Aviapedia

Tu-95 Bear strategic bomber and missile carrier

A.N. Tupolev OKB
First Flight: 12 november 1952 with A.D. Perelet test-pilot at the controls.
Year of issue: 1954
Engine: four NK-12 turboprop engines
Engine power, h p: 4 x 12.000
Crew: 8
Take-off weight maximum, kg: 172.000
Range, km: 15.400
Ceiling, m: 12.000
Maximum speed, km/h: 920
Bomb load maximum, kg: 12.000

This plane was constructed by Tupolev as a part of Stalin’s order to create bomber to fly America and back. At the same time Myasishev tried to fulfill the task with modern turbojet engines, but failed because of low jet technologies level at that time. Read about it in M-4 ‘Bison’ bomber article.

Tupolev didn’t make the same mistake. Back to Stalin demanding intercontinental bomber, Tupolev realized that Soviet jet engines were not efficient enough to achieve the range Stalin was looking for. Instead Tupolev looked to the turboprop.

The turboprop engine was developed by the Kuznetsov bureau. Kuznetsov benefited from influence of German engine builders, who arrived in Moscow after the war. In the early 1950th they developed a turboshaft engine with throw of pair counter-rotating propellers. Engine produced an impressive 12000 horsepower. Tupolev lighlty guessed that the engine-propeller combination was more efficient then the jets of the time.

In 1955 Moscow airshow western observers watched a big sweptwing aircraft fly over head. One was powered by turboprop rather then jet. At that time people paid little attention to the new aircraft focused rather on the jet-powered ‘Bison’ they had seen a year before. Western observers had no idea they’ve just seen a prototype version of a bomber that will pose the greatest threat to NATO for years to come. It was Tu-95 ‘Bear’.

The ‘Bear’ is an exotic-looking bomber. Most striking are the massive propellers each over 16.5 feet in diameter. At maximum speed all 32 propellers are speening at 750 revolutions per minute. And the tips of the propellers moving at Mach 1.08.

The first model ‘Bear’ was a dedicated long-range strategic bomber. Its wing span was nearly 170 feet with a payload of almost 500.000 pounds, slightly less then Americas B-52. From nose to tail it stretches 158 feet.

The ‘Bear’ entered service in the late 50th. In an age when jet-power meant everything it stood out as an unique achievement. It was the only turboprop-driven bomber in the world to ever enter frontline service. It could achieve a top speed of over 575 miles an hour - a 100 miles an hour faster then most engineers thought possible in a propeller-driven aircraft. With a range of over 8000 miles the Soviets now had a bomber which could reach the American hard land. Like Tupolev’s record brakers of 1930th the most direct route for Soviet strategic bombers was over the North Pole.

The long-range threat posed by the ‘Bear’ bomber forced changes in America’s defensive thinking. In 1950th the air defense command was established to protect America’s northern frontiers. It was comprised of three lines of early-warning radar systems. If a Soviet bomber formation trip the alarm F-106 intercepters were sent to grid it.

As was with the ‘Badger’, Andrey Tupolev built the civilian version of Tu-95. In 1961 the Tu-114 entered service with Aeroflot and soon became the backbone of Soviet international travel. It was one of the most unusual looking passenger planes to enter service. But its range was impressive and soon it was making daily non-stop flights between Moscow and Cuba.

The ‘Bear’s landing gear are made extremely long to allow clearance for it’s big propellers. Like all Soviet military aircraft they were also made rugged enough to handle rough unpaved landing strips.

Essayed from it’s basic design features the ‘Bear’ proved to be one of the world’s most modified airframes. Over it’s long and distinguish carreer it would enter service in at least 15 dedicated variants. The original Tu-95 the ‘Bear-A’ was build to carry a 5 ton bomb-load to a target 4500 miles away. But as a conventional bomber the ‘Bear’ was quickly made obsolete thanks to surface-to-air missiles.

Like the ‘Badger’ Tupolev modified his ‘Bear’ to carrier of array of big stand-off missiles. This aircraft, a Tu-95K-20th known in the west as ‘Bear-B’s. The most obvious distinction is a sort of large chunk jutting out from under the cockpit. When it first appeared, its pilots called it the “Duck bill”. But inside was a lethal innovation. A long-range guiding system using I-band radar was used to scan the horizont for targets. Recessed in the bomb bay a10 ton 50 foot long guided missile was poised to launch. A ‘Kangaroo’, as it became known on the west, could carry a nuclear warhead.

With the emergence of ‘Bear-B’ in 1959 the turboprop bomber was no longer obsolete.

When the ‘Kangaroo’ missile was first deployed, it was about 7 feet longer, than a premiere Soviet fighter of that time, the Mig-19. Soviet military planners quickly deduced that if a ‘Bear-B’ could launch a ‘Kangaroo’, it could also launch a Mig.

The Soviets may have been inspired by the American fighter conveyor or FICON program of the earlier 50th. The US airforces experimented with dropping RF-84 aircraft from RB-36 bomber. It was an effort to give sustentional range to fighter or reconnaissance aircrfat. It appears that the Soviets had a similar idea in mind.

Over time the ‘Bear-B’ aircraft were updated to carry new or more sophisticated avionics. The ‘Bear-G’ had an improved electronic warfare used to handle target for the new generation of air-to-surface missiles. The deadly KH-22 missile could be carried in a bailee or on the pylon under each wing. The ‘Bear-G’ also had an electronic intelligent sphering and cameras on each side towards to rear fuselage. But the most visible difference of the ‘Bear-G’ is a refilling probe. Unlike the ‘Badger’ all Bear variants had a refilling probes on the nose. The prototype first flew in 1975 and almost 50 of this variant remained on service till the mid 90th.

The final missile-carrying version of the Bear was the Tu-95 MS-6 also called the ‘Bear-H’. The ‘Bear-H’s biggest giveaway is the shorter forward fuselage. The ‘Bear-H’ was first flown in 1979. The goal of Tupolev designers was to dramatically improve the aircraft’s defensive capabilitiy. This they did. The aircraft was given full defensive avionics, jamming equipment and chaff and flare dispensers. Various antennas under the nose and tail provided infrared warning.

One of the most polific variants was the Tu-95 RT also called the ‘Bear-D’. The ‘Bear-D’ entered service with Soviet navy in 1964. Its main role was maritime reconnaissance. It also relay a target information to Soviet submarines and cruise missile ships. The ‘Bear-D’s most distinguishing feature was its two large radar doms - small one under the nose and the much larger one at the bomb bay. The smaller radom was used for submarine or ship launch missile guidance. The larger bailee radom was used for targeting ships over the horizon. Two large dorsal antennas were used to link up to Soviet reconnaissance satellites and communication centers back home.

Because of the Bears legendary range Soviet crews spent much of their time in a company of American fighter escort.