Tupolev Tu-22M
The Tupolev Tu-22M (NATO reporting name 'Backfire') was a supersonic, swing-wing, long-range strategic bomber developed by the Soviet Union. Significant numbers remain in service with the CIS.
Development
The Tu-22M was derived from the Tupolev Tu-22, with some features taken from the abortive Tu-98 'Backfin.' The first prototype, Tu-22M-0, first flew30 August 1964. The resultant aircraft was first seen by NATO around 1969. The bureau number for the Tu-22M was Tu-106, and for several years it was believed in the West that its designation was Tu-26. During the SALT negotiations of the 1980s the Soviets insisted it was the Tu-22M, the misleading designation perhaps serving to suggest that it was simply a derivative of the Tu-22 rather than the far more advanced and capable weapon it actually was.
The earliest Tu-22M-1 ('Backfire-A') were produced only in small numbers. The first major production version, entering production 1972, was the Tu-22M-2 ('Backfire-B'), with longer wings, extensively redesigned, area ruled fuselage (raising the crew to four), twin engines with F-4 Phantom II-style intakes, and new undercarriage carrying the landing gear in the wing glove rather than in large pods. These were most commonly armed with long-range cruise missiles/anti-ship missiles, typically one or two Kh-22 (AS-4 'Kitchen') weapons.
The later Tu-22M-3, which first flew in 1980, had new engines with substantially more power, wedge-shaped intakes similar to the MiG-25, and a recontoured nose presumably housing a new radar and nav/attack system. It had a revised tail turret with a single cannon, and provision for an internal rotary launcher for the Kh-15 (AS-16 'Kickback') missile, similar to the American AGM-69 SRAM. A small number, perhaps 10, of Tu-22MR ECM electronic warfare aircraft were also built.
Total production of all variants was about 500. Around 220 of these formidable aircraft remain in CIS service, although their complexity has led to considerable serviceability problems with the dismal state of the post-Soviet Russian economy. Byelorussia has 52 and Ukraine an additional 29. Some were offered for export, possibly to Iran.
Specifications
General characteristics
- Crew: four (pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, defensive systems operator)
- Length: 39.60 m (129 ft 11 in)
- Wingspan: 34.28 m (112 ft 5.75 in) spread (20° sweep); 23.30 m (76 ft 5.5 in) maximum sweep (65°)
- Height: 11.05 m (36 ft 3 in)
- Wing area: 183.6 m² (1,976.1 ft²) spread; 175.8 m² (1,892.4 ft²) swept
- Weights:
- Empty: 54,000 kg (119,050 lb)
- Loaded: 124,000 kg (273,296 lb)
- Maximum takeoff: 124,000 kg (286,600 lb)
- Powerplant: two KKBM NK-144 turbofans, 196.13 kN (44,092 lb) afterburning thrust each (Tu-22M-2); two KKBM NK-25 turbofans, 245.2 kN (55,115 lb) afterburning thrust each (Tu-22M-3)
Performance
- Maximum speed: 1,050 km/h (652 mph) at sea level; 2,000 km/h (1,242 mph) (Mach 1.88) at high altitude
- Combat radius: 1,500 to 1,850 km (937 to 1,156 mi) with maximum internal ordnance (hi-lo-hi, supersonic dash); subsonic in hi-hi-hi attack 2,200 km (1,375 mi)
- Ferry range: 4,800 km (3,000 mi)
- Service ceiling: 13,300 m (43,635 ft)
- Rate of climb: ?
- Wing loading: 705.6 kg/m² (147 lb/ft²)
Armament
- Two (Tu-22M-2) or one (Tu-22M-3) GSh-23 cannon in remotely controlled tail turret
- Internal weapons bay for up to 12,000 kg (26,455 lb) of disposable ordnance
- External wing and fuselage pylons for 12,000 kg (26,455 lb) of bombs and missiles
- Typical stores include (Tu-22M-2) up to three Kh-22 (AS-4 'Kitchen') cruise missiles, carried one under each wing and one semi-recessed in the fuselage or (Tu-22M-3) internal rotary launcher for six Kh-15 (AS-16 Kickback) short-range nuclear missiles plus two more Kh-15 or Kh-27 on each wing pylon.
Related content
Related development: Tu-22 - Tu-98 - Tu-160
Comparable aircraft: Rockwell B-1B Lancer
Designation sequence (Tupolev): Tu-103 - Tu-104 - Tu-105 - Tu-106 - Tu-107 - Tu-110 - Tu-114
Designation sequence (Soviet Air Force): Tu-14 - Tu-16 - Tu-20 - Tu-22/Tu-22M - Tu-24 - Tu-26 - Tu-28