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A Tu-95 flying over Moscow in 2014 | |
Role | Strategic heavy bomber |
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National origin | Soviet Union |
Manufacturer | Aviakor |
Design group | Tupolev |
First flight | 12 November 1952; 71 years ago |
Introduction | 1956 |
Status | In service |
Primary users | Russian Aerospace Forces Soviet Air Forces (historical) Soviet Navy (historical) Ukrainian Air Force (historical) |
Produced | 1952–1993 |
Number built | >500 |
Variants | Tupolev Tu-114 Tupolev Tu-142 Tupolev Tu-95LAL Tupolev Tu-116 |
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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 (5,000 mi), far enough to threaten key targets in the United States. Other goals included the ability to carry an 11,000 kg (24,000 lb) load over the target.
Tupolev was faced with selecting a suitable type of powerplant: the Tu-4 showed that piston engines were not powerful enough for such a large aircraft, and the AM-3 jet engines for the proposed T-4 intercontinental jet bomber used too much fuel to give the required range. Turboprop engines were more powerful than piston engines and gave better range than the turbojets available at the time, and gave a top speed between the two. Turboprops were also initially selected for the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress to meet its long range requirement, and for the British long-range transport aircraft, the Saunders-Roe Princess, the Bristol Brabazon Mk 2 and the Bristol Britannia.
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Ukrainian Air Force – inherited 23–29 Tu-95MS aircraft after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and subsequently handed 3 Tu-95MS and 581 Kh-55 cruise missiles to Russia as exchange for gas debt relief in 2000; the remainder were scrapped under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement led by the US.
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.
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.