The Russian Tu-95MS four-engine propeller-driven bomber, developed in the middle of the last century, continues to be a weapon that “can destroy the world.” This opinion was expressed by the American magazine The National Interest.
It is noted that the bomber is constantly being modernized and remains a key element of the air component of the Russian nuclear triad.
The material emphasizes that the Tu-95 remains one of the oldest models in service with the Aerospace Forces, and the only propeller-driven bomber in the world still used by the army.
The aircraft was developed in the 1950s, when the USSR needed a combat vehicle capable of hitting targets throughout the United States. The choice of screw engines is associated with too fast fuel combustion in jet engines of that time.
As the publication emphasizes, as a result of the modernization, the bomber was able to use the latest Kh-101 cruise missiles, capable of changing the target during flight.
NI also noted that this combat device, like the American B-52 aircraft of a similar purpose, also developed in the 1950s, “shows no signs of decommissioning.” At the same time, most Tu-95 bombers, unlike the B-52, were produced already in the 1980s due to the impossibility of modernizing earlier models. Therefore, as the publication clarifies, they could be considered relatively young compared to some NATO aircraft.
Earlier in December, NI identified five reasons why Russia’s fifth-generation Su-57 fighter jet poses a real threat to NATO.