Soviet Tupolev 95 Bear is a photograph by L Brown which was uploaded on May 4th, 2014.
Title
Soviet Tupolev 95 Bear
Artist
L Brown
Medium
Photograph - Mixed Media
Description
The image I found was too small for even the smallest print. It had to be upsized. The original was color and is displayed in this gallery. Two of these flew into Holland's airspace in late April 2014 and near the United Kingdom's airspace the same day.
The Tupolev Tu-95 (Russian: -95; NATO reporting name: "Bear") is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040.[1] A development of the bomber for maritime patrol is designated Tu-142.
The aircraft has four Kuznetsov NK-12 engines, each driving contra-rotating propellers. It also remains the only turboprop-powered strategic bomber in operational use . Its distinctively swept-back wings are at 35, a very sharp angle by the standards of propeller-driven aircraft, and justified by its operating speeds and altitudes. Its blades, whose tips move faster than the speed of sound, make it one of the noisiest military aircraft on earth.
The design bureau led by Andrei Tupolev designed the Soviet Union's first intercontinental bomber, the 1949 Tu-85, a scaled up version of the Tu-4, a Boeing B-29 Superfortress copy.[3]
A new requirement was issued to both Tupolev and Myasishchev design bureaus in 1950: the proposed bomber had to have an un-refueled range of 8000 km (4,970 mi) far enough to threaten key targets in the United States. Other goals included the ability to carry an 11,000 kg (11 ton) load over the target.
The big problem for Tupolev was the engine choice: the Tu-4 showed that piston engines were not powerful enough to fulfill that role, while the fuel-hungry AM-3 jet engines of the proposed T-4 intercontinental jet bomber did not provide adequate range. Turboprops offered more power than piston engines and better range than jets, with a top speed in between.
Tupolev's proposal was selected and Tu-95 development was officially approved by the government on 11 July 1951. It featured four Kuznetsov coupled turboprops fitted with eight-bladed contra-rotating propellers, producing a nominal 8,948 kW (12,000 eshp) power rating. Unlike the advanced engine design, the fuselage was conventional: a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with 35 degrees of sweep, an angle which ensured the main wing spar passed through the fuselage in front of the bomb bay. Retractable tricycle landing gear was fitted, with all three gear strut units retracting rearwards, with the main gear units retracting rearwards into extensions of the inner engine nacelles.
Uploaded
May 4th, 2014
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