Tag Archives: tupolev

Tupolev 16, NATO reporting name Badger.

Cold War: Approximately 1947 (due to U.S. President Harry Truman’s Truman Doctrine) to 1991 (Operation Desert Storm, collapse of Soviet Union).

The prototype of the Soviet Tu-16 was the Tu-88, which first flew in Spring 1952, production of the Tu-16 began in December 1952. China still produces its own version.

Silent Soviet films, from 1957, showing-off their new Tupolev 16:

On 25MAY1968, the U.S. Navy (USN) carrier group led by USS Essex CVS-9 was ‘badgered’ by several Soviet aircraft, including variants of the Tu-16, while sailing through the Norwegian Sea. It ended badly for one hot-shot Badger.

Silent USN film of Tu-16 Badger C:

Silent USN film of Badger C and Badger G:

A Badger gets danger-close to the USS Essex, while other Badgers fly at sea level:

The USN claimed one of the hot-shot Badgers crashed while sea skimming, and USN Sea Kings were dispatched to rescue the Soviet Tu-16 crew. The silent, and faded, film shows a Tu-16 buzzing USS Essex, then on the horizon can barely be seen the smoke plume of the crashed Badger, other Tu-16s continue to overfly CVS-9:

Unfortunately the Badger crew did not survive, what was recovered by the USN was handed over to a Soviet Kotlin class destroyer with the hull number of 311, which had pulled along side the USS Essex:

After taking on the bodies of the Badger crew, hull number 311 gives a salute with its main guns, and sails away:

Photo released by U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), 15MAR1974.

A seemingly neglected Egyptian Tu-16 Badger, December 1981. Photo by Staff Sergeant Bill Thompson.

A derelict Egyptian Tu-16 sits behind two USAF C-130s during wargame Bright Star 82.

Egyptian Tu-16s. U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Donald Sutherland, dated 01NOV1980 (which is probably incorrect as the info also says it was during Bright Star 90).

This U.S. DoD released photo says it is a Badger C, sometime in 1981, however it is unknown who made the photo, or where the photo was recorded.

Somewhere over the north of the United Kingdom, September 1982.

Tu-16 Badger ‘C’ approaching the United Kingdom, September 1982.

Same incident, different Badger, September 1982.

Badger belly over the United Kingdom, September 1982.

Badgering a USN destroyer somewhere over the Indian Ocean, June 1983.

Tu-16 Badger C. Photo dated 1984, original source unknown.

Badger C, photo dated October 1985.

Badgering the USS KITTY HAWK (CV-63), somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, January 1986.

Badger D spying on NATO naval wargames in September 1986. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer’s Mate First Class Jeff Hilton.

Somewhere over the Mediterranean Sea, 11AUG1986.

A VF-1 Wolfpack F-14 Tomcat badgers two Badger ‘F’s, 14JUL1987.

The U.S. DoD released this photo in May 1989, without any other information.

In 1958 China received its first Tu-16, then in 1959, the first Xian Aircraft Corporation license built Tu-16 took flight, under the designation H-6.

PLA Eastern Theater Command video, edited by Lin Congyi, of Tu-16s (H-6), and the new H-6K, conducting night training, 02JUN2022:

PLA Southern Command photo by Gao Hongwei, 05JAN2022.

PLA video, edited by Chen Zhuo, Tu-16s (H-6), and the new H-6K, practice low level bombing, 29NOV2021:

Preparing for a night flight. PLA Eastern Command photo by Wang Jun, 16APR2021.

PLA Eastern Command photo by Li Bingxuan, 16APR2021.

PLA Navy photo by Yang Ling, 09AUG2021.

PLA Navy photo by Gao Hongwei, 06AUG2020.

China is also using their new home grown version of the Tu-16, the H-6K.

