Tupolev Tu-22 Russian Bomber

The Tupolev Tu-22 (Blinder) was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with the Soviet military in the 1960s, and the last examples were retired during the 1990s. Produced in comparatively small numbers, the aircraft was a disappointment, lacking the intercontinental range that had been expected. Later in their service life, Tu-22s were used as launch platforms for the Soviet AS-4 stand-off missile, and as reconnaissance aircraft. Tu-22s were sold to a number of other nations, including Libya and Iraq. One of the few Soviet bombers to see combat, Iraqi Tu-22Us played a crucial role during the "Tanker war" between Iraq and Iran in 1988.

General characteristics

• Crew: three - pilot, navigator, weapons officer
• Length: 41.60 m (136 ft 5 in)
• Wingspan: 23.17 m (76 ft 0 in)
• Height: 10.13 m (33 ft 3 in)
• Wing area: 162 m² (1,742 ft²)
• Empty weight: kg (lb)
• Loaded weight: 85,000 kg (187,390 lb)
• Max takeoff weight: 92,000 kg (202,400 lb)
• Powerplant: 2 × Dobrynin RD-7M-2 turbojets
  • Dry thrust: rated 107.9 kN (24,250 lbf) each
  • Thrust with afterburner: 161.9 kN (36,376 lbf) each

Performance

• Maximum speed: 1,510 km/h (938 mph, Mach 1.42)
• Range: 4,900 km (3,045 mi)
• Service ceiling: 13,300 m (40,540 ft)
• Rate of climb: m/s (ft/min)
• Wing loading: 525 kg/m² (107 lb/ft²)
• Thrust/weight: 0.38

Armament

• Guns: 1 × AM-23 23 mm cannon in tail turret
• Bombs: 9,000 kg (20,000 lb) or
• Missiles: 1 × Kh-22 (AS-4 'Kitchen') cruise missile

The Tu-22 has a low-middle mounted wing swept at an angle of 55°. The two large turbojet engines, originally 159 kN (35,273 lb_f) Dobrinin VD-7M, later 162 kN (36,375 lb_f) Kolesov RD-7M2, are mounted atop the rear fuselage on either side of the large vertical fin, with a low mounted tailplane. Continuing a Tupolev OKB design feature, the main landing gear are mounted in pods at the trailing edge of each wing. The very swept wings gave little drag at transonic speeds, but resulted in very fast landing speeds and a long take-off run.

The Tu-22's cockpit placed the pilot forward, offset slightly to the left, with the weapons officer behind and the navigator below, within the fuselage, sitting on downwards-firing ejector seats. The cockpit design had bad visibility (doing nothing for the Tu-22's poor runway performance), uncomfortable seats and bad location of instruments and switches.

The Tu-22's defensive armament, operated by the weapons officer, consisted of a tail turret beneath the engine pods, containing two 23 mm AM-23 or R-23 cannon. The turret was directed by a small PRS-3A 'Argon' gun-laying radar to compensate for the weapons officer's lack of rear visibility. The bomber's main weapon load was carried in a fuselage bomb bay between the wings, capable of carrying up to 24 FAB-500 general-purpose bombs, one FAB-9000 bomb, or various free-fall nuclear weapons. On the Tu-22K, the bay was reconfigured to carry one Raduga Kh-22 (AS-4 'Kitchen') missile semi-recessed beneath the fuselage. The enormous weapon was big enough to have a substantial effect on handling and performance, and was also a safety hazard.

The early Tu-22B had an optical bombing system (which was retained by the Tu-22R), with a Rubin-1A nav/attack radar. The Tu-22K had the Leninets PN (NATO reporting name 'Down Beat') to guide the Kh-22 missile. The Tu-22R could carry a camera array or an APP-22 jammer pack in the bomb bay as an alternative to bombs. Some Tu-22Rs were fitted with the Kub ELINT system, and later with an under-fuselage palette for M-202 Shompol side-looking airborne radar, as well as cameras and an infrared line-scanner. A small number of Tu-22K were modified to Tu-22KP or Tu-22KPD configuration with Kurs-N equipment to detect enemy radar systems and give compatibility with the Kh-22P anti-radiation missile.