pacific Ocean. At some stages of the route, they were accompanied by F-15 and F-16 fighters of the South Korean Air Force and Mitsubishi F-2A fighters of the Japanese Air Force, the Russian Defense Ministry said. And on May 12, 2018, to intercept Russian "grandfathers" over Alaska, the US Air Force sent its most advanced aircraft at the moment - 5th generation F-22 fighters, which were forced to "escort" Russian missile carriers.
For a long time, the most advanced model of the bomber was the Tu-95MS version (Tu-95MS-6 and Tu-95MS-16) - aircraft carriers of X55 cruise missiles have been serially built since 1979. This model is an all-metal monoplane with a mid-wing and single fin. The aerodynamic layout chosen by the designers of the Tupolev Design Bureau provided the aircraft with high aerodynamic characteristics, especially at high flight speeds. Improved flight performance of the aircraft is achieved due to the high aspect ratio of the wing, which corresponds to the choice of the angle of its sweep, as well as the set of profiles along its span. The power plant of the T-95MS missile carrier includes four NK-12MP turboprop engines with coaxial four-blade AV-60K propellers. Fuel supplies are stored in 8 pressurized compartments in the wing coffer and in 3 more soft tanks located in the rear fuselage and center section. Refueling is centralized; the aircraft also has a fuel receiver rod, which allows refueling of the bomber directly in the air.
Tu-95 was built in series since 1955, at the same time it began to enter service with long-range aviation units of the USSR. Together with the Myasishchevskaya M-4 and 3M, the Tu-95 strategic bomber for several years until the first Soviet-made ICBMs were put on alert, remained the main deterrent in the nuclear confrontation between Washington and Moscow. The aircraft was produced in various versions: Tu-95 bomber, Tu-95K missile carrier, Tu-95MR strategic reconnaissance aircraft and Tu-95RTs reconnaissance and target designation aircraft for the USSR Navy. In the late 1960s, after a deep modernization of the Tu-95 aircraft design, the Tu-142 long-range anti-submarine defense aircraft was created, which in the 1970s-80s went through a very difficult path of further development and modernization. The aircraft remains in service with the aviation of the Russian fleet. On the basis of the Tu-142M in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the Tupolev Design Bureau designed a strategic missile carrier - a carrier of long-range cruise missiles - Tu-95MS.
As of 2017, the Russian Aerospace Forces is armed with 48 strategic bombers in the Tu-95MS version and 12 strategists in the Tu-95MSM version. Aircraft in the Tu-95MS-16 version are being upgraded to the Tu-95MSM version with the replacement of engines for the NK-12MVM modification with AV-60T propellers. This version is distinguished by the complete replacement of electronic equipment, while the airframe of the aircraft remains the same. The aircraft has a new sighting and navigation system, which allows the use of the latest Russian strategic cruise missiles X-101 (in the version with the X-102 thermonuclear warhead). This air-to-surface missile, designed using radar signature reduction technology, is capable of striking targets at a distance of up to 5500 km.
According to representatives of the Tupolev Design Bureau, aircraft in the Tu-95MSM modification can be successfully operated until the 2040s, and there it is already close to the centenary. It is all the more surprising that the aircraft is still not only relevant, but also sets world records and takes part in combat missions. So on July 5, 2017, the Russian strategic missile carriers Tu-95MSM, which took off from the Engels airbase, flew to Syria with air refueling and launched a missile strike at the command post and the depots of the militants of the IS terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation. The latest Russian strategic cruise missiles X-101 were used to strike, and the attack was carried out from a distance of about 1000 km to the target.
Earlier, on July 30, 2010, the Tu-95MS strategic bomber set a world record for a non-stop flight for mass-produced aircraft. Two Tu-95MS, which NATO has long called "Bears", for 43 hours patrolled the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans, as well as the Sea of Japan. In total, the planes flew about 30 thousand kilometers during this time, refueling four times in the air. Initially, it was announced 40 hours of flight, which in itself was a world record, but the aircraft crews surpassed themselves. In addition to working out the assigned tasks, the Russian military pilots checked another factor - the human factor. 43 hours without landing - these are three full-fledged transatlantic flights, while a military aircraft is far from a passenger liner in terms of convenience and comfort. As a result, neither the technicians nor the people let down.
