{|

Name	Tu-95

Type	Strategic bomber, missile carrier, airborne surveillance
Manufacturer	Tupolev
First flight	12 November 1952
Introduced	1956 (MS—1981)
Status	Active in service
Primary user	Soviet Air Forces
More users	Soviet Navy Russian Air Force
Number built	500+
Variants with their own articles	Tupolev Tu-114 Tupolev Tu-119 Tupolev Tu-142 }}

|}

The Tupolev Tu-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 former Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040. A naval development of the bomber is designated Tu-142.

The aircraft has four Kuznetsov NK-12 engines, each driving contra-rotating propellers. An airliner variant Tu-114 holds the record as the world's fastest propeller-driven aircraft. Some experimental aircraft were designed for theoretically higher speeds, but none attained or registered them. It also remains the only turboprop-powered strategic bomber in operational use. Its distinctively swept-back wings are at 35°, a very sharp angle by the standards of propeller-driven aircraft, and justified by its operating speeds and altitudes. Its blades, which rotate faster than the speed of sound, according to one media source, make it arguably the noisiest military aircraft on earth, with only the experimental 1950s era Republic Thunderscreech turboprop powered American fighter design as a likely rival.

Design and development

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. The Tu-4 was deemed to be inadequate against the new generation of American all-weather interceptors.

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 8000 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 (11 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. Turboprops offered more power than piston engines and better range than jets, with a top speed in between.

Tupolev's proposal was selected and Tu-95 development was officially approved by the government on 11 July 1951. It featured four Kuznetsov coupled turboprops fitted with eight-bladed contra-rotating propellers, producing a nominal 8,948 kW (12,000 eshp) power rating. Unlike the advanced engine design, 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 November 11, 1952 with test-pilot Alexey Perelet at the controls, but suffered a propeller gearbox failure and crashed. 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.

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). 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.

Tu-116

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: a 3-seat VIP section with office space, and the rest of the 70 m³ cabin configured as a normal airliner. Both planes were eventually used as crew ferries by the various Tu-95 squadrons. One of these machines is preserved at Ulyanovsk Central Airport.

Operational history

Cold War icon

The Tu-95RT variant in particular was a veritable icon of the Cold War as it performed a vital maritime surveillance and targeting mission for other aircraft, surface ships and submarines. It was identifiable by a large bulge under the fuselage, which housed a radar antenna that was used to search for and target surface ships. The US Navy placed high priority in intercepting the Tu-95RT aircraft at least two hundred miles from aircraft carriers with its interceptors, which would then escort the Tu-95 away from NATO airspace.

During interceptions, Tu-95 tail gunners typically kept their twin cannon pointed upwards so as not to antagonize the intercepting fighters. Similarly, NATO rules of engagement for interceptions restricted aircrews from locking onto the Tu-95 with fire control radar lest this be misinterpreted as a hostile act.

During the height of the Cold War, the long range of the Tu-95 was demonstrated weekly as a pair of Tu-95s would fly from the Kola Peninsula to Cuba along the East Coast of the United States, escorted continuously along the way.

The Tu-95 carried and dropped the AN602 Tsar Bomba, the largest and most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated (deliberately de-rated from 100 to 50 megatons), in 1961.

Present and future status

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

NATO fighters were (and still are) often sent to intercept Tu-95s as they performed their missions along the periphery of NATO airspace, often in very close formation.

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.

In October 2008, during a Russian military exercise code-named Stability 2008, Tu-95MS aircraft fired live air launched cruise missiles (ALCM) for the first time since 1984. The long range of the Raduga Kh-55 ALCM means the Tu-95MS Bears have been transformed once again into a strategic weapons system.

Variants and derivatives

Tu-95/1: The first prototype powered by Kuznetsov 2TV-2F coupled turboprop engines, crashed on its 17th flight on 11 May 1953.

Tu-95/2: The second prototype powered by Kuznetsov NK-12 turboprops.

Tu-95/Tu-95M: Basic variant of the long-range strategic bomber and the only model of the aircraft never fitted with a nose refuelling probe. Known to NATO as the Bear-A.

Tu-95K: Experimental version for air-dropping a MiG-19 SM-20 jet aircraft.

Tu-95K22: Conversions of the older Bear bombers, reconfigured to carry the Raduga Kh-22 missile and incorporating modern avionics. Known to NATO as the Bear-G.

Tu-95K/Tu-95KD: Designed to carry the Raduga Kh-20 air-to-surface missile. The Tu-95KD aircraft were the first to be outfitted with nose probes. Known to NATO as the Bear-B.

Tu-95KM:Modified and upgraded versions of the Tu-95K, most notable for their enhanced reconnaissance systems. These were in turn converted into the Bear G configuration. Known to NATO as the Bear-C.

Tu-95M-55: Missile carrier.

Tu-95MR: Bear A modified for photo-reconnaissance and produced for Naval Aviation. Known to NATO as the Bear-E.

Tu-95MS/Tu-95MS6/Tu-95MS16:– Completely new cruise missile carrier platform based on the Tu-142 airframe. This variant became the launch platform of the Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile. Known to NATO as the Bear-H and was referred to by the U.S. military as a Tu-142 for some time in the 1980s before its true designation became known.

