Interesting footage from aboard Russian Tu-160s bombers over the Arctic.
The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber.
The Russian Air Force operates a dozen of Tupolevs of this type; only 5 examples are combat capable, one of those has been modernized since it entered active service.
The following video shows some interesting scenes of the Blackjacks operating in the Arctic region: takeoff, formation flying at low and high altitude, and some really cool cockpit footage.
In 2013 two Tu-160s deployed to Venezuela and Nicaragua after a 13-hour flight across the Pacific. On their 15-hour return flight to Engels airbase, in Russia, that included aerial refueling by Il-78 tankers over the Norwegian Sea, the two Blackjacks entered Colombian airspace and were intercepted and escorted by Colombian Air Force Kfir fighter planes for 5 minutes.
H/T Lasse Holmstrom for the heads up
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Beautiful aircraft.
Aren’t the Russians embarrassed that they just copied the B-1?
No, because it is not a copy. Look at a side by side of the two and you will see. Also, the airplane it did copy (indirectly) was the concord. It took much structural design from the Tu-144, and in turn, the Concorde.
Design a supersonic bomber that flies over Mach 2 and carries more than any other, and has to be able to operate on most airfields in Russia. There is little you can make except a large variable sweep aircraft that looks like the Tu-160
B-29
http://www.warbirdalley.com/images/B29-Fifi-550.jpg
Tu-4
http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/9/4/5/1297549.jpg
Yup the exact same thing…
B-1B
http://www.military-today.com/aircraft/b_1b_lancer_l3.jpg
Tu-160
http://obris.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Tupolev-Tu-160-Vitaliy-Kopylov-1.jpg
Side by Side
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RJXk-2JUbTs/Th0qW2TrLaI/AAAAAAAAAMg/bgI_ESZMdhQ/s1600/Tu-160+vs+B1-B+%25287%2529.jpg
http://avionique.free.fr/IMG/jpg/Tu-160_B-1.jpg
not the same but still very very much alike.
They probably should be, at least on some level. But then again, look at the Tu-4. I don’t think they care too too much.
Look at it like this though. We’re basically getting to see a flying example of what the B-1 was supposed to be. We changed doctrine during the B-1 development and as a result the B-1A was scrapped and the B-1B was born. High and fast giving way to low-level penetrators, etc. The Russians decided they liked what the B-1A represented so they built us a few examples.
The B1 is inferior in almost every way to the TU160 so I am not sure exactly what copying you are talking about.
Aren’t you embarrassed by making such unsubstantiated claims?
The tu 160 is so different from the B-1 that you should be embarrassed you called it a copy.
You should get an eye exam.
as majestic as they look. In 2015 do these matter.. apart from using them to piss of western air forces.
Yes. More so than any other bomber except arguably the B-2. As far as raw specs go, it is the best bomber ever built. It can carry more farther and faster than any other bomber. It is primarily used as a cruise missile platform, giving it incredible potential as a hit and run platform.
The Tu-160 is one of my prime complaints about the F-35 becoming our mainstream fighter now because it is too slow to intercept the Tu-160.
Yeh still. Thats all part of the game theory. Its why there is DEF CON 1,2,3. Missiles are totally no use in showing how annoyed you are as there are only 2 states, at home safe and sound and in the air the world has 30 mins left. Russia needs more then 5 of them though to spread out. The USA by comparison has 100s of B1b’s!
“The USA by comparison has 100s of B1b’s!”
Which is why we’re broke and the middle class is dying. Not to mention the 1.4 Trillion F-35, which is the laughingstock of the world.
propaganda.. in another time
Five combat ready?? Its a lottery that either way sees Russia lose… minimum triple that of B2’s combat ready at all times with 6 in work up… triple that of B-1’s
They should be called “B-1ski.”