BLACKEAGLE
SENIOR MEMBER
Russia
Tupolev Tu-95
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. 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 Tu-95 is one of the noisiest military aircraft, purportedly because the tips of the propeller blades move faster than the speed of sound. 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.
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. The bombers joined those already at the Far Eastern Ukrainka air base.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On July 14, 2015 it was reported that a Tu-95MS had crashed outside Khabarovsk, killing two of seven crew members.
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.
- 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
Specifications (Tu-95MS)
Data from Combat Aircraft since 1945
General characteristics
Tupolev Tu-95
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. 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 Tu-95 is one of the noisiest military aircraft, purportedly because the tips of the propeller blades move faster than the speed of sound. 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.
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. The bombers joined those already at the Far Eastern Ukrainka air base.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
On July 14, 2015 it was reported that a Tu-95MS had crashed outside Khabarovsk, killing two of seven crew members.
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.
- 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
Specifications (Tu-95MS)
Data from Combat Aircraft since 1945
General characteristics
- Crew: 6–7; pilot, co pilot, flight engineer, communications system operator, navigator, tail gunner plus sometimes another navigator.
- Length: 46.2 m (151 ft 6 in)
- Wingspan: 50.10 m (164 ft 5 in)
- Height: 12.12 m (39 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 310 m² (3,330 ft²)
- Empty weight: 90,000 kg (198,000 lb)
- Loaded weight: 171,000 kg (376,200 lb)
- Max. takeoff weight: 188,000 kg (414,500 lb)
- Powerplant: 4 × Kuznetsov NK-12M turboprops, 11,000 kW (14,800 shp) each
- Maximum speed: 920 km/h (510 knots, 575 mph
- Range: 15,000 km (8,100 nmi, 9,400 mi) unrefueled
- Service ceiling: 13,716 m (45,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 10 m/s (2,000 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 606 kg/m² (124 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 235 W/kg (0.143 hp/lb)
- Radar-controlled guns: 1 or 2 × 23 mm AM-23 autocannon in tail turret.
- Missiles: Up to 15,000 kg (33,000 lb), including the Raduga Kh-20, Kh-22, and Kh-55/101/102, or 8 Kh-101/102 cruise missiles mounted on underwing pylons.