The Tupolev Tu-22M (also known as Backfire) is a long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber
developed by Tupolev for the Soviet Air Force. The aircraft is currently in service with the
Russian Air Force and Russian Naval Aviation. The Tu-22M was based on the design of the Tu-22
aircraft. The aircraft is primarily used to conduct nuclear strike and conventional
attack operations. It can also be deployed in anti-ship and maritime reconnaissance missions.
Production on the first major production version, Tu-22M2 began in 1972. It was
equipped with extended wings and a redesigned fuselage, twin engines and a new undercarriage.
The Tupolev Tu-22M incorporates a long variable sweep wing fuselage design. The aircraft features
a stepped cockpit and variable-geometry outer wing panels. The tail fin is swept-back and tapered
with a square tip. The flats mounted on the centre of body are pointed with blunt tips and each wing
includes a centre section and two outer panels. The outer wings are attached to
the centre section through hinged joints. Tu-22M3 has a length of 42.4m, maximum wing
span of 34.2m, and a height of 11.05m. The empty weight and maximum takeoff weights of the aircraft
are 53,500kg and 126,400kg respectively. The aircraft is provided with hard points to
carry Kh-22 stand-off missiles, Kh-15 nuclear or Kh-15P anti-radar missiles and FAB-250 or FAB-1500
free fall bombs. The wing and fuselage pylons and internal weapons bay are provided with a capacity
to carry 24,000kg of weapons payload. The aircraft is also armed with a double-barrelled GSH-23
(23mm) gun in remotely controlled tail turret. The aircraft is fitted with PN-A/PN-AD
bombing-navigation radar system, Argon-2 radar fire-control system and a TV-based backup optical
bomb sight. The countermeasures are provided by a radar warning receiver, radio-frequency jammers,
and updated defensive countermeasures gear. The Backfire weapon upgrade is quite impressive,
enhancing the bomber’s capabilities against both land targets and surface ships. In addition to the
new land-attack missiles (the Kh-101 and Kh-555, according to Russian press), there reportedly
will be at least two long-range ultrahigh-speed dual-capable (nuclear and conventional) missiles
with land-attack and antiship capability. This is important because the Department of Defense
has said the United States currently has no defense against hypersonic missiles. Backfire’s
manufacturer, Tupolev, claims the improved Backfire bomber will be operational in 2021.
Backfire bombers routinely fly more than 3,100 miles to strike targets in Syria. The Tu-22M3M
should have significantly longer range because TASS reports its new NK-32-02 engine
is the same used in the new Tu-160M2 heavy bomber, which Russian Deputy Defense Minister
Yury Borisov said will increase its range by approximately 600 miles.
Not only does the TU-22M3 have improved range, but according to Russian state media it also
carries the new Kh-32 long-range supersonic cruise missile. The Kh-32 travels just below
hypersonic speed and is a dual-capable (nuclear and conventional) antiship and land-attack cruise
missile. Sputnik News states its speed is Mach 4.1 and TASS puts it at more than Mach 5. That appears
too high, except perhaps in a terminal dive, but even at Mach 4 at 130,000 feet it is a
very serious threat, possibly invulnerable to existing Western air-defense systems.
According to Russian media and other Russian publications, the Kh-32’s range is 620 miles.
Sputnik News and Russia Beyond the Headlines report that it is nuclear capable, which is
confirmed in the 2018 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review. Russia Beyond the Headlines reports the Kh-32’s
accuracy within a few yards and warhead weight limit at 1,002 pounds. This gives a powerful
conventional antiship warhead capability as well. The Kh-32 reportedly became operational in 2016.
If so, more than 100 operational Backfire bombers could be carrying it now.
The Kh-32 makes it more difficult to intercept the Backfire before weapons-release range.
The Soviet-era Kh-22 (still reportedly operational) has half the range of the new weapon.
While post–Cold War U.S. Navy fighters have much better radars and avionics than the F-14,
they lack its long-range (and even the F-14 range would not be adequate against a Kh-32-armed
aircraft). The longer range of the Tu-22M3M complicates a carrier strike group’s ability to
set up a barrier defense. The extreme speed of the missile reduces flight time by a factor of four
compared to a subsonic antiship missile, reducing the defensive value of locational uncertainty
between launch and impact time. In a March 2018 speech to the Duma,
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal (Dagger) missile, describing it as
a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile with a range of over 1,360 miles when launched from a MiG-31
fighter. The TU-22M3 is slower than a MiG-31, but even when launched from the supersonic Backfire,
the Kinzhal has a long enough range to make it nearly impossible for the U.S. Navy to create
any barrier defense capable of intercepting Backfires before they launch their missiles.
This will put a great premium on developing both enhanced air/missile-defense systems capable of
intercepting hypersonic missiles and advanced defensive electronic countermeasures for ships.
Finally, Sputnik News and TASS report the Backfire carries the Soviet-era Kh-15
short-range (180 miles) high-velocity missile, originally nuclear but now dual capable.
Sputnik News reports the Kh-15 is impossible to intercept in its terminal
dive and now has a naval strike role. A Backfire can clearly carry a large number of them.
Tupolev claims there will be an 80 percent modernization of the
aircraft’s electronics—including its navigation equipment, the bomb sites, communications,
the new MV-45 radar, artificial intelligence, and a new electronic countermeasures system.
The Tu-22M3M reportedly has electronic systems similar to those on the newer Tu-160M2.
Russia has put a lot of effort into ECM systems and its press features many glowing stories about
their effectiveness. While Russian press may be exaggerating, Russian ECM is very good and
will complicate intercepting the Backfire. The U.S. Navy probably will face an antiship
threat from the Backfire for another 20 years. The antisurface strike missiles
we currently know about will not be the end of Russian development in this warfare area.
Before the Backfire is retired and replaced by the Pak DA heavy stealth bomber, even more advanced
missiles, including those with greater stealth and hypersonic speeds, will be fielded. For example,
a recent Russia Beyond the Headlines article suggested an antiship role for the new Tsirkon
hypersonic missile, whose range the Defense Intelligence Agency assesses at 310-620 miles.
And Sputnik News reports a very-long-range cruise missile is being developed for the Backfire.