Tupolev Tu-160 "Blackjack"

 
Aircraft  Tupolev Tu-160  
Type  Heavy Bomber 
Year  1981  
Engine  Four Samara/Trud 225 kN (50,580 lb. st) NK-321 afterburning turbofans   
Wingspan  (fully spread) 55.70m (182ft. 9in.), (fully swept) 35.60 (116ft. 9 3/4in.)  
Length  54.10m (177ft. 6in.) 
Height  13.10m (43ft. 0in.) 
Weight  Empty 110,000kg (242,500 lbs); MTOW 275,000kg (606,260 lbs.)  
Max. speed  Max level speed at 12,200m (40,000 ft.) 2,220 km/h (1,380 mph) 
Range  12,300 km (7,640 miles) 
Armament  free-fall bombsup to 16,330 Kg (36,000 lbs.) 
Kh-15P SRAMs :up to 16,330 Kg (36,000 lbs.)   
KH-55 ALCM's:up to16,330 Kg (36,000 lbs.)  
The Tu-160 was revealed to the West by a grainy satellite photograph taken a few days before the prototype made its first flight on 19 December 1981. Coincidence or not, the Tu-160 bears a remarkable resemblance to the B-1B. A slim fuselage blends into low-set variable-geometry wings via very large, smooth wingroots, and the four NK-321 turbofans are housed in podded pairs under each wing.

The four-man crew enter the aircraft via a nosewheel bay. Fighter-type control sticks are an interesting feature in the cockpit, but there are no high-tech displays in the form of HUD's and MFD's to help the crew. Visual aiming of the weapons is aided by a video camera housed behind a fairing in the forward underfuselage.

Only 18 Tu-160's were built before production ended in 1992, all going to the 184th Heavy Bomber Regiment then based in the Ukraine. The dissolution of the Soviet Union has left up to 14 Tu-160's in Ukrainian hands, although attempts are being made to negotiate their eventual return to Russia.

  

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