Cold War Vehicle I-D: TU-95 ‘BEAR’

NASA’S RUSSIAN TUPOLEV 144 SST, MORE MONEY SPENT ON THE U.S. AIRLINER INDUSTRY

Technology

Vehicle I-D: China’s H-6K

Video February 26, 2022 Hutchins AAron

One China’s latest bombers, the Xian H-6K, is a development of their H-6 which itself is a license built Cold War era Soviet Tupolev 16. It debuted in 2007. The most recent version is the H-6N (debuted in 2019) which looks just like the H-6K, but can be identified by the refueling probe sticking out of the nose.

H-6K bomber patrolling the oil rich South China Sea. Xinhuanet (Xinhua) photo, not dated.

China Defense Ministry promotional video explainer/walkaround report of the ‘new’ H-6K, December 2021:

China Defense Ministry video of scramble and patrol of H-6 & H-6K, November 2021:

In November 2021, two Chinese H-6K joined with two Russian Tupolev 95MC (NATO reporting name Bear) in a patrol flight over The Sea of Japan and The East China Sea. It was the third such joint China-Russia aerial patrol of that area.

People’s Liberation Army photo by Yu Hongchun.

The most noticeable differences between the H-6 and H-6K are the cockpit/nose area and the engine air intakes.

PLA-Central Command photo by Yu Hongchun.

PLA-Navy photo by Yang Ling, dated 09AUG2021.

PLA-Eastern Command photo by Wang Jun, dated 30MAR2021.

PLA-Central Command photo by Yu Hongchun, March 2021.

PLA-Southern Command photo by Gao Hongwei, August 2020.

Notice that the tail gunner’s position of the H-6/Tu-16 is faired over on the H-6K.

PLA-Southern Command photo, 15OCT2018.

Attending Russia’s International Army Games-Aviadarts, 01AUG2018, photo by Yang Pan.

H-6K bomb bay, Russia’s International Army Games-Aviadarts, 01AUG2018, photo by Yang Pan.

Attending Russia’s International Army Games-Aviadarts, 01AUG2018, photo by Yang Pan.

Xinhuanet (Xinhua) video report, edited by Li Jiayao, for first time H-6K participates in the Russia hosted International Army Games 2018:

Anti-ship missile armed H-6K patrols near Taiwan along with J-11s. Xinhuanet photo, 11MAY2018.

2018 Xinuanet video, edited by Li Jiayao, promoting the H-6K and showing what it takes to become an H-6K pilot:

2018 Xinhuanet music video of H-6K:

Financial Martial Law:

U.S. based WORLD BANK FINANCES REPRESSION BY CHINA?

Vehicle I-D: TYPE 7-4 INVADES EVERGREEN STATE! PREPS FOR WAR WITH CHINA?

Technology

Cold War Vehicle I-D: Tu-95 ‘Bear’

Video October 25, 2021 Hutchins AAron

Tupolev 95, NATO reporting name Bear, in the mid-1950s the prototype/early production was called Tupolev 20. From official Soviet silent film, Tu-20s make a quick overfly of a parade in Moscow (the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics did not like publicly displaying their bombers, especially new bombers), 1957:

Bear-As were bombers and did not have refueling probes. Bear-B/Cs were bombers with refueling probes and could carry early style cruise missiles. Bear Ds were long rang maritime reconnaissance aircraft with radar bulges under chin and belly. Bear Es were also recon aircraft, with the tail gun replaced by electronic sensors. Bear-G/H carried cruise missiles and had a differently shaped radar bulge under its chin.

Silent U.S. Air Force film, ‘Bear-D’ South East of Iceland, 21NOV1967:

Silent USAF film, ‘Bear D’ East of Iceland, 16JAN1968:

Silent USAF film, ‘Bear B’ (while the film’s slate says Bear B, the shape of the radome indicates a Bear G/H, definitely not a Bear-B) escorted by F-102 Delta Dagger, South East of Iceland, 20FEB1968:

Silent USAF film, ‘Bear-C’ (as above, the shape of the chin radome indicates a Bear-G/H, not a Bear-C) escorted by F-102 Delta Dagger, 20FEB1968:

Silent U.S. Navy film, ‘Bear Ds’ buzz USS Essex (CVS-9), May 1968:

Silent USN film from May 1971, F-4Js ‘escort’ a Tu-95:

‘Bear A’ near Iceland, March 1972.

