[mad_as_he$$]

Less than 500 built. 100 - 1(more like 50) still in service.

[Don Corleone]

“Made in the USA” still has some value doesn’t it?

[realcleanguy]

The Russian Navy is sinking at it’s moorings, tug boats used to follow their only aircraft carrier which now suffered a fire while in port, the Russia army can’t even conquer Ukraine, and now it’s bombers are crashing. Tell me why people are so scared of Russia again?

[Deaf Smith]

Q: How far can a Tu-22M3 Bomber fly on one engine?

A: All the way to the scene of the crash.

[Menehune56]

Surprised this plane apparently wasn’t flyable on the remaining engine and had to be belly landed. One of the advantages of multiple engines is to mitigate this kind of catastrophic failure scenario. Glad the crew survived anyway.

[The Antiyuppie]

Supposedly, equipment made by the USSR was designed to fight a short war, and is not necessarily designed to be durable or fixable. This gave some advantages in cost, weight, performance, etc.

[Georgia Girl 2]

The Russian economy is smaller than the economy of Texas. Of course they cannot compete militarily with the US. We track their aging nuclear subs by the radiation trail they leave behind. 😆

[Afterguard]

Back in the early-to-mid-’80s the Backfire was the Soviet’s premier supersonic bomber, built in response to the USAF B-1. Today we still fly B-1s and the Backfire is almost completely out of service. The Communists built mostly crap throughout the Cold War, but they built a LOT of each kind of crap to make up for it. The crews that flew these things (and other Soviet aircraft) had to know that they were always just one equipment failure away from death.

Glad to see another one bite the dust

[logi_cal869]

The big difference here is that the Russians live within a budget.

Argue against that premise at your own peril.

[jmacusa]

If you’re of the generation I am there’s a great Carl Riener movie from the ‘60’s called “The Russians Are Coming’’. Say’s it all about the Russian military.

[Joe Boucher]

Tu-22M3 bomber, known as “Backfire” to NATO, is a long-range bomber originally designed to strike the continental U.S. with nuclear weapons.
Which begs the question, HOw reliable and stable are Russian nukes?

[Terry L Smith]

The majority of Soviet-era aircraft have had one major hamstringing ... they”ve never been rightfully ‘blooded’, as most of the aircraft of the West. Therefore, they have aged as one who sat on the couch, in uniform and with gear, by the ever silent telephone.

[blam]

Of interest.

The population of Russia is decreasing by 750 daily.

[doorgunner69]

Was a neat airplane in it's prime. Converted into a rather scary anti-ship attack role.

I can see the maintenance issues, it is a much higher performance aircraft than a B-52, so higher stresses mean shorter life.