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Subject: Tupolev Tu-95 Bear
Date: 10 Oct 2016 08:24:36 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-95
The Tupolev Tu-95 (Russian: ??????? ??-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 with contra-rotating propellers.
It is the only propeller-powered strategic bomber still in operational use
today. The Tu-95 is one of the loudest military aircraft, purportedly because
the tips of the propeller blades move faster than the speed of sound. Its
few mass-produced propeller driven aircraft with swept wings.
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.
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
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. 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 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.
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
received the first examples of a number of modernised strategic bombers Tu-95MSs
electronic weapons and targeting systems.
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
Number built
500+
Variants
Tupolev Tu-114 passenger airliner
Tupolev Tu-142 maritime patrol
Tupolev Tu-95LAL nuclear-powered
The early versions of this bomber lacked comfort for their crews. They had a
dank and dingy interior and there was neither a toilet nor a galley in the
aircraft. Though the living conditions on the bomber were unsatisfactory the
crews would often take two 10-hour mission trips a week to ensure combat
readiness. This gave an annual total of around 1,200 flight hours.
The bomber had the best crews available due to the nature of their mission. They
would undertake 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.
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.
Specifications (Tu-95MS)
General characteristics
navigator, tail gunner plus sometimes another navigator.
Length: 46.2 m (151 ft 6 in)
Wingspan: 50.10 m[42] (164 ft 5 in)
Height: 12.12 m (39 ft 9 in)
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)
Performance
Maximum speed: 830 km/h (516 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)
Power/mass: 235 W/kg (0.143 hp/lb)
Armament
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.
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