Tu-22M3: News

If 1 was developed from the other, then they r related by default!

The TU-22M3 is related to the TU-22M which is related to the TU-22;

TU-95/114/116/126/142s r distantly related to the B-29 & its TU-4 copy.

With them, no need to build 50 TU-160Ms, smaller 25-35 will be enough!

Developed from requires some components and design feature to remain in the design.

Tu-22 did not carry missiles.

Missiles: 1 × Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen) cruise missile
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-22#Specifications_(Tu-22R)

Tu-22M is not related to Tu-22. ..
..no relationship between the Bear and the B-29... that is just absurd.

mnztr wrote:Some articles I have read seem to indicate a new engine is part of the program, although the prototype is nott fitted with it. The engine from the TU-160, I guess the upgraded new production spec is not flight ready yet. I suspect they will show out on later test articles.

GarryB wrote:

With them, no need to build 50 TU-160Ms, smaller 25-35 will be enough!

If they are not upgrading the engines then by 2030 they will start to withdraw them. If they are going to build Tu-160s they might as well make a decent number, because the production facilities would not be cheap.

I think that the reason is different: Tu-22s are to fight fleet both defending homeland and "clearing the way" for Tu-160 going for US mainland.

Tsavo Lion wrote:

I think that the reason is different: Tu-22s are to fight fleet both defending homeland and "clearing the way" for Tu-160 going for US mainland.

The US E & W Coasts will be covered by the Status-6s; the rest of the CONUS is best reached from Russia via the mid-Arctic, & there won't be any USN CVNs there any time soon. Sending TU-22M3s & into N. Atlantic &/ N. Pacific ahead of the TU-160Ms will only telegraph the NORAD that an attack is imminent, alerting dozens of interceptors in Alaska, Canada, Norway, UK, Iceland & Greenland. As a last resort, the USAF may explode a few nukes high above to EMP large areas & disable them before they come in range to launch their ALCMs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status-6_Oceanic_Multipurpose_System

mnztr wrote:does anyone know the dimensions/weights of the NK-32 vs NK-25? How big a job is it gonna be to get this fitted?

They have similar planform, landing gear, nose & tail.

I think that the reason is different: Tu-22s are to fight fleet both defending homeland and "clesring the way" for Tu-160 going for US mainland.

They have similar planform, landing gear, nose & tail.

Look at pics of both cockpits I posted earlier, they look identical, from different angles.

Look at pics of both cockpits I posted earlier, they look identical, from different angles.

I'm an expert shooter of the M-16 rifle, but sadly not an expert on it & firearms in general.

The TU-22M is not that radical departure from the TU-22; the TU-160 is.

Thanks, they improved & rearranged it for the TU-22M:

But still, to create the Backfire, the Blinder had to be designed & used 1st.

Well you claim the Tu-22 and Tu-22M are the same because they both have wings and a single vertical fin and two engines and crew in the front...

Later, 12 years after the B-1 appeared in the USA, they produced the TU-160. I have no doubt that they borrowed many ideas from it:

Another confirmation that The ..Tu-22M3 is a deep modification of the Tu-22.

New equipment of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation

Aug 16, 11:00

"Counter Fire".  What will surprise the new Tu-22M3M bomber bomber?

Long-range Tu-22M3M missile bomber
Egor Aleev / TASS

The history of the creation of the Tu-22M and its modifications, as well as the unique flight performance of the new car - in the TASS material

On the territory of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after SP.  Gorbunov , the presentation of the new Tu-22M3M.  This is the first deep modernization of the long-range supersonic Tu-22MZ bomber-carrying bomber with a variable sweep wing that is in service of the Air & Space Forces of the Russian Federation.  The first flight of the new machine is scheduled for September this year.  It is planned that 30 Russian VKS aircraft will be upgraded to the level of the Tu-22M3M.

Aircraft of this type are designed to hit supersonic guided missiles and bombs of land and sea targets at any time of the day and in any weather conditions.  Can also be carriers of nuclear weapons.

According to data from open sources, currently about 60 units (modifications of the Tu-22M3 and Tu-22MR) are in service with long-range aviation of the Russian Federation Air Force.  Tu-22M3 used in hostilities in Afghanistan, on the territory of South Ossetia (in 2008) and successfully participated in the Syrian campaign, striking various targets of terrorists.

According to Tass military commentator Viktor Litovkin, modifications of this vehicle have been in service for more than 40 years, but "have not lost their combat mission even nowadays. This aircraft, like its strategic aviation counterparts, is one of the instruments for deterring a possible aggressor" .

"The revolution in aviation"

In 1969, US intelligence recorded the existence of a new bomber.  A year later, his first pictures were taken from the satellite at the factory airfield in Kazan.  The aircraft was identified as a long-range bomber with variable geometry wing and two engines.  He was given the name Backfire, which means "counter fire".  This name stuck in our country.


