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To: b2stealth

"Wait till you see Tu-160 a complete copy of B1-B made possible by Putin's colleagues :) "

The Tu-160 definitely has a lot of resemblance to the B1-B, but there are also substantial differences. Basically, the Russians made the Tu-160 bigger and faster than the B-1B. Some points of comparison:

Engine thrust per engine: 30,000lbs (B1B) vs 55,000lbs (Tu160)

Gross takeoff weight, max: 477,000lbs (B1B) vs 600,000lbs (Tu160)

Wingspan (extended): 137ft (B1B) vs 182ft (Tu160)

Length: 146ft (B1B) vs 178ft (Tu160)

Speed: 900mph (B1B**) vs 1400mph (Tu160)

Unrefueled ranges and internal bomb loads end up being similar, though.

**The B1A had a top speed of ~1450mph at 50,000ft. This feature was removed in the B1B production model.

The Tu160 and the B1B are rather like the Buran and US shuttle: strikingly similar on the surface, but with significant differences under the hood. The Tu160 definitely isn't a rivet-for-rivet copy of American hardware like the Tu4 Bull.


40 posted on 04/26/2006 1:00:02 PM PDT by cray74
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To: cray74

Both Buran (Shuttle) and Tu-160 (B1-B) were stolen from the US, it is open information now. Russians usually made some changes to everything stolen to make it bigger (only exception was Joe-1).


41 posted on 04/26/2006 1:47:57 PM PDT by b2stealth
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