F-8 Crusader escorts ‘Bear-D’, 25MAY1974, photo by Lieutenant Fessenden.

USN photo dated 15MAY1974.

F-106 Delta Dart escorts Bear-D.

Bicentennial F-4C/D escorts Bear-D.

F-14A escorts ‘Bear-D’, 15OCT1979.

F-4E escorts ‘Bear-A(?)’, 28SEP1980, photo by Master Sergeant Richard Diaz.

Somewhere over the North Atlantic, F-4Es escort ‘Bear-D’, September 1980, photo by Master Sergeant Richard Diaz.

There is also a gun turret under the rear fuselage, September 1980, photo by Master Sergeant Richard Diaz.

Texas Air National Guard F-4C escorts Bear-D, August 1981.

1982, ‘Bear-A’.

‘Bear-D’ over the Mediterranean Sea, May 1983.

U.S. Navy photo, published January 1984.

‘Bear-E’ (notice the fairing where the tail gun would be), August 1985.

Pukin Dogs F-14s escort Bear-D.

‘Bear-E’ with F-14D, August 1985. You can see the tail gun position is faired over, but there is still a gun turret underneath the rear fuselage.

A-7E escorts Bear-D, September/October 1985.

‘Bear E/G/H(?)’, U.S. Navy photo published July 1987.

‘Bear G/H(?)’, USN photo published August 1988.

Cold War Vehicle I-D: B-47 STRATOJET

Modern Vehicle I-D: SUKHOI 24

International, Technology

End of the Cold War to Ukraine Crisis: No more Open Skies, or whatever happened to the OC-135B?

Video November 30, 2020 Hutchins AAron

U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sergeant Keith Reed the Third, 17JUL1997.

On 24MAR1992, the Treaty on Open Skies was created as a way of being sure that countries that have military weapons (military-grade arms) control agreements are complying. However, it wouldn’t be until 01JAN2002 that Open Skies actually went into effect, with 34 countries signed-on (but only 20 ratified). Interestingly, the first OC-135B was ready to launch in June 1993!

Newly independent Ukrainian Air Force personnel get their photo taken in front of their Open Skies Antonov An-30. Photo by Technical Sergeant Brad Fallin, 14APR1997.

Russian Open Skies Antonov An-30, 25SEP2009. Photo by Alan Lebeda.

On 22NOV2020, the United States officially withdrew from the Treaty on Open Skies, so far the only country to do so. It’s interesting that the many countries who did not sign-on to Open Skies, like nuclear armed China, condemned the U.S. withdrawal.

Photo by Kelly White. 23APR2020, U.S. Air Force OC-135B (6-12670) stripped and awaiting what would become its final Open Skies livery.

But it is more complicated than U.S. President Donald Trump being a mean old ‘orange man’, it’s about other treaty signators not complying, and the fact that updating the now ‘ancient’ observation technology is just too cost prohibitive for taxpayers.

A naked OC-135B anticipates its final Open Skies paint job on Tinker AFB, Oklahoma. Photo by Kelly White, 23APR2020.

Here’s a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) video, 22MAY2020, in which NATO accuses Russia (Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) of violating the Open Skies agreement:

Photo by Charles Haymond. An OC-135B Open Skies (converted WC-135 weather research) aircraft takes off from Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska,14SEP2018.

Photo by Technical Sergeant Heather Salazar. Voyenno-Vozdushnye Sily Rossii (Military Air Forces of Russia) Open Skies Tupolev Tu-154M RF-85655, lands at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, 14AUG2019.