Tu-95N: Experimental version for air-dropping an RS ramjet powered aircraft.

Tu-95RTs: Razvedchik Tseleukazatel: Variant of the basic Bear A configuration, redesigned for maritime reconnaissance and targeting as well as electronic intelligence for service in the Soviet Naval Aviation. Known to NATO as the Bear-D.

Tu-95U Uchebnyy: Trainer: Training variant, modified from surviving Bear A's but now all have been retired. Known to NATO as the Bear-T.

Tu-96: long-range intercontinental high-altitude strategic bomber prototype, a high-altitude version of the Tupolev Tu-95 aircraft with high-altitude augmented turboprop TV-16 engines and with a new,enlarged area wing. Plant tests of the aircraft were performed with non-high altitude TV-12 engines in 1955–1956.

Tu-114: Airliner derivative of Tu-95.

Tu-116: Tu-95 fitted with passenger cabins as a stop-gap while the Tu-114 was being developed. Only two converted.

Tu-95LaL (Tu-119): Experimental nuclear-powered aircraft project.

Tu-126: AEW&C; derivative of Tu-114, itself derived from the Tu-95.

Tu-142: Maritime reconnaissance/anti-submarine warfare derivative of Tu-95. Known to NATO as the Bear-F.

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. One of these modified Bears, known as the Tu-95V, was used to drop the Tsar Bomba.

Operators

Current

Russian Air Force: 50 Tu-95MS strategic bombers.

Former

Ukrainian Air Force: Retired from military service. Operates two Tu-95s for testing.

Soviet Air Forces, Long Range Aviation: Passed on to Russia and Ukraine.

The first Tu-95 division, 106th TBAD (Heavy Bomber Air Division), was formed in 1956. The division commander was twice-Hero of the Soviet Union A.G. Molodchi. The 106th TBAD incorporated the 409th TBAP (Heavy Bomber Air Regiment) (commander — Colonel M.M. Charitonov) which was raised late in 1956 and the 1006th TBAP (commander — Colonel V.P. Pavlov) raised in 1956. The 106th TBAD's base was Uzin near Kiev.

* The 1223rd TBAP in Semipalatinsk, under the command of Hero of the Soviet Union Colonel V.M. Bezbokov, was raised in 1957, within the 79th Air Division (commander — twice-Hero of the Soviet Union General Major M.P. Taran). The 1223rd's targets were the north of the US and Canada.

Soviet Naval Aviation

Specifications (Tu-95MS)

{{aircraft specifications |plane or copter?=plane |jet or prop?=prop |ref=Combat Aircraft since 1945 |crew=6–7 |length main=46.2 m |length alt=151 ft 6 in |span main=50.10 m |span alt=164 ft 5 in |height main=12.12 m |height alt=39 ft 9 in |area main=310 m² |area alt=3,330 ft² |empty weight main=90,000 kg |empty weight alt=198,000 lb |loaded weight main=171,000 kg |loaded weight alt=376,200 lb |max takeoff weight main=188,000 kg |max takeoff weight alt=414,500 lb |engine (prop)=Kuznetsov NK-12M |type of prop=turboprops |number of props=4 |power main=11,000 kW |power alt=14,800 shp |power original= |max speed main=920 km/h |max speed alt=510 knots, 575 mph |range main=15,000 km |range alt=8,100 nmi, 9,400 mi |range more=unrefueled |ceiling main=13,716 m |ceiling alt=45,000 ft |climb rate main=10 m/s |climb rate alt=2,000 ft/min |loading main=606 kg/m² |loading alt=124 lb/ft² |power/mass main=235 W/kg |power/mass alt=0.143 hp/lb |armament=

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, Kh-26, and Kh-55 air-to-surface missiles.

}}

See also

;Related

Tupolev Tu-114

Tupolev Tu-119

Tupolev Tu-126

Tupolev Tu-142

;Similar aircraft

Boeing B-52 Stratofortress

Convair B-36

Myasishchev M-4 Molot

Xian H-6K

;Lists

List of bomber aircraft

List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

References

;Notes ;Bibliography

Duffy, Paul and Andrei Kandalov. Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft. Shrewsbury, UK: Airlife, 1996. ISBN 1-85310-728-X.

Eden, Paul (editor). The Encyclopedia of Modern Military Aircraft. London: Amber Books, 2004. ISBN 1-904687-84-9.

Gordon, Yefim and Peter Davidson. Tupolev Tu-95 Bear. North Branch, Minnesota: Specialty Press, 2006. ISBN 1-58007-102-3.

Grant, R.G. and John R. Dailey. Flight: 100 Years of Aviation. Harlow, Essex: DK Adult, 2007. ISBN 978-0-7566-1902-2.

Wilson, Stewart. Combat Aircraft since 1945. Fyshwick, Australia: Aerospace Publications, 2000. ISBN 1-875671-50-1.

External links

"Bears prowl the Atlantic skies" video report from Russia Today

Category:Aircraft with contra-rotating propellers Category:Soviet bomber aircraft 1950-1959 Tu-0095 Tu-0116

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