Tupolev Tu-95

Tu-95
Tu-95MS Bear H RF-94130 off Scotland in 2014
Role Turboprop strategic bomber or missile carrier aircraft or airborne surveillance
National origin Soviet Union
Manufacturer Tupolev
First flight 12 November 1952
Introduction 1956
Status In service
Primary users Soviet Air Forces
Soviet Navy
Russian Air Force
Produced 1952–1994
Number built 500+
Variants Tupolev Tu-114 passenger airliner
Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol
Tupolev Tu-95LAL nuclear-powered

The Tupolev Tu-95 (Russian: Туполев Ту-95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040.[1] A development of the bomber for maritime patrol is designated Tu-142, while a passenger airliner derivative was called Tu-114.

The aircraft has four Kuznetsov NK-12 engines, each driving contra-rotating propellers. It is the only propeller-powered strategic bomber still in operational use today. The tips of the propeller-blades move faster than the speed of sound, making it one of the noisiest military aircraft.[2] Its distinctive swept-back wings are at a 35° angle. The Tu-95 is one of the very few mass-produced propeller driven aircraft with swept wings. The same 35° swept angle was later used in the Boeing 707 and DC8 airliners.

Design and development

A Tu-95MS in 2007.
A Tu-95 showing its swept wing and anti-shock bodies

The design bureau led by Andrei Tupolev designed the Soviet Union's first intercontinental bomber, the 1949 Tu-85, a scaled-up version of the Tu-4, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress copy.[3]

A new requirement was issued to both Tupolev and Myasishchev design bureaus in 1950: the proposed bomber had to have an un-refueled range of 8,000 km (4,970 mi)—far enough to threaten key targets in the United States. Other goals included the ability to carry an 11,000 kg (12.1 ton) load over the target.

The big problem for Tupolev was the engine choice: the Tu-4 showed that piston engines were not powerful enough to fulfill that role, while the fuel-hungry AM-3 jet engines of the proposed T-4 intercontinental jet bomber did not provide adequate range.[4] Turboprops offered more power than the piston engines and better range than jets available for the new bomber's development at the time, while offering a top speed in between these two alternative choices.

Tupolev's proposal was selected and Tu-95 development was officially approved by the government on 11 July 1951. It featured four Kuznetsov[5] coupled turboprops, each fitted with two contra-rotating propellers of four blades each, producing a nominal 8,948 kW (12,000 eshp) power rating. The then-advanced engine was designed by a German team of ex-Junkers prisoner-engineers under Ferdinand Brandner. In contrast, the fuselage was conventional: a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with 35 degrees of sweep, an angle which ensured the main wing spar passed through the fuselage in front of the bomb bay. Retractable tricycle landing gear was fitted, with all three gear strut units retracting rearwards, with the main gear units retracting rearwards into extensions of the inner engine nacelles.

The Tu-95/I, with 2TV-2F engines, first flew in November 1952 with test pilot Alexey Perelet at the controls.[6] After six months of test flights this aircraft suffered a propeller gearbox failure and crashed, killing Perelet. The second aircraft, Tu-95/II featured four of the 12,000 ehp Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprops which proved more reliable than the coupled 2TV-2F. After a successful flight testing phase, series production of the Tu-95 started in January 1956.[5]

A Tu-95MS simulating aerial refueling with an Ilyushin Il-78 during the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on 9 May 2008.

For a long time, the Tu-95 was known to U.S./NATO intelligence as the Tu-20. While this was the original Soviet Air Force designation for the aircraft, by the time it was being supplied to operational units it was already better known under the Tu-95 designation used internally by Tupolev, and the Tu-20 designation quickly fell out of use in the USSR. Since the Tu-20 designation was used on many documents acquired by U.S. intelligence agents, the name continued to be used outside the Soviet Union.

Initially the United States Department of Defense evaluated the Tu-95 as having a maximum speed of 644 km/h (400 mph) with a range of 12,500 km (7,800 mi).[7] These numbers had to be revised upward numerous times.

