Hello everyone, you are watching another episode of Military TV.
Have you ever known Russia’s most dangerous combat jet?
Indeed, without any worries, it must be Tu-160 Blackjack Supersonic Bomber.
If you are curious on this aircraft, stay tuned and watch this video till the end!
The Tupolev Tu-160 with NATO’s reporting name of Blackjack, is a supersonic, variable-sweep
wing heavy strategic bomber.
This aircraft was designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s.
It is the Mach 2+ supersonic military aircraft ever built and second to the experimental
XB-70 Valkyrie in overall length.
As of 2021, the Tupolev Tu-160 is the fastest bomber in use and the largest and heaviest
variable-sweep wing airplane ever flown.
This aircraft is specifically designed to destroy targets in remote geographic areas
and deep in the rear of continental theatres of operations.
It is the world's heaviest combat aircraft, with the biggest gross take-off weight among
bombers, as well as the world's largest supersonic and variable geometry wing aircraft in military
aviation history.
Uniquely, this aircraft was unofficially dubbed "White Swan" because of its power and grace.
Anyway, another question that might arise is why then this aircraft was named White
Swan?
The reason is that the entire plane is coated in a brilliantly white reflective coating
that functions as a crew protection.
The Tu-160 is capable of carrying a nuclear payload, which, obviously, creates an enormously
bright fireball.
The thermal energy of nuclear explosions is enormous, and by reflecting some of that thermal
energy, the crew is at least theoretically more protected than they would be otherwise.
Moreover, let’s take a look at the specification and the design of this aircraft.
With the length of 54.1 meter and wingspan of 55.7 meter, the TU-160 is able to carry
4 crews.
They operates the bomber on its long-distance missions, in which the pilot and the co-pilot
seated side by side in the front, and two navigators individually sub-specialized in
armaments and self-defence systems.
Moreover, this aircraft has a maximum speed of Mach 2.05 with the range of 12,300 km.
If we make a comparison, the Tu-160 was substantially larger and had a 70 percent faster maximum
speed than the US supersonic B-1B Lancer bomber, which it resembled in some ways.
For further information, there are numerous variations of the TU-160 Blackjack variants.
It has variants of Tu-160S, Tu-160V, Tu-160 NK-74, Tu-160M, Tu-160P, Tu-160PP, Tu-160R,
and Tu-160SK.
It can be noted that the Tu-160V is an upgraded version, which operates liquid hydrogen as
fuel while Tu-160 NK-74 is an advance version powered by NK-74 engines.
Tu-160M can accommodate two additional long-range, hypersonic Kh-90 missiles.
Tu-160P, commonly known as Tu-161, is a long-range escort or interceptor aircraft.
In addition, the Tu-160SK is an enhanced commercial variant of the Tu-160 that is primarily utilized
to launch Burlak satellites.
In regard to its design, the bomber’s airframe has a distinctive appearance, with the wing
and fuselage gradually combining into a single-piece configuration.
The airframe structure is built with a titanium beam and with all-welded torsion box.
Throughout the entire airframe, all the main airframe members are secured to the titanium
beam.
Moreover, the Tu-160 uses fly-by-wire controls.
It is also equipped with three-strut landing gear, a tail wheel and a braking parachute.
It can attack strategic targets with nuclear and conventional missiles in continental theatres
of operation.
For take-off, the aircraft requires a concrete runway of 3,050m.
Furthermore, talking about TU-160 performance, it can climb at a rate of 70m per second.
The maximum and cruise speeds of the bomber are 2,220km per hour and 960km per hour and
its combat radius is 7,300km.
Interestingly, as the aircraft weighs around 110,000kg and its maximum take-off weight
is 275,000kg, the Tu-160 Blackjack has a flight endurance of 15 hours.
Entering service in 1987, the Tu-160 was the last strategic bomber designed for the Soviet
Union.
As of 2016, the Russian Air Force's Long Range Aviation branch still had 16 aircrafts in
service.
This aircraft has entered various operational services.
Among the recent ones includes:
First, it was on Aug, 2005, Tu-160 "03 Red" took off from Chkalovskaya AB, a short distance
west of Moscow, on a long mission that featured the launch of the latest Kh-555 cruise missile.
This was not the only remarkable aspect of the mission, the Russian Federation's President,
Vladimir V. Putin, was a passenger on the plane.
He flew in a strategic missile carrier after arriving at the base straight from Zhukovskiy
after the opening ceremony of the MAKS-2005 airshow.
The President was given a quick medical check, then put on his flight suit and received instructions
on flight safety and how to operate the ejection seat.
Soon after, "03 Red," with the President in the pilot's seat, took off and travelled north
to the location where the DA and the North Fleet were to conduct a joint drill.
The aircraft was piloted by the DA’s Chief of Staff Maj.Gen. Anatoliy D. Zhikharev from
the right-hand seat, with Col. Vladimir Adamov as navigator and Lt.-Col. Oleg Baranov as
WSO.
Second, it was on 17 November 2015, it was part of the Russian military intervention
in the Syrian Civil War, several Tu-160 and Tu-95MS long-range strategic bombers of the
Russian Air Force carried out airstrikes at in Idlib and Aleppo provinces using the Kh-101
air-launched cruise missiles fired from the Mediterranean.
Third, It was on 23 October 2019, two Tu-160s accompanied by an An-124 cargo plane and an
Il-62 passenger plan.
The aircraft performed a 13 hours non-stop flight over the Caspian Sea, Arabian Sea and
Indian Ocean, covering 11,000 km distance with mid-air refuelling and landed at Waterkloof
Air Force Base in South Africa.
It was the Tu-160's first visit to the African continent.
Followed by the event on 19 September 2020, two Tu-160s set a world record for the range
and duration of a non-stop flight for aircraft of this class.
The pilots were in the air for more than 25 hours, covering over 20 thousand kilometers.
The flight took place in airspace over the neutral waters of the central part of the
Arctic and Pacific oceans and the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Barent seas.
The last question to ask what actually is a big plan for the new development of this
aircraft?
It was disclosed in 2015 that Russia’s defence industry plans to modernize Tu-160 with the
coming Tu-160M revision.
The new variant was trialled in the late 2010s and undertook its maiden flight in 2020, suggesting
that the Tu-160M is nearing service readiness.
The new fighter jet largely retains its predecessor’s design.
Rather, it concentrates on a raft of improvements and new features under the hood.
The Tu-160M modification follows an established pattern for Russian aircraft modernization
initiatives in recent years, replicating the avionics and radar upgrades given to the Tu-22
bomber.
This strategy makes sense in the near future, to say on a tried-and-true frame that saves
time and money over investing in a new airframe design.
That’s all for today, if you find this video interesting, don’t forget to like, share
and comment and the most important one is to click the subscribe button for more updates
on awesome videos.