The Tupolev Tu-160 Beliy Lebed (or White Swan,Russian: Туполев Ту-160, NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau and engineering complex joint stock company of Moscow and the Kazan-Gorbunov Aircraft Production Association in Tatarstan from 1980 to 1992.
The maiden flight of the bomber was completed in December 1981 and it entered service in April 1987.
Production has since restarted and a Tu-160 was delivered to the Russian Air Force in May 2000. About 35 aircraft were built of which only 16 are in service in Russia.
Development
The first competition for a supersonic strategic heavy bomber was launched in the Soviet Union in 1967. In 1972, the Soviet Union launched a new multi-mission bomber competition to create a new supersonic, variable-geometry ("swing-wing") heavy bomber with a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, in response to the US Air Force B-1 bomber project. The Tupolev design, dubbed Aircraft 160M, with a lengthened blended wing layout and incorporating some elements of the Tu-144, competed against the Myasishchev M-18 and the Sukhoi T-4 designs.
Work on the new Soviet bomber continued despite an end to the B-1A and in the same year, the design was accepted by the government committee. The prototype was photographed by an airline passenger at a Zhukovsky Airfield in November 1981, about a month before the aircraft's first flight on 18 December 1981. Production was authorized in 1984, beginning at Kazan Aircraft Production Association.
Modernization
Like many Soviet weapon systems, the Tu-160 struggled to overcome unreliable components and a lack of maintenance during the 1990s. The original systems were faulty and required major rework using up-to-date computer chip and circuit boards. The modernised aircraft were then accepted into Russian service again after testing in late 2005.The upgrade also integrated the ability to launch two new conventional versions of the long-range Kh-55 nuclear cruise missile - the Kh-101 and Kh-555.Although Russia has overstated the progress of the modernisation project, it seems that the project has been restricted by the lack of up-to-date facilities to keep aircraft flying. This resulted in the delivery of a new-build aircraft but the "first modernised Tu-160" in July 2006 did not receive new avionics, although they were planned for the new airframe.
The modernisation appears to be split into two phases, concentrating on life extension with some initial communication–navigation updates, followed by 10 aircraft receiving new engines and capability upgrades after 2016.The first refitted aircraft was delivered to the VVS in May 2008; a follow-up contract to overhaul three aircraft in 2013 cost RUR3.4 billion (US$103m).The first updated M-model Tu-160 was delivered in December 2014.Although the phase I update was due to be completed by 2016, industrial limitations may delay it to 2019 or beyond.Although Kuznetsov designed an NK-32M engine with improved reliability over the troublesome NK-32 engines, its successor company has struggled to deliver working units. Metallist-Samara JSC had not produced new engines for a decade when it was given a contract in 2011 to overhaul 26 of the existing engines, by two years later, only four were finished.Ownership and financial issues hinder the prospects of a new production line; the firm insists it needs a minimum of 20 engines ordered per year but the government is only prepared to pay for 4-6 engines per year.A further improved engine has been bench tested and may enter production in 2016 or later.
On 29 April 2015, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu was quoted as saying that Russia was resuming production of the Tu-160.On 28 May 2015 the Russian news agency TASS: Russia reported that the Russian Air Force will purchase at least 50 new-build Tu-160s and that production of the aircraft will restart at the Kazan aviation plant.General Viktor Bondarev has said that development of the PAK DA will continue alongside resumption of production of the older model bomber.
Bomber design
The bomber's airframe has a distinctive appearance, with the wing and fuselage gradually integrated into a single-piece configuration. The airframe structure is based on a titanium beam, all-welded torsion box. Throughout the entire airframe, all the main airframe members are secured to the titanium beam.
The variable geometry outer tapered wings sweep back from 20° to 65° in order to provide high-performance flight characteristics at supersonic and subsonic speeds. The tail surfaces, horizontal and vertical, are one piece and all-moving.
The Tu-160 uses fly-by-wire controls. The aircraft is equipped with three-strut landing gear, a tail wheel and a brake parachute. It can attack strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons in continental theatres of operation. For take-off, the aircraft requires a concrete runway of 3,050m.
Tu-160 cockpit
The crew of the Tu-160 comprises a pilot, co-pilot, a navigator and an operator. The four crew are equipped with zero / zero ejection seats, which provide the crew with the option of ejecting safely throughout the entire range of altitudes and air speeds, including when the aircraft is parked.
In the cockpit and cabins, all the data is presented on conventional electro-mechanical indicators and monitors, and not head-up displays or cathode ray tube displays.
The Tu-160 has a control stick for flight control as used in a fighter aircraft – rather than control wheels or yokes, which are usually used in large transporter or bomber aircraft.