Bomber Tu-22, 1968 TASS
 Tu-22 bomber, 1968
TASS

The long-range supersonic Tu-22M3 is a deep modification of the Tu-22.  It was developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the mid-1970s.  The first flight was made on June 20, 1977, but the machine was accepted into service in 1989.  Serially built until 1993.

Several modifications were created, only one of which was produced in large series.  There was a zero series, the first, and then the “two” appeared - the Tu-22M2 (option with an increased combat load).  As admitted in an interview with Gazeta.Ru in June 2017, Pyotr Deinekin, the first commander-in-chief of the Russian Air Force, "she became a revolution in aviation, she had variable wing geometry, afterburner operation of engines, combined charging of bombs and missiles - it was a real breakthrough in the combat use of supersonic aircraft. "

Variable sweep appeared already at the zero series, but the zero and the first cars were so “raw” that the long-range aviation command categorically refused to accept them.  "Two" also began to be produced in large quantities, all of them were produced about 250 cars.  When the Tu-22M2 was already sufficiently mastered, it was replaced by another car, because it did not reach the standards required by the Air Force — speed and range.

Peter Deinekin
First Commander of the Russian Air Force, Hero of Russia

According to data from open sources, a total of 497 units of Tu-22M of various modifications were released, including 268 units of Tu-22M3.  Currently, according to the magazine The Military Balance, there are 62 aircraft of this version in Russian aviation.

In addition, the armament has a version with reconnaissance equipment in a container version instead of a bomb load - the Tu-22M3R (Tu-22MR).  In the late 1980s, about ten copies were built.

In addition, in the 1990s, the Tupolev Design Bureau worked out the possibility of creating a supersonic Tu-344 business jet for 10–12 passengers on the basis of the Tu-22MZ.  Also in the late 1990s and 2010s, the possibility of using the Tu-22M3 as a platform for launching artificial satellites into Earth orbit was studied.


Long-range Tu-22M3 bomber Ladislav Karpov / TASS
 Long-range Tu-22M3 bomber
Ladislav Karpov / TASS

The Tu-22M3 aircraft is made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration of a cantilever low-wing with a low-wing variable sweep.  The minimum sweep angle is used during takeoff and landing, and the maximum angle is used for flying at supersonic speeds or at extremely low altitudes.  The design is mainly made of aluminum alloys, as well as high-strength and heat-resistant steels, titanium and magnesium alloys.

The aircraft has a semi-monocoque fuselage, a tricycle retractable landing gear with a nose strut.  The power plant includes two turbojet dual-engine engines with an afterburner chamber NK-25 (thrust at the afterburner - 25 thousand kgf).


Flight technical characteristics of the Tu-22M3

•  The length of the aircraft - 42.46 m;  wing span - from 27.70 m (with 65 degrees sweep) to 34.28 m (with 20 degrees sweep).
•  The maximum flight speed is 2000 km / h.
•  Tactical radius of action - 2200 km.
•  Practical ceiling - 14,000 m;  practical range - 7000 km.
•  Crew - 4 people in a sealed cabin.
•  The combat load is 24,000 kg (maximum), 12,000 kg (normal).

Continuation

Aircraft armament: double-barreled stern gun GSh-23L 23 mm caliber (750 rounds of ammunition), guided and aeroballistic missiles, various types of sea mines.  The rockets are located in the fuselage compartment and on the pylons under the fixed part of the wing.


OFAB-250-270 Russian Federation / TASS
 OFAB-250-270 bombs
Office of the Press Service and Information of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation / TASS

There are active and passive means of jamming.  Crew members in an emergency can leave the cabin using ejection seats.

Tu-22M3 - unique.  It can carry the most diverse set of ammunition weighing up to 24 tons at a distance of up to 7000 km.  Moreover, it can strike both ground targets, including deeply recessed targets, such as headquarters and command posts, as well as surface targets, including aircraft carrier groups of a potential enemy.

Viktor Litovkin
TASS military commentator

There are no such aircraft abroad.  “They were not exported, although information about negotiations with the supply of these aircraft to China, India and Iran was repeatedly leaked to the press,” said a military expert.

"Absolutely other possibilities"

Modern modification - Tu-22M3M - further modernization in order to increase combat effectiveness and extend the resource.  From the former Tu-22M3 aircraft there was one glider left and part of the aircraft systems and aircraft equipment.

As a result of deep modernization, a new Tu-22M3M aircraft was produced.  It installed a completely new avionics.  Another result of the work done will be the extension of its service life to 45–50 years.

Alexander Konyukhov
General Director of PJSC "Tupolev"

For modernization, combatants Tu-22M3 will be taken, who will receive new avionics, aim-navigation complex and other on-board radio-electronic equipment.  Improved cab ergonomics.  Its radio-electronic equipment and engines will be the same as those of the newest Tu-160M2 (new engines NK-32-02 of Samara Kuznetsov PJSC).


