Aviation of Russia. Bombers of Russia

Many have heard of the tank power of Russia many times. Bombers, oddly enough, are mentioned much less often. But we should not neglect aviation, as well as fleet. This is a very important component, allowing you to control the airspace of the state, protecting it or attacking the enemy from the air. In this article, we'll just talk about strategic bombers and Russian fighter aircraft in service.

Strategic Bomber

Before going directly to the topic, I would like to talk about what technique belongs to the strategic class, because it is the one that has the greatest significance for modern aviation. So, a strategic combat aircraft is designed to deliver nuclear strikes by dropping bombs or missiles at strategically important enemy targets. It should not be confused with strategic and tactical military equipment. The latter is used to destroy the enemy's equipment and manpower. It should be noted that at present only in the armament of two countries in the world there are strategic bombers, this is Russia and the United States. Well, now we turn to the consideration of specific models.

Tu-160, or "Blackjack"

All aviation receives the NATO classification and name. In this case it's Blackjack. At the same time, the factory designation is "Object 70". Such bombers of Russia belong to the class of strategic with a wing of variable sweep. This unit was developed at the Tupolev Academy back in the 1970s and is still in use.

Today it is the largest and most powerful aircraft of this class, with variable wing geometry and maximum take-off weight. Pilots often call the Tu-160 "white swan". It can be said that during the development of the bomber strict requirements were put forward which had to be fulfilled. For example, the total mass of the combat load should be at least 45 tons, and the range of flight - at least 10-15 thousand kilometers. Since all the requirements were met, more than 25 copies were serially produced, and there were also about 8 prototypes.

In brief about the technical characteristics of the Tu-160

As noted a little higher, the wing has a variable sweep wing. The minimum swing is 57.7 meters. The most interesting part is the power plant, which consists of 4 NK-32 engines. Each motor is a three-shaft 2-circuit with a displacement of the output streams. As for the fuel system, it is designed for 171,000 liters of aviation fuel (nitrided). Thus for each engine there is a separate tank, but a part of fuel is allocated on centering. Possible refueling in the air.

As for weapons, the Tu-160 are bombers of Russia, which have destructive power. Initially, the unit was designed exclusively as a carrier of long-range cruise missiles. But in the future it was decided to slightly expand the nomenclature of ammunition. At the present time, they are trying to add high-precision long-range cruise missiles of the type x-555 and x-101.

Long-range bombers of Russia: Tu-95MS

This unit was classified as NATO Bear, which means "Bear". This is a turboprop strategic bomber-missile carrier. It should be noted that the Tu-95 became a true symbol of the Cold War, because of this, it was decided to deeply modify and create a more efficient and powerful Tu-95MS. It is worth noting that the bomber is the latest adopted for service in the whole world, hence, and the newest, which is important. This aircraft car has gone through just a huge number of modifications. The latter consisted in the possibility of hitting important enemy targets with cruise missiles in all weather conditions and at any time of the day. It was Tu-95MS that set the record of non-stop flight. For 43 hours a couple of bombers flew about 30 thousand kilometers, with four refueling in the air.

About arming Tu-95MSM

The new bomber of Russia Tu-95MS has a total bomb load of about 12 tons. The fuselage bomb compartment assumes the possibility of placing nuclear free-falling bombs with a caliber of 9,000 kilograms. In addition, the Tu-95MS is equipped with cruise missiles x-20. They are mainly designed to defeat the enemy's radio-contrast targets at a distance of 300 to 600 kilometers.

It is worth noting that many experts say that it is the Tu-95MS that is key, that is, the main part of Russian aviation. The aircraft is equipped with cruise missiles x-55. At the same time, from 5 to 10 such missiles are deployed in various modifications of the missile carrier. In some cases, a device for free discharge of a nuclear bomb is dismantled, in view of its uselessness. On board there is also a defensive armament, which consists of 23-millimeter aircraft guns. Their number varies depending on the modification and can be from 3 to 8 pieces.

New strategic bomber of Russia Tu-22M

The "reverse flash", according to NATO classification, or "product 45" - the factory name. It is a supersonic long-range missile-bomber with adjustable wing geometry. T-22M - the latest modification of the Tu-22 - is not much different from the Tu-22K. Many people say that this was the result of political manipulation. So, the development of the Tu-22M was started only to save money. Nevertheless, the decision was not the worst, the aircraft still stands in Russia's arsenal and shows good results.

Today, there are a lot of modifications of the Tu-22M, such as Tu-22M0, Tu-22M1 and Tu-22M2 and M3. But in spite of this, all Russian bombers of this class differ insignificantly, that's why it's customary to talk about the Tu-22M. Although we can not say that all the modifications made did not improve the technical characteristics of the unit in any way. For example, the mass of the Tu-22M1 was reduced by 3 tons, due to which it was possible to improve the aerodynamic characteristics. And Tu-22M2 was able to equip with more powerful long-range cruise missiles.

A little about armament

Any prospective bomber of Russia should have on its board effective protective weapons and powerful nuclear missiles that would hit strategic enemy targets. All this was at the Tu-22M3, the last modification of the Tu-22M. The total bomb load is 24 tons. At the same time, anti-ship missiles, free-falling nuclear bombs, mines and a pair of cruise missiles x-22 can be on board. A key feature is the presence on board of the so-called SUR (missile weapons control system), which provides for the presence of 4 aeroballistic missiles.

As for the defense, a remote-controlled aft cannon system with an increased firing rate (up to 4,000 rounds per minute) and a shortened block of barrels are envisaged here. The aiming is carried out with the help of the "Krypton" system, and fire control can be switched to automatic mode.

Conclusion

We examined the main bombers of Russia. You can see a photo of these machines in this article. It is worth noting that all equipment is in service with the Russian Federation. Many of the above-mentioned aircraft are deployed in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries of the former Soviet Union. At the present time, many military bases have long been disbanded and abandoned, and all that is left there is usually called an "air cemetery". In addition, as noted above, bombers and missile carriers are only in the US and Russia, but this is official data. In principle, this is all that can be told about the main heavy aviation equipment, which is used and will not be written off in the coming years. Many projects are currently under development, but detailed information is not disclosed. Yes, and there is no point in talking about what has not yet skyrocketed.