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To: Cronos

“The Tu-22M suffered from widespread maintenance problems due to poor manufacturing quality during its service with the Soviet forces. The engines and airframes in particular had short service lives. The Air Force at one point sought to prosecute Tupolev for allegedly rushing the inadequate designs of the Tu-22M and the Tu-160 into service. This was compounded by the government bureaucracy, which hampered the provision of spare parts to allow the servicing of the Tu-22M. With some aircraft grounded for up to six months, the mission-capable rate of the aircraft in August 1991 was around 30–40%.”

“The later Tu-22M3 (NATO: Backfire-C), which first flew in 1977, was introduced into operation in 1983 and officially entered service in 1989,[citation needed] had new NK-25 engines with substantially more power, wedge-shaped intake ramps similar to the MiG-25, wings with greater maximum sweep and a recontoured nose housing a new Almaz PNA (Planeta Nositel, izdeliye 030A) navigation/attack (NATO ‘Down Beat’) radar and NK-45 nav/attack system, which provides much-improved low-altitude flight. The aerodynamic changes increased its top speed to Mach 2.05 and its range by one third compared to the Tu-22M2. It has a revised tail turret with a single cannon, and provision for an internal rotary launcher for the Raduga Kh-15 missile, similar to the American AGM-69 SRAM. It was nicknamed Troika (’Trio’ or third) in Russian service. 268 were built until 1993.”

“Ukrainian Air Force and Navy inherited a large number of Tu-22M2/M3 bombers. 60 Tu-22Ms (17 Tu-22M2 and 43 Tu-22M3) and 423 Kh-22 cruise missiles were scrapped under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement led by the US. The last bombers were scrapped in January 2006.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-22M


4 posted on 08/22/2023 4:03:07 AM PDT by Brian Griffin (ICCPR Article 15 No one shall be held guilty…on account of any act…not a criminal act...at the time…)
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To: Brian Griffin

Russia can no longer make TUs and other due to the loss of its manufacturing capabilities built during Soviet times.


20 posted on 08/22/2023 6:32:58 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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