| Tu-22M | |
|---|---|
| A Russian Air Force Tu-22M3 | |
| Role | Strategic bomber, Maritime strike |
| Manufacturer | Tupolev |
| First flight | 30 August 1969 |
| Introduction | 1972 |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | Soviet Air Force Russian Air Force Ukrainian Air Force |
| Developed from | Tupolev Tu-22 |
The Tupolev Tu-22M (Russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, swing-wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Soviet Union. Significant numbers remain in service with the Russian Air Force.
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The Tupolev Tu-22 had not proved particularly successful, in some respects being inferior to the earlier Tu-16. Its range and take-off performance, in particular, were definite weak points. Even as the Tu-22 was entering service, OKB Tupolev began work on an improved successor.
As with the contemporary MiG-23 and Su-17 projects, the advantages of variable-geometry wings seemed attractive, allowing a combination of short take-off performance, efficient cruising, and good high-speed, low-level ride. The result was a new swing-wing aircraft called Samolyot 145 (Rus. Aeroplane 145), derived from the Tu-22, with some features borrowed from the abortive Tu-98. The Tu-22M was based on the Tu-22's weapon system and used its Kh-22 missile. The Tu-22M designation was used to help get approval for the bomber within the Soviet system.[1]
The first prototype, Tu-22M0, first flew on 30 August 1969. The resultant aircraft was first seen by NATO observers shortly thereafter. For several years it was believed in the West that its service designation was Tu-26. During the SALT negotiations of the 1980s the Soviets insisted it was the Tu-22M. At the time, Western authorities suspected that the misleading designation was intended to suggest that it was simply a derivative of the Tu-22 rather than the more advanced and capable weapon it actually was.
During the Cold War, the Tu-22M was operated by the VVS (Soviet Air Force) in a strategic bombing role, and by the AVMF (Aviatsiya Voyenno-Morskogo Flota, Soviet Naval Aviation) in a long-range maritime anti-shipping role.[2] During the 1970s, Tu-22M made a few simulated attack runs against US navy carrier battle group. The bomber also made attempts to test Japan's air defense boundary on several occasions. However unlike the Tu-22 bomber, Tu-22M bombers were not exported to middle-east countries that posed threat to US military presence in the region.[3]
The Tu-22M was first used in combat in Afghanistan from 1987 to 1989. Its usage was similar to the United States Air Force deployment of B-52 Stratofortress bombers in the Vietnam War, dropping large tonnages of conventional ordnance. The Russian Federation used the Tu-22M3 in combat in Chechnya during 1995, performing strikes near Grozny.[2]
At the time of the dissolution of the Soviet Union, some 370 remained in CIS service. Production ended in 1993. The fleet strength was about 84 aircraft in 2008,[4] with an additional 93 in reserve.
The Russian military officially acknowledged the loss of a Tu-22MR recon aircraft to Georgian air defenses early in the 2008 South Ossetia war.[5][6] One of its crew members was captured (Major Vyacheslav Malkov), two others were killed and the crew commander is missing in action as of August 2009.[7]
The Soviet Union did not export the Tu-22M, but the end of the USSR left some aircraft in the possession of former Soviet republics. Belarus has 52 aircraft. Ukraine had an additional 29, but since the Ukrainian government's renunciation of nuclear weapons, those aircraft have been destroyed, the last in 2004.
The Tupolev company has sought export customers for the Tu-22M since 1992, with possible customers including Iran, India and the People's Republic of China, but no sales have apparently been made. Four were leased to India during 2001 for maritime reconnaissance and strike purposes.[8]
Only nine of the earliest Tu-22M0 pre-production aircraft were produced, followed by nine more Tu-22M1 pilot-production craft in 1971 and 1972. Its NATO reporting name was Backfire-A.
The first major production version, entering production in 1972, was the Tu-22M2 (NATO: Backfire-B), with longer wings and an extensively redesigned, area ruled fuselage (raising the crew complement to four), twin NK-22 engines (215 kN thrust each) with F-4 Phantom II-style intakes, and new undercarriage with the main landing gear in the wing glove rather than in large pods. These were armed most commonly with long-range cruise missiles/anti-ship missiles, typically one or two Raduga Kh-22 anti-shipping missiles. Some Tu-22M2s were later reequipped with more powerful NK-23 engines and redesignated Tu-22M2Ye. In service, the Tu-22M2 was known to its crews as Dvoika ('Deuce').
The later Tu-22M3 (NATO: Backfire C), which first flew in 1976 and entered service in 1983, had new NK-25 engines with substantially more power, wedge-shaped intakes similar to the MiG-25, wings with greater maximum sweep, and a recontoured nose housing a new Leninets PN-AD radar and NK-45 nav/attack system, which provides much-improved low-altitude flight (although not true nap-of-the-earth flying). It had a revised tail turret with a single cannon, and provision for an internal rotary launcher for the Raduga Kh-15 missile, similar to the American AGM-69 SRAM. It was nicknamed Troika ('Trio'), although apparently it is sometimes referred to as Tu-22 in Russian service. Tu-22M3 has an improved thrust-weight ratio up to 0.4, maximum speed increases from M1.65 to M2.05, combat range from 5,100-6,800 km.
One topic of controversy surrounding the Tu-22M is its capacity for aerial refueling. As built, the Tu-22M has provision for a retractable in-flight refueling probe in the upper part of the nose. This was allegedly removed as a result of the SALT negotiations,[9] although it can be easily reinstated if needed,[2] and a pre-production Tu-22M1 (NATO: Backfire-A) with refueling probe can be seen at Riga Airport today.
A small number, perhaps 12, of Tu-22M3s were converted to Tu-22M3(R) or Tu-22MR standard, with Shompol side-looking radar and other ELINT equipment.[2] A dedicated electronic warfare variant, designated Tu-22MP, was built in 1986, but to date only two or three prototypes have apparently been built. Some surviving Tu-22s have had equipment and avionic upgrades to Tu-22ME standard (which does not have a separate NATO reporting name at this time).
Total production of all variants was 497 including pre-production aircraft.[2]
Data from Frawley,[11] Donald,[12] Wilson[13]
General characteristics
Performance
Armament
The Kh-55 (AS-15 'Kent') long-range cruise missile was tested on the Tu-22M[14] but apparently not used in service.
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