Like its American counterpart, the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, the Tu-95 has continued to operate in the Russian Air Force while several subsequent iterations of bomber design have come and gone. Part of the reason for this longevity was its suitability, like the B-52, for modification to different missions. Whereas the Tu-95 was originally intended to drop free-falling nuclear weapons, it was subsequently modified to perform a wide range of roles, such as the deployment of cruise missiles, maritime patrol (Tu-142), and even civilian airliner (Tu-114). An AWACS platform (Tu-126) was developed from the Tu-114. An icon of the Cold War, the Tu-95 has served not only as a weapons platform but as a symbol of Soviet and later Russian national prestige. Russia’s air force has received the first examples of a number of modernised strategic bombers Tu-95MSs following upgrade work. Enhancements have been confined to the bomber’s electronic weapons and targeting systems.[8]

Tu-116

Main article: Tupolev Tu-116
A Tu-116 preserved at Ulyanovsk Aircraft Museum.

Designed as a stopgap in case the Tu-114A was not finished on time, two Tu-95 bombers were fitted with passenger compartments. Both aircraft had the same layout: office space, a passenger cabin consisting of 2 sections which could each accommodate 20 people in VIP seating, and the rest of the 70 m³ cabin configured as a normal airliner. Both aircraft were eventually used as crew ferries by the various Tu-95 squadrons.[9] One of these machines is preserved at Ulyanovsk Central Airport.

Operational history

Cold War symbol

The Tu-95RT variant in particular was a veritable icon of the Cold War as it performed a maritime surveillance and targeting mission for other aircraft, surface ships and submarines. It was identifiable by a large bulge under the fuselage, which reportedly housed a radar antenna and that was used to search for and detect surface ships.

In a series of nuclear surface tests that were carried out by the Soviet Union in the early through mid 1960s, on October 30, 1961 a modified Tu-95 carried and dropped the AN602 device named Tsar Bomba, which was the most powerful thermonuclear device ever detonated.[10] The bomb was attached outside underneath of the aircraft, and carrying the Tsar Bomba semi-externally, somewhat like a B.I Special version of the Avro Lancaster would with a Grand Slam eleven tonne "earthquake bomb", as the Tsar Bomba could not be carried internally inside a standard Tu-95's bomb-bay. Video footage of that particular test exists[11] as it was filmed for documentation, and shows the specially adapted Tu-95V plane - painted with anti-flash white[12] on its ventral surfaces — taking off carrying the bomb, in flight scenes of the interior and exterior of the plane and the detonation. Along with the Tsar Bomba, the Tu-95 proved to be a versatile bomber that would be the deliverer of the RDS-4 Tatyana, a fission bomb with a yield of forty-two kilotons, RDS-6S thermonuclear bomb, but the designs proved flawed, RDS-37, a 2.9-megaton thermonuclear bomb, and RP-30-32 200-kiloton bombs.[13]

The early versions of this bomber were not easy on the crews. They had a dank and dingy interior and was not suited for long-duration flights and there was neither a toilet nor a galley in the aircraft.[13] Though the living conditions on the bomber were under par the crews would often take two 10-hour mission trips a week to increase combat readiness. Totaling around 1,200 flight hours annually.[14] The bomber had the best crews due to the nature of their mission. They were dedicated crews that would include frequent missions into the Arctic to practice transpolar strikes against the United States. Unlike their American counterparts they never flew their missions with armed nuclear weapons. This hindered their mission readiness due to the fact that live ammunition had to come from special bunkers on the bases and loaded into the aircraft from the servicing trench below the bomb bay, a process that could take two hours.[15]

Present and future status

In 1992, newly independent Kazakhstan began returning the Tu-95 aircraft of the 79th Heavy Bomber Aviation Division at Dolon air base to the Russian Federation.[16] The bombers joined those already at the Far Eastern Ukrainka air base.[17]