Weapons
The Tu-160 can carry nuclear and conventional weapons including long-range nuclear missiles. The missiles are accommodated on multi-station launchers in each of the two weapons bays.
The Tu-160 is capable of carrying the strategic cruise missile Kh-55MS, which is known in the West by the Nato designation and codename AS-15 Kent. Up to 12 Kh-55MS missiles can be carried, six in each bay. The Kh-55MS is propelled by a turbofan engine. The maximum range is 3,000km, and it is armed with a 200kt nuclear warhead.
The weapons bays are also fitted with launchers for the Kh-15P, which has the Nato designation and codename AS-16 Kickback. The Kh-15P Kickback has solid rocket fuel propulsion, which gives a range up to 200km. The Kickback can be fitted with a conventional 250kg warhead or a nuclear warhead. The aircraft is also capable of carrying a range of aerial bombs with a total weight up to 40t.
The aircraft is highly computerised, and the avionics systems include an integrated aiming, navigation and flight control system, with a navigation and attack radar, an electronic countermeasures system, and automatic controls.
Turbofan engines
The aircraft propulsion system consists of four Samara NK-321 turbofan engines, each of which provide a maximum thrust of 25,000kg. The engines are installed in two pods under the shoulders of the wing. The air intake incorporates an adjustable vertical wedge.
The bomber has an in-flight refuelling system. In the inoperative position, the refuelling probe is retracted into the nose of the fuselage in front of the pilot's cabin. The aircraft fuel capacity is 160,000kg.
The Tu-160 can climb at a rate of 70m per second. The maximum and cruise speeds of the bomber are 2,220km per hour and 960km per hour, respectively. The range of the aircraft is 12,300km. Its combat radius is 7,300km.
The service ceiling is 16,000m. The Tu-160 has a flight endurance of 15 hours.
The aircraft weighs around 110,000kg and its maximum take-off weight is 275,000kg.
Variants
Tu-160: Production version.
Tu-160S: designation used for serial Tu-160s when needed to separate them from all the pre-production and experimental aircraft.
Tu-160V: proposed liquid hydrogen fueled version (see also Tu-155).
Tu-160 NK-74: proposed upgraded (extended range) version with NK-74 engines.
Tu-160M: upgraded version that features new weaponry, improved electronics and avionics, which double its combat effectiveness.Will carry the hypersonic Kh-90 (3M25 Meteorit-A) missiles.
Tu-160P (Tu-161): proposed very long-range escort fighter/interceptor version.
Tu-160PP: proposed electronic warfare version carrying stand-off jamming and ECM gear (Russian: ПП – постановщик помех).
Tu-160R: proposed strategic reconnaissance version.
Tu-160SK: proposed commercial version, designed to launch satellites within the "Burlak" (Russian: Бурлак, "hauler") system.
Specifications (Tu-160)
Data from Jane's All The World's Aircraft 2003–2004,
General characteristics
Crew: 4 (pilot, co-pilot, bombardier, defensive systems operator)
Length: 54.10 m (177 ft 6 in)
Wingspan:
Spread (20° sweep): 55.70 m (189 ft 9 in)
Swept (65° sweep): 35.60 m (116 ft 9¾ in)
Height: 13.10 m (43 ft 0 in)
Wing area:
Spread: 400 m² (4,306 ft²)
Swept: 360 m² (3,875 ft²)
Empty weight: 110,000 kg (242,505 lb; operating empty weight)
Loaded weight: 267,600 kg (589,950 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 275,000 kg (606,260 lb)
Powerplant: 4 × Samara NK-321 turbofans
Dry thrust: 137.3 kN (30,865 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 245 kN (55,115 lbf) each
Performance
Maximum speed: Mach 2.05 (2,220 km/h, 1,200 knots, 1,380 mph) at 12,200 m (40,000 ft)
Cruise speed: Mach 0.9 (960 km/h, 518 knots, 596 mph)
Range: 12,300 km (7,643 mi) practical range without in-flight refuelling, Mach 0.77 and carrying 6 × Kh-55SM dropped at mid range and 5% fuel reserves
Combat radius: 7,300 km[65] (3,994 nmi, 4,536 mi,) 2,000 km (1,080 nmi, 1,240 mi) at Mach 1.5
Service ceiling: 15,006 m (49,235 ft)
Rate of climb: 70 m/s (13,860 ft/min)
Wing loading: 742 kg/m² with wings fully swept (152 lb/ft²)
lift-to-drag: 18.5–19, while supersonic it is above 6.
Thrust/weight: 0.37
Armament
Two internal bays for 40,000 kg (88,185 lb) of ordnance including
Two internal rotary launchers each holding 6× Raduga Kh-55SM/101/102/555 cruise missiles (primary armament) or 12× AS-16 Kickback short-range nuclear missiles.