How old are these TU-95 bombers ?
For a minute, I thought this thread was part of the FR WW-II series of threads on what happened today, only 70 years ago.
I guess these Bears are all that the Ruskis have now. This is the plane that has the double counter-rotating turbo props that permanently deafen their crews and can be tracked by our subs due to the noise.
Kind of strange they would be trying to threaten Portugal.
The design dates to the 1950s, but all currently flying were built within the last 25 years. Our B-52 airframes are older.
~How old are these TU-95 bombers ?~
Originally Tu-95 is based on a B-29 design withheld by the Soviets based on a Soviet-Japanese non-aggression pact in WW-II.
It is indeed a radical innovative design comparing to B-29, has first flew in mid 1950s and gradually updated until now.
Despite an archaic appearance it is about as fast as B-52 bomber and of course faster than many commercial jets and beats both in terms of range and endurance.
In short it is still a world class bomber after that many years.