Tupolev Tu-95

Video from the channel Hoje no Mundo Militar about Tupolev Tu-95, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 9:40. Language: Portuguese. Video type: Documentary.

First episode of a series on heavy bombers from a Portuguese channel focused on military subjects, dedicated to the Tupolev Tu-95. The video presents it as the ultimate symbol of Soviet nuclear power after the Second World War.

In the late 1940s, the Soviet air force needed a heavy bomber with a range of at least 10,000 km capable of carrying the large atomic bombs of the time. Andrei Tupolev started from the Tu-4, a copy of the American B-29. Jet engines consumed too much fuel and piston engines didn't provide enough power, so the turboprop was chosen. The project officially began in July 1951 with the Kuznetsov NK-12 engine, developed with the involvement of German engineers. After difficult testing, including a fatal accident in 1953, it entered production in January 1956. In October 1961, the 50-megaton Tsar Bomba was dropped from a Tu-95. In 2007 Russia resumed its international patrols, fifteen years after suspending them, and its combat debut came on 17 November 2015, during the Russian intervention in Syria.

It has 35° swept wings, contra-rotating propellers and a crew of up to seven. It measures 46.2 m in length, 50.10 m in wingspan and 12.12 m in height. It weighs 90 t empty and can take off at 188 t. It reaches 920 km/h, has a range of 15,000 km and a ceiling slightly above 13,500 m. It carries one or two 23 mm cannons and up to 15 t of armament, including Kh-55 cruise missiles with a range of 3,000 km. The version in service is the Tu-95MS, built in the 1980s and 1990s. It is estimated that more than 500 were built.