Why Tu-95 Still Has A Tail Gun?
Video from the channel Listopedia about Tupolev Tu-95, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 4:05. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.
Short English-language video explaining why the Tupolev Tu-95, a four-turboprop strategic bomber and missile carrier in Soviet service since 1956, still carries a tail gun, a feature more typical of the Second World War.
The narrator places the aircraft in the Cold War, when nuclear deterrence relied on bombers able to strike North America from Soviet bases thanks to a range of around 15,000 km, and when NATO countered with interceptors, missiles and radars.
The tail turret carries AM-23 cannons. At a time when air-to-air missiles were unreliable, it served to deter interceptors attacking from behind. According to the video, it also forced attackers to manoeuvre and acted as a last line of defence alongside the tail's warning systems and countermeasures. Its current usefulness is debatable.