Tupolev Tu-95 variant
Tupolev Tu-95 Tu-95U
The training variant converted from surviving Bear-As: sealed bomb bay, no weapons capability and a broad red band around the rear fuselage.
History
Once the early Tu-95 and Tu-95M had been overtaken as bombers, about a dozen surviving airframes were converted to the Tu-95U standard and given over entirely to crew training. The conversion sealed the bomb bay and removed any weapons capability: the aircraft kept the handling of the bomber without being usable as one.
The external marking that identified them was deliberate — a broad red band painted around the rear fuselage. It was not a unit marking but a verification device. The START I treaty specifically recorded that the aircraft known in the West as Bear-E, renamed Bear-T and designated Tu-95U by the Soviet Union, were to be counted as training heavy bombers; the band made them recognisable at a glance during inspections.
Most served with the Long-Range Aviation training centre at Ryazan. When START I was signed in 1991 eleven Tu-95Us remained on training duties, alongside the eighty-four Tu-95MS and the sixty-three Tu-95K-22, Tu-95K and Tu-95M still in the line. Nearly all were withdrawn from use during 1991 and 1992. Some Tu-95MR photo-reconnaissance aircraft also ended their careers converted to this standard.