Tu-22M3M in the final assembly shop of the Kazan Aviation Plant. SP Gorbunova Egor Aleev / TASS
 Tu-22M3M in the final assembly shop of the Kazan Aviation Plant.  S.P.  Gorbunova
Egor Aleev / TASS

The complex of on-board radio-electronic equipment Tu-22M3M will be absolutely new and unified with Tu-160M2.  This applies to all avionics, including navigation and sighting system

TASS source in defense

During the tests, the first Tu-22M3M "run-in" on it will pass equipment for the strategic missile-carrier Tu-160M.  According to the commander of the long-range aviation of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant-General Sergey Kobylash, this is done in order to completely check the new systems in the air and, if necessary, correct all the shortcomings and “growing pains” that have occurred, in order to install only proven equipment on the reproducible Tu-160.

Kobylas also said that as a result of the upgrade, the Tu-22M3M received an improvement in all characteristics, including an increased range of its flight.  “The machine is really interesting. Basically everything in it is transferred to a digital basis, the characteristics of navigation, bomber and rocket weapons are improved, the range of this aircraft is increased,” he said.  The deep modernization of the Tu-22M3M gives this plane "completely different possibilities" compared to the current combat bomber.

The capabilities of this car are impressive and far surpass all similar foreign cars.  This machine has artificial intelligence.

Sergey Kobylash
Commander of Long-Range Aviation of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General

According to data from open sources, after upgrading the Tu-22M3M will be able to use modern long-range precision weapons.  It can also carry high-precision non-nuclear weapons, including the X-32 cruise missile with a target range of up to 600 km.  These capabilities will expand the range of applied tasks and turn the Tu-22M3M into a multifunctional shock machine.

By the way, in July of this year it became known that the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation carried out tests of a Tu-22M3 bomber with a new air-to-surface missile.  The video of the joint exercises of long-range aviation aircraft and the MiG-31K was posted by the military on its Facebook page.  The video showed an X-32 air-to-surface missile designed to destroy sea and land targets.  According to unconfirmed reports, the rocket has a range of up to 1 thousand km, the speed is five times the speed of sound.

The fact that the arsenal of the Tu-22M3 replenished with the latest cruise missiles, reported back in 2016, the newspaper "Izvestia" .  "The X-32 is practically invulnerable to enemy air defense systems and interceptor fighters," the publication wrote citing a source in the Russian military-industrial complex. "After launching from a carrier aircraft, the product gains altitude up to 40 km, going into the stratosphere, and then at a steep angle diving at the target. "

Another sensation in the media was the information that the Tu-22M3 could become another carrier of aeroballistic hypersonic missiles from the composition of the aviation complex Dagger.  A regular carrier of missiles today is the MiG-31K fighter.  It was reported that the new aircraft will be tested in the composition of the shock complex.  “The dagger” will be tested on the Tu-22M3, ”the agency’s source said , adding that“ several hypersonic rockets will be tested on one bomber. ”The source did not name the start of the tests. TASS does not have official confirmation of this information.


Interceptor MiG-31K fighter with a hypersonic Dagger rocket
Alexey Nikolsky / Presidential Press Service / TASS

According to the former commander of long-range aviation, Lieutenant-General Mikhail Oparin, the Tu-22M3 is "excellent" for testing Dagger missiles in terms of their weight and dimensions.  “Will he be able to disperse her [rocket] - that’s what should be tested, to get results. For a“ long-range ”rocket, rather, an operational plan, at the same time it clearly wins in its ability to overcome the enemy’s air defense,” said Oparin, noting that the "Dagger" - a heavy rocket, designed specifically for long-range bombers.

I think it's all about speed.  The MiG-31 has a supersonic speed higher than that of the Tu-22M3, but if now it is possible to test missiles on a long-range aircraft, then this must be done.  This will enhance the combat capabilities of the RF Aerospace Forces and add power to them.

Mikhail Oparin
former commander of long-range aviation, lieutenant general

On this topic

"Fox Hound" with "Dagger": how the MiG-31 became the carrier of hypersonic weapons

Another TASS source in the defense industry noted that the range of use of the Dagger hypersonic missile will reach about 3,000 km with a new aircraft-carrier - Tu-22M3 bomber, with MiG-31K it is more than 2,000 km.  “That is, it can be used outside the air defense / missile defense zone of a potential enemy, which makes his strike irresistible,” says military expert Litovkin.  The missile of the Dagger complex flies 10 times faster than the speed of sound and is capable of overcoming all existing and prospective missile defense and air defense systems.

The first demonstration flight of a deep-upgraded Tu-22M3M will take place in September.  According to the head of "Tupolev" Alexander Konyukhov, in the same month the plane will begin to pass factory tests with the subsequent transfer to state joint tests.  "They will last for several months, according to their results, the Russian Ministry of Defense will decide on a deep modernization of the first batch of Tu-22M3 combat vehicles," he said.  The first serial Tu-22M3M will go to the troops in 2021.


Prepared by Roman Azanov

The material used data "TASS-Dossier"