A Tu-95 escorted by an RAF Typhoon

All Tu-95s now in Russian service are the Tu-95MS variant, built in the 1980s and 1990s. On 18 August 2007, President Vladimir Putin announced that Tu-95 patrols would resume, 15 years after they had ended.[18]

NATO fighters are often sent to intercept Tu-95s as they perform their missions along the periphery of NATO airspace, often in close proximity to each other.[19][20][21][22]

Russian Tu-95s reportedly took part in a naval exercise off the coasts of France and Spain in January 2008, alongside Tu-22M3 Backfire strategic bombers and airborne early-warning aircraft.[23]

During the Russian Stability 2008 military exercise in October 2008, Tu-95MS aircraft fired live air-launched cruise missiles for the first time since 1984. The long range of the Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile means Tu-95MS Bears can once again serve as a strategic weapons system.[24]

In June of 2015 a Tu-95 ran off a runway at the Ukrainka bomber base and caught fire during take-off in the far eastern Amur region.[25][26]

On July 14, 2015 it was reported that a Tu-95MS had crashed outside Khabarovsk, killing two of seven crew members.[27]

On 17 November 2015, Tu-95s had their combat debut being employed for the first time in long range airstrikes as part of the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War.[28][29]

Variants and derivatives

A Tu-95 performs a fly-over with an Il-78 and two MiG 29s simulating aerial refueling at the Victory Day Parade in Moscow on 9 May 2008.
A Tu-95RTs Bear D (Door Number 17) of Soviet Naval Aviation in flight in May 1983
Tupolev Tu.95LL

Several other modification of the basic Tu-95/Tu-142 airframe have existed, but these were largely unrecognized by Western intelligence or else never reached operational status within the Soviet military.

Operators

A lineup at sunset of Tu-95MS at Engels Air Force Base in December 2005.

Current

 Russian Federation

Former

 Ukraine

 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Specifications (Tu-95MS)

Right view of the Tupolev Tu-95

Data from Combat Aircraft since 1945[39]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development
Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
Related lists

