Tupolev Tu-160
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Tu-160
Tupolev Tu-160 in 2001
Type Strategic bomber
Manufacturer Tupolev
Maiden flight 18 December 1981
Introduced 1987/2005 (official)
Status In production
Primary user Russian Air Force
Produced Kazan Aircraft Plant
Number built 35
Developed from Myasishchev M-18

The Tupolev Tu-160 (NATO reporting name Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber designed by the Soviet Union. Similar, but more complex, and with more payload capacity than B-1 Lancer, it was the last Soviet strategic bomber design and the heaviest combat aircraft ever built. Introduced in 1987, production of the aircraft still continues, with 19 currently in service with the Russian Air Force. Its pilots call the Tu-160 the "White Swan", due to the surprising maneuverability and antiflash white finish of the aircraft.[1]
Contents
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* 1 History
* 2 Deployment
* 3 Description
* 4 Modernization
* 5 Variants
* 6 Operators
o 6.1 Current
o 6.2 Former
* 7 Specifications (Tu-160)
* 8 References
* 9 External links
* 10 Related content

[edit] History

The first competition for a supersonic strategic heavy bomber was launched in the Soviet Union in 1967. The new plane was to have a cruise speed of over Mach 3, in response to the American XB-70 Valkyrie. It soon became apparent that such an aircraft would be too expensive and difficult to produce, so it was decided to reduce demands (in the U.S., the XB-70 project had already been cancelled).

In 1972 the Soviet Union launched a new multi-mission bomber competition to create a new supersonic, variable-geometry ("swing-wing") heavy bomber with a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, in response to the U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber project. The Tupolev design, dubbed Aircraft 160M, with a lengthened flying wing layout and incorporating some elements of the Tu-144, competed against the Myasishchev M-18 and the Sukhoi T-4 designs. Myasishchev's version, proposing a variable-geometry aircraft, was considered to be the most successful, although the Tupolev organization was regarded as having the greatest potential for completing this complex project. Consequently, Tupolev was assigned in 1973 the development of a new aircraft based on the Myasishchev design.

Although the B-1A was cancelled in 1977, work on the new Soviet bomber continued, and in the same year, the design was accepted by the government committee. The prototype was photographed by an airline passenger at a Zhukovsky Airfield in November 1981, about a month before the aircraft's first flight on 18 December 1981. Production was authorized in 1984, beginning at Kazan Aviation Association. Production of the aircraft, designated Tu-160 (factory designation "aircraft K" or "product 70"), was originally intended to total 100 aircraft, although only 35 have been produced, including three prototypes. The second prototype was lost in flight testing in 1987, the crew ejecting successfully. Production slowed due to lack of funds, and ceased in 1994, although uncompleted aircraft still remain in good condition and could be completed if orders and funding are put through.

[edit] Deployment
Tupolev Tu-160
Tupolev Tu-160

The Tu-160 was first presented to the public on a parade in 1989. In 1989-1990 it also set 44 world speed flight records in its weight class. Squadron deployments to Long Range Aviation began in April 1987. Until 1991 19 of those aircraft served in the 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment in Pryluki in the Ukrainian Socialist Republic, replacing Tu-16 'Badger' and Tu-22M3 'Backfire' aircraft. After the fall of the Soviet Union those aircraft became Ukrainian property, although in 1999 a deal between Russia and Ukraine led to eight of those aircraft being returned to Russia in exchange for a reduction in Ukraine's energy debts. Ukraine, which gave up nuclear weapons in exchange for its debts as part of the collapse of USSR deal, has destroyed the other Blackjacks in its possession, except for one airframe retained for static display. The Tu-160 is the world's largest and heaviest bomber aircraft.

Russia's second Tu-160 unit, the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment basing in Engels, was organised in 1992, but by 1994 it had received only six aircraft. Between 1999 and 2000 the eight formerly Ukrainian planes were assigned to the regiment, with another being completed in a factory and given to the regiment in 2000. At least one aircraft has been lost, during a test flight after engine repairs, on 16 September 2003.