In 2020, the airborne part of the Russian nuclear triad will be replenished with six modernized Tu-95MS turboprop strategic bombers. This was reported by the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

“In 2020, long-range aviation will be replenished with six modernized strategic missile carriers Tu-95MS,” the ministry said in a statement.

As the commander of long-range aviation (DA), Lieutenant General Sergey Kobylash, noted, as part of the upgrade to military aircraft, "modern avionics, an on-board electronic complex and other equipment are being installed."

“I note that modern control systems and the armament of our modernized aircraft have significantly improved the accuracy of target destruction by bombs, guided and cruise missiles,” said Kobylash.

At the same time, the defense department recalled that in 2019, five modernized Tu-95MS aircraft entered the troops. More than 40 exercises of various levels were held, including with DA units, units and support units. Thus, the combat training plan for long-range aviation was 100% complete.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also spoke about the work on modernizing the Russian long-range aviation fleet.

“This year, Tupolev PJSC performed a significant amount of work on Tu-95MS aircraft to modernize the first and second phases with the replacement of obsolete radio engineering and navigation equipment,” Shoigu explained at a conference call on December 9, 2019.

Tu-95 made its first flight in 1952, and its operation began four years later, after which it was repeatedly modernized. The strategic bomber-bomber, nicknamed the Bear, is one of the main means of the air component of Russia's nuclear triad. It is capable of hitting the most important targets in remote areas and in the deep rear of continental theaters of war.

The aircraft can be equipped with the latest X-101 cruise missiles - they were used to strike at targets of the Islamic State * terrorist group in Syria. Tu-95 can reach speeds of over 800 km / h, its practical flight range exceeds 10 thousand km.

“Opportunities are greatly expanding”

Honored Military Pilot, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Aviano Panorama magazine Vladimir Popov noted that the Tu-95MS is the fastest turbo-prop aircraft in the world. At the same time, turboprop engines, according to him, are more economical in fuel consumption than even the latest jet models. The expert also spoke about the details and subtleties of the process of updating the strategic bomber-missile carrier.

“Firstly, they are changing instrument navigation equipment. More precisely, they do not change, but supplement in order to improve performance. In order to be able to work with modern weapons (missiles, bombs), you need a suspension system and a combat control system on board, in order to turn on the cruise missile engine system or correctly shoot it from the bomb bay. In this regard, it is necessary to redo or modify the circuits and control schemes for bomb missile weapons. A lot of work is being done in this regard. Then, for the comfortable placement of the equipment. Today, instrumentation-navigational or radar equipment has smaller dimensions, but good quality. At the same time, weight characteristics are reduced. That is, you need to move away from the old models of that equipment and switch to new models, ”emphasized the interlocutor of RT.

He added that the modernization work carried out somewhere by 10-15% increases the combat qualities and capabilities of the Tu-95MS.

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“This is already a lot, taking into account the fact that it has been in operation for a long time and we know how to conduct work on the readiness of the crews to perform combat missions of a different nature. That is, their capabilities are greatly expanded. And therefore, a modernized vehicle in operation and combat use is always preferable, ”said Popov.

In turn, Andrei Frolov, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Arms Export”, noted that one still should not talk about a fundamental leap forward in modernizing the Tu-95.

“A number of electronic equipment is simply being updated with modern equipment. For the upgraded Tu-95, the new NK-12MPM engine is also being tested. This also became known last year, ”the expert concluded.