56 Years After First Flight, the Tu-95 Bear Is Still Going Strong

[HAIDER]

 

[HAIDER]

 

[su-47]

the bear is more symbolic than anything else. as a bomber its days are pretty much over. it'll be cannon fodder in a real war unless it is escorted by fighters.

the real soviet bomber threat for the west are the Tu-22M3 Backfire and the Tu-160 Blackjack

 

[TexasJohn]

Have to disagree there. It's a stand-off launch bomber that can fir ICBMs and cruise missiles, much like the B-52 we have.

 

[HAIDER]

Is this piston engine aircraft?

 

[su-47]

Have to disagree there. It's a stand-off launch bomber that can fir ICBMs and cruise missiles, much like the B-52 we have.

the missiles are the real threat, not the bomber. and without proper air support, the bomber will be shot down before it can launch its CMs.

On the other hand, The backfire or blackjack can be much more of a threat. They can do whatever the bear can do + much more. they are less likely to be shot down since they can go Mach 2+ to escape most threats.

 

[TexasJohn]

the missiles are the real threat, not the bomber. and without proper air support, the bomber will be shot down before it can launch its CMs.

On the other hand, The backfire or blackjack can be much more of a threat. They can do whatever the bear can do + much more. they are less likely to be shot down since they can go Mach 2+ to escape most threats.

Very true. However so can a B-52. I have seen them lumbering along here in Ft.Worth many times. SAC always had fighter escort. It would have foolish to send it into mission once. That's why, you would never get close to a Bear or a B-52.

Btw, it is a turprop, with counter rotating blades and is almost as fast as the B-52. It can carry as big a payload as the Backfire

 

[su-47]

the backfire can carry over 20 tonnes and go supersonic. the blackjack can carry over 40 Tonnes and go supersonic. blackjacks also reportedly penetrated US airspace. the bear on the other hand, can be detected by sonar, much less a radar

Tupolev Tu-22M - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tupolev Tu-160 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tupolev Tu-95 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.flightglobal.com/article...im-bomber-flights-over-us-territory-went.html

 

[TexasJohn]

Other than the "pending verification" flags your wiki pops up with, here is something to think about:

TU-95 BEAR WEAPONS

The aircraft houses a large bomb bay at the centre of gravity of the aircraft which is immediately aft of the wing central torsion box. The Tu-95MS Bear H is capable of carrying six KH-55 Granat (NATO designation AS-15 Kent) nuclear-armed long-range cruise missiles with a range of 3,000km. The missiles are mounted on a catapult launch drum in the bomb bay.

"The Tu-95 is powered by four Samara Kuznetsov NK-12MP turboprop engines."Alternatively the aircraft can carry 14 Kh-SD anti-ship missiles with a range of 600km or eight conventionally armed Kh-101 air launch cruise missiles which have a range of up to 3,000km.

It is no more about "tonnage of iron bombs" you can carry, as about strategic strikes. That's why the US has the B-1B, the stealth bomber, AND the B-52 ( which is similar in capabilities to the Bear)

Russia similarly has the Backfire, the blackjack, etc.

The Bear like the B-52 can launch in "safe" airspace and they can both do incredible damage.

Every strategic bomber is mission specific depending on ground realities.

Do not discount the Bear or the Stratafortress. They have their role, trust me.

Both can "loiter" much longer and wait