Tu-22M3: News

marcellogo wrote:No seriously, maybe there is an internal project called M6 or they just think 7 sound better.

well, it looks like some day we'll learn but not today

GunshipDemocracy wrote:

Tsavo Lion wrote:What the reason for deleting the tailgun? Does it have something better for self defence? Or perhaps it'll always be escorted by fighters?

unless its a lacer or maser gun there is not really effective. This is just  IIWW relic. Perhaps efficient with large slow drones not with current threats. just

BTW it was AFAIK 2x23mm gun with v0~ 700m/s. That cannot hit anything except P-51 or Me-109 :-)

I think you're confused on what the true purpose of the tail guns, which were effective chaff and flair dispensers, not a CIWS system. Such a system would be incredibly effective even today, and even more effective for ground forces protecting armored columns from PGM strikes, however modern ECM (powered by the NK-25/32) would have vastly superior range in comparison.

The upgraded Tu-22M3M bomber made the first flight

MOSCOW, Dec 28 - RIA News. The first flight of a modernized Tu-22M3M bomber took place, journalists were told at PJSC "Tupolev" (part of the KLA).
"The twenty-eighth of December 2018 at the airfield of KAZ named after S.P. Gorbunov - branch of PJSC" Tupolev "took place the first flight of a deeply modernized Tu-22M3M bomber-carrying bomber. “The plane was piloted by the crew under the supervision of test pilot Zhukovskaya Oleg Petunin’s flight test and development base. The flight took place at an altitude of 1500 meters and lasted 37 minutes,” the press service said.


More
https://ria.ru/20181228/1548856837.html

Petunina?

Hole wrote:Petunina?

Edit

"Significant expansion of combat potential": a modernized Tu-22M3M bomber made the first flight
https://russian.rt.com/russia/article/588105-bombardirovschik-tu-22m3m-pervyi-polyot

dino00 wrote:

Hole wrote:Petunina?

Edit

The test pilot. I feared it could be some sort of project name.

Hole wrote:

dino00 wrote:

Hole wrote:Petunina?

Edit

The test pilot. I feared it could be some sort of project name.

Whats your opposition to Petunia? It falls in line with Tulip, Pion/Peony.

Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation earlier said that the upgrade of operational Tu-22M3 planes to the level of the Tu-22M3M would begin from 2019 and the first serial-produced bombers would start arriving for the troops from 2021.

More:
http://tass.com/defense/1038351

Don't really care what they call it... I just hope they give it the new production NK-32 engines and with development increase their thrust by quite a bit...

The improvement in commonality with the Blackjack alone will help with costs just in being able to operate with one set of spare engine parts and training ground crews on one type of engine instead of two different engines doing practically the same job...

Tsavo Lion wrote:"Significant expansion of combat potential": a modernized Tu-22M3M bomber made the first flight
https://russian.rt.com/russia/article/588105-bombardirovschik-tu-22m3m-pervyi-polyot

Hmm article calls the Kh-32 missle irrelevant.It actually seems like a very formidable weapon.

Don't really care what they call it... I just hope they give it the new production NK-32 engines and with development increase their thrust by quite a bit...

Agree.

I hope they squared off that ECM antenna where the gun was.

When we first heard about it the Kh-32 sounded like a pretty fantastic missile... double the speed and double the range of the Kh-22M, but recently I have heard figures rather less impressive than that, but still it is a very impressive weapon.

Its range is supposed to be 800-1,000km and a flight speed of mach 4.5 (so range is double but more like a 50% increase in speed).

Of course it is a very large weapon and the new Gzur weapon with high speed flight (mach 6) and 1,500km range in a 1.5 ton missile that could be carried internally sounds very interesting too... I would think that two external Kh-32s and 6 internal Gzurs would be a very formidable armament.

I think even the Kh-22M flying at 40km altitude at mach 3 for 400km is a potent weapon... Kh-32 would be even more so...

GarryB wrote:

Of course it is a very large weapon and the new Gzur weapon with high speed flight (mach 6) and 1,500km range in a 1.5 ton missile that could be carried internally sounds very interesting too... I would think that two external Kh-32s and 6 internal Gzurs would be a very formidable armament.

I think even the Kh-22M flying at 40km altitude at mach 3 for 400km is a potent weapon... Kh-32 would be even more so...

Kh22 had very toxic fuel and was filled right before flight AFAIK. Not sure about Kh-32 but it is large heavy and unlikely carried with GZURS. First thing why: a different ranges, speeds and slows down and makes range shorter.

After BMPD Kh-50 i planned 6 internally 2 externally. IMHO similar will be with GZURS.

GarryB wrote:When we first heard about it the Kh-32 sounded like a pretty fantastic missile... double the speed and double the range of the Kh-22M, but recently I have heard figures rather less impressive than that, but still it is a very impressive weapon.

Its range is supposed to be 800-1,000km and a flight speed of mach 4.5 (so range is double but more like a 50% increase in speed).

Of course it is a very large weapon and the new Gzur weapon with high speed flight (mach 6) and 1,500km range in a 1.5 ton missile that could be carried internally sounds very interesting too... I would think that two external Kh-32s and 6 internal Gzurs would be a very formidable armament.

I think even the Kh-22M flying at 40km altitude at mach 3 for 400km is a potent weapon... Kh-32 would be even more so...

800 to 1000 km at mach 4.5 is a very formiidable weapon. But I suppose the reality is Kinzhal is faster, about the same range in a much smaller package and much cheaper to produce. Perhaps that is why KH-32 is irrelevant and will not really be carried over for the M3M. It will probably hang around until the upgraded plane is avail and to arm some older planes that are not upgraded, but the new kit will get the new missiles. Now that I think about it, it kinda makes sense.

The Kh-32 is one of the victims of the 90´s. Its service introduction was at least ten years late. It was overturned by new developments. But it is still a formidable weapon.

The upgraded long-range Tu-22M3M bombers will maintain their previous range.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3495463.html

George1 wrote:The upgraded long-range Tu-22M3M bombers will maintain their previous range.



https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3495463.html

So kh-32 and kh-50 wont be nuclear?

dino00 wrote: So kh-32 and kh-50 wont be nuclear?

Kh-32 is aero-ballistic not CM, Kh-50 might not need to be nuke tipped. Tu-95 can carry lot Kh-102 with much longer rnge.

So kh-32 and kh-50 wont be nuclear?

With that sort of flight speed they wouldn't need nuclear warheads.

The upgraded long-range Tu-22M3M bombers will maintain their previous range.

So perhaps they will expand their payload potential and make them heavier to keep the range down?

The inflight refuelling probe suggests any range they want...

The limitations are from a time as Russia had 150+ strategic and around 1.000 medium range bombers. Today it´s around 70 strategic and 60 - 80 medium range bombers. Even if all Tu-22M3M´s would be re-registered as strategic bombers they won´t reach the old levels.

All their potential targets r reachable w/o refueling from Russia & Syria. Once in Venezuela/Cuba, they won't need it there either, bringing USN CSGs off Norfolk in their cross hairs as soon as they go 12nmi offshore!

Yeah, but IFR means it can carry 24 tons of weapons and still reach a combat radius of 4.000km.

Please list potential targets that far away from RuAF bases & which need so many weapons dropped on them. Syria bound large scale air raids r over. https://theaviationist.com/2016/08/16/russian-tu-22-bombers-deploy-to-iran-and-launch-first-air-strikes-on-isis-in-syria/

Big naval surface targets can be disabled by long range anti radiation ALCMs. IRPs add flexibility but they r not that essential most of the time.