References

Notes
  1. Kramnik, Ilya (19 July 2007). "Оружие: Возвращение летающего медведя" [Weapons: The return of the flying bear]. Lenta.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  2. "Russian Bear is back". Russia Today via youtube.com. 24 September 2007. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  3. "Tu-4 "Bull"". Monino Aviation. Retrieved 1 November 2009.
  4. "Tupolev Tu-95 Bear". Federation of American Scientists. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
  5. 1 2 Sobolev, D.A.; Khazanov, D.B. "Creation of the TV-2 (NK-12) turboprop engine". airpages.ru. Retrieved 5 June 2010.
  6. "Ту-95МС" [Tu-95MS]. Tupolev (in Russian). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. "Tu-20/95/142 Bear: The fastest prop-driven aircraft." Aviation.ru. Retrieved: 5 June 2010.
  8. Perry, Dominic (19 December 2014). "Russian air force takes first modernised Tupolev bombers". Flightglobal (London). Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  9. "Tupolev Tu-116". Aviastar. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  10. " Big Ivan, The Tsar Bomba ("King of Bombs"): The World's Largest Nuclear Weapon." nuclearweaponarchive.org, 3 September 2007. Retrieved: 5 June 2010.
  11. "RDS 202: Tsar Bomb, The Biggest Bomb Ever". Youtube. 17 July 2009. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  12. "RDS 202: Tsar Bomb, The Biggest Bomb Ever". Youtube. 17 July 2009. Event occurs at 1:15 to 1:50. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  13. 1 2 Zaloga, Steve (17 February 2002). The Kremlin's Nuclear Sword: The Rise and Fall of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces. p. 29.
  14. Semyonov. Rakento-Kosmicheskaya korporatsia Energia. p. 131.
  15. Prooskov, N. (14 July 1997). Reserves of Combat Readiness: The RVSN.
  16. "All Strategic Bombers Out Of Kazakhstan; Talks On Those In Ukraine." RFE/RL News Briefs, Vol. 3, No. 9, 21–25 February 1994, via Nuclear Threat Initiative.
  17. Bukharin et al. 2004, p. 385.
  18. Kramer, Andrew E. "Russia Resumes Patrols by Nuclear Bombers". The New York Times, 17 August 2007. Retrieved: 17 July 2010.
  19. "UK jets shadow Russian bombers." BBC News, 6 July 2007. Retrieved: 5 June 2010.
  20. "NORAD downplays Russian bomber interception". CBC, 25 August 2010. Retrieved: 6 September 2010.
  21. Lilley, Brian. "Canadian jets repel Russian bombers". Calgary Sun, 30 July 2010.
  22. "Portugal scrambles jets again to intercept Russian bombers".
  23. Halpin, Tony. "RAF alert as Russia stages huge naval exercise in Bay of Biscay." The Times, 17 August 2007. Retrieved: 5 June 2010.
  24. "Russia revives Cold War aircraft." Washington Times, 30 October 2008. Retrieved: 5 June 2010.
  25. "Russia Grounds 2nd Fighter Jet Fleet Amid String of Catastrophes". The Moscow Times. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  26. "Two Pilots Killed In Russian Tu-95 Bomber Crash". DefenseNews. 14 July 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
  27. "Russian bomber crashes in the Far East, kills 2" 14 July 2015 | Retrieved:14 July 2015
  28. Oliphant, Roland; Akkoc, Raziye; Steafel, Eleanor (17 November 2015). "Paris attacks: Cameron to make case for Syria military action as EU troops could be sent to France - latest news". The Daily Telegraph (Online). Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  29. "Russia's Bombers Tu-160, Tu-95MS Go Through Baptism of Fire in Syria". Sputnik. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  30. http://www.tupolev.ru/voennaya_aviatsiya
  31. 1 2 Mladenov Air International August 2015, pp. 43, 45.
  32. 1 2 "Russia’s Tu-95 Bomber Upgraded to Carry New Nuclear-Tipped Missiles". Sputnik. 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  33. http://vpk-news.ru/news/28483
  34. "Tu-96." globalsecurity.org. Retrieved: 5 June 2010.
  35. Duffy and Kandalov 1996, pp. 131–132.
  36. Karnozov, Vladimir. "IN FOCUS: Russian's next-generation bomber takes shape." Flight International, 15 October 2012.
  37. "Музей дальней авиации, Полтава" [Museum of long-range aviation, Poltava] (in Russian). Doroga.ua. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  38. "SSM" manuscript from Yahoo TO&E group
  39. Wilson 2000, p. 137.
  40. "Tu-95 Bear Strategic Bomber." Air Force Technology. Retrieved: 20 January 2011.
  41. 1 2 3 4 Grant and Dailey 2007, p. 293.
  42. Originally measured as 15,000 PS.
Bibliography
  • Bukharin, Oleg, Pavel L. Podvig and Frank von Hippel. Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces. Boston: MIT Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-262-66181-2.
  • Duffy, Paul and Andrei Kandalov. Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1996. ISBN 978-1-85310-728-3.
  • Eden, Paul (editor). The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft. London: Amber Books, 2004. ISBN 978-1-904687-84-9.
  • Gordon, Yefim and Peter Davidson. Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2006. ISBN 978-1-58007-102-4.
  • Grant, R.G. and John R. Dailey. Flight: 100 Years of Aviation. Harlow, Essex: DK Adult, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7566-1902-2.
  • Mladenov, Alexander. "Still Going Strong". Air International. Vol. 89, No. 2, August 2015. pp. 40–47. ISSN 0306-5634.
  • Wilson, Stewart. Combat Aircraft since 1945. Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications, 2000. ISBN 978-1-875671-50-2.

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