The Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) are armed with the strategic missile carrier Tu-95MS (NATO codification: Bear), it was created as a carrier of long-range strategic aviation cruise missiles.
Tu-95MS is a modified version of the Tu-95 aircraft. The world's fastest turboprop serial aircraft-missile carrier, one of the components of the nuclear triad.
Features of the Tu-95MS design
All-metal monoplane with a mid-wing swept wing and a single-keel tail. The aerodynamic layout provides high aerodynamic quality at high flight speeds.
Improvement of flight performance is achieved due to the large elongation of the wing, the corresponding choice of the angle of its sweep and a set of profiles along its span.
The Tu-95MS power plant consists of four NK-12MP turboprop engines with coaxial four-bladed AV-60K propellers. The fuel on the aircraft is located in eight sealed compartments of the caisson part of the wing and in three soft tanks on the rear of the fuselage and in the center section.
Fueling is centralized. There is a refueling rod for the air refueling system. Tu-95 of various modifications were in service until the early 1990s, having undergone a number of major modification and modernization works on engines, weapons and equipment. On the basis of serial Tu-95KM in 1970–1980, Tu-95K-22 missile carriers were created – carriers of Kh-22N missiles.
Through deep modernization of the Tu-95RC in the late 1960s, the Tu-142 long-range anti-submarine aircraft was created, and later, on the basis of its modification Tu-142M, the Tu-95MS strategic missile carrier was created – a carrier of long-range cruise missiles.
Modernization is underway
As part of a large-scale program to modernize aviation complexes of strategic and long-range aviation, Tupolev is currently solving the tasks of increasing the efficiency of use and extending the service life of the Tu-95MS strategic bomber in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defense.
Earlier www1.ru reported that the use of half-century-old Grad MLRS has been completely rethought: new approaches to combat work.
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