From 1992-93, three WC-135B aircraft were modified for the Open Skies mission, re-designated OC-135B. For some reason, after only a few years based at Offutt Air Force Base (AFB), Nebraska, the first OC-135B was sent straight to ‘moth-balls’ at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, in 1997.

Photo by Charles J. Haymond, 14SEP2018.

This OC-135B conducted observation flights over Haiti, after the 7.0 earthquake in 2010. Photo by Senior Airman Perry Aston, 16JAN2010.

Despite the OC-135Bs being used on other non-Open Skies observations, such as natural disasters, according to some reports the remaining two OC-135Bs are now available for sale as a result of the U.S. exit from Open Skies: “We’ve started liquidating the equipment. Other countries can come purchase or just take the airframes. They are really old and cost-prohibitive for us to maintain. We don’t have a use for them anymore.”

Photo by Staff Sergeant John Hillier. 01FEB2018, a Commonwealth of Nations (aka British Empire) Royal Canadian Air Force C-130J arrives at Rosecrans Memorial Airport, Missouri, joining units from France and Czech Republic for Open Skies training with the Missouri Air National Guard.

What many people might not know is that the Open Skies operation required the use of old school film technology. In this 2015 U.S. Air Force video report, by John Harrington, it’s revealed that the old technology was getting difficult to maintain due to no new parts:

Here is an October 2016 USAF video (by John Harrington) explaining how the imagery captured by the OC-135Bs are processed:

Photo by Delanie Stafford. Snow removal from Open Skies OC-135B, 03FEB2015, Offutt AFB.

Via Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Russian examine a U.S. OC-135B, 27FEB2007.

Via Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Italian C-130 with SAMSON observation pod.

23NOV2020: Russia warns remaining Open Skies members not to share data with United States

11NOV2020: French personnel to use Romanian An-30 for Open Skies flyover of Russia

Realize that the United States and Russia have always conducted observation flights of each other, Open Skies was just an attempt to make it more militarily non-threatening.

28NOV2020: Russian Sukhoi 27 scrambled to intercept U.S. RC-135 over Black Sea

27NOV2020: Russia accuses NATO of conducting more than 1300 non-Open Skies spy flights

There were rumors that the two remaining Open Skies OC-13Bs were up for sale in 2020, however, the aircraft were given a fresh ‘Open Skies’ paint job and sent to the ‘boneyard’ in Arizona. USAF video by David Farley, 13MAY2021:

OC-135B Open Skies on Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, 09JUN2021. USAF photo by Senior Airman Alex Miller.

July 2022: NATO-Romania puts to use an ex-Open Skies Antonov 30.

U.S. taxpayer expense: NASA’S Russian Tupolev 144 SST

Pandemic Overflight: KC-135

Bare Metal: KC-135R GETS STRIPPED

EC-135E FIRE-BIRD, 10329 COMES BACK TO LIFE, AGAIN! OR, WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR EXTRA KC-135 KIT.

HOW TO MUMMIFY YOUR KC-10, OR, LAST FLIGHT OF 86-0036

Terminator: SpaceX satellites helping the new U.S. Space Force to target you from above

Technology

NASA’s Russian Tupolev 144 SST, more money spent on the U.S. airliner industry

Video April 26, 2020 Hutchins AAron

Before conversion to NASA’s ‘LL’ configuration. NASA photo, 1995.

17MAR1996 rollout of Tu-144LL at Zhukovsky Air Development Center near Moscow, Russia. A joint project between Russian Aeronautics Establishment, NASA, Boeing, McDonnell-Douglas, Rockwell, and others.

NASA photo, 17MAR1996.

LL stands for Letayuschaya Laboratoriya, which means Flying Laboratory. The intent was to develop a practical SST (Super Sonic Transport) for the 21st Century, to be built in the United States. The NASA led program was paid for by U.S. taxpayers and corporations. It was hoped that a market for SST aircraft would reveal itself in the 2020s.

NASA photo, July 1997, Zhukovsky Air Development Center near Moscow, Russia.

Zhukovsky Air Development Center near Moscow, Russia. NASA photo by Jim Ross, September 1998.

Test flights began in June 1996 and ended in April 1999.

NASA photo by Jim Ross, September 1998.

Tu-144LL had Kuznetsov NK-321 turbofan engines (same as those used on the Tu-160 strategic bombers) rated at more than 55,000 pounds of thrust in full afterburner.

NASA photo, 1996.

NASA’s computer room for data collection from Tu-144LL. The effects of flight on the real Tu-144LL was compared to data collected from models used in wind tunnels.

NASA photo by Jim Ross, September 1998.

This photo was taken in 1998, note that some of the names of the sponsoring companies have been removed from the fuselage.

NASA photo by Jim Ross, September 1998.

In 1998 two NASA pilots conducted three flights to test handling of the SST at subsonic and supersonic speeds.

NASA photo by Jim Ross, September 1998.

A 2014 NASA statement, updated in 2017, simply says the data collected will be used to build a future SST that can meet specific goals; strict noise and air-pollution standards, carry 300 passengers at least 5,000 miles at a cost per passenger of no more than 20% above subsonic airliners flying the same routes. However, a 2009 NASA report, also updated in 2017, states that “…an economically viable SST could not be envisioned near enough to further justify U.S. industry commitment.”

As far as what happened to the Tu-144LL, it was last seen rotting away at the Zhukovsky International Airport.

1:1 SCALE WIND TUNNEL MODELS?

VEHICLE I-D: NASA CANBERRAS, B-57B ‘HUSH KIT’ & WB-57F RIVET CHIP/SLICE

BARE METAL: NASA’S MD-11 EXPERIMENTAL

IDAHO, KANSAS, UTAH HOME BASES FOR NASA’S DC-8 FIREX-AQ!

NASA ‘CLIMATE SPY PLANE’ PROVES CALIFORNIA’S STRICT ANTI-POLLUTION LAWS ARE A JOKE!

SUPER GUPPY BE OLD, BUT NASA STILL USES IT!

VEHICLE I-D: ‘NEW’ F-16 VISTA

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SALVAGING F4U CORSAIRS

Kit Bashing, Technology

Soviet Great Patriotic War ‘Bat’ to be resurrected from the dead!

Image August 18, 2019 Hutchins AAron

“For the first time in the world, a Tu-2 bomber will be reconstructed to its operational condition on the premises of the Novosibirsk State Technical University. The reconstruction work will be carried out by Aviarestavratsiya. This work will take three years.”-Science and Higher Education Ministry

The Tupolev 2 bomber of World War Two fame is being brought back to life in Russia.

A Tupolev TU 2 WWII Soviet front line bomber (NATO reporting name Bat) on static display at Monino Museum, Russia. TASS photo by Marina Lystseva.

According to TASS, the resurrection was supposed to start on 21AUG2019. The specific plane to be restored to flying condition had a long history, first flying with the Soviet forces during World War Two, then flying with Chinese forces until the 1980s(!), and then ending up in the United States in the hands of the War Eagles Air Museum in New Mexico (read a description of the plane and how the Chinese used it, here).

War Eagles Air Museum, before restoration. Photo via David and Paula Barnett.

War Eagles Air Museum, after restoration.

The U.S. museum restored the Tu-2 to the point it could be used as a static display. In 2019, the Russia based Aviarestavratsiya (air restoration)/Winged Victory Memorial supposedly acquired the plane and will bring it back to Russia: “This is not a plane that was shot down or was broken. We have not yet studied its series numbers and have not yet tracked its exact history. The plane will be studied and analyzed in detail. Each element will be reconstructed or restored.”-Boris Osyatinsky, Aviarestavratsiya/Winged Victory Memorial

However, as of 2022 the War Eagles Air Museum in New Mexico still lists the Bat as part of their displays.

By the way, China still has several Tu-2 bombers on display: