The Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack continued to establish records even after the fall of the Soviet Union.
Created as a counterpart to the American B-1, the Tupolev Tu-160 became the most powerful strategic bomber in the Soviet arsenal. Multiple design proposals were turned down, and the aircraft only reached the prototype stage after a highly contentious competition among several of the Soviet Union’s leading aircraft design bureaus. The variable-sweep wing Tu-160 eventually entered operational service in April 1987.
As recounted by Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov in their book Tupolev Tu-160, Soviet Strike Force Spearhead, the Tu-160 showcased its remarkable capabilities to the world just two and a half years after entering service by setting a remarkable series of world records. On Oct. 31, 1989, a Soviet Air Force crew, aircraft commander Maj. Gen. Lev V. Kozlov; co-pilot Col. Mikhail I. Pozdnyakov; navigator Col. V. S. Neretin; and WSO Lt. Col. S. N. Mart’yanov—flew an operational Tu-160 (f/n 3-04) at a gross weight of 240,000 kg (529,110 lb), achieving 21 records in Group 3 under the World Air Sports Federation (Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)) category for turbojet/turbofan-powered aircraft. These included two Class C-1 speed records (landplanes with no upper weight limit) over a 1,000-km (621-mile) closed course, while the remaining records fell under Class C-1r (landplanes weighing 200,000–250,000 kg / 440,920–551,160 lb), covering various altitude and speed achievements with different payloads.
(Note: Some sources claim the aircraft involved carried the code “14 Red.” However, within the 184th GvTBAP this tactical code is believed to have belonged to Tu-160 f/n 6-04, which did not yet exist at the time, as it was not built until 1991.)
Not to be outdone, on Nov. 3, 1989, a Tupolev OKB test crew—captain Boris I. Veremey, co-pilot Grigoriy N. Shapoval, navigator Mikhail M. Kozel, and WSO Anatoliy V. Yeriomenko—set another 21 records using the second prototype Tu-160 (izdeliye 70-03, coded “29 Grey”) at a maximum takeoff weight of 275,000 kg (606,270 lb). Once again, two of these were Class C-1 speed records over a closed circuit, this time 2,000 km (1,242 miles) in length; the remaining 19 were Class C-1s altitude and speed records for landplanes in the 250,000–300,000 kg (551,160–661,390 lb) weight category. In May 1990, the Blackjack further cemented its reputation by continuing to amass additional world records.
On four separate days (May 15, 22, 24, and 28), four different Air Force crews collectively set 36 records — 18 Class C-1r speed records and 18 Class C-1s speed records over 1,000-km and 5,000-km (3,105-mile) closed circuits. Notably, each crew consisted of only three members: on May 15, aircraft commander Lev V. Kozlov, co-pilot V. P. Rudenko, and navigator S. N. Mart’yanov; on May 22, commander Col. Nail’ Sh. Sattarov, co-pilot Maj. Aleksandr S. Medvedev, and navigator P. P. Merzlyakov; on May 24, commander Col. Vladimir I. Pavlov, co-pilot Lt.-Col. Vitaliy P. Selivanov, and navigator F. A. Ivlev; and on May 28, commander Col. S. D. Osipov, co-pilot N. N. Matveyev, and navigator A. S. Tsarakhov. In total, during the Soviet era the Tu-160 set no fewer than 78 world records officially recognized by the FAI.
Even that was not the final achievement. On June 9–10, 2010, two Tu-160 crews from the Russian Air Force’s 6950th Guards Air Base set a new distance and endurance record during a planned ultra-long-range combat patrol. One of the aircraft was “06 Red” / RF-94105 Il’ya Muromets (c/n 84308216, f/n 8-01). It was commanded by Deputy Squadron Leader Lt. Col. Aleksandr I. Khabarov, with instructor pilot Col. Andrey V. Senchurov—an inspector pilot with the Long-Range Aviation and Command Flight Safety Department—in the right-hand seat; the crew also included navigator Maj. Dmitriy V. Kirilov and instructor navigator Col. Oleg Yu. Baranov, Chief Navigator of the 6950th GvAvB, in the WSO station. The second bomber, “16 Red” / RF-94107 Aleksey Plokhov (c/n 82905836, f/n 5-03), was flown by captain Lt. Col. Mikhail N. Shishkin, with instructor pilot Col. Andrey A. Malyshev as co-pilot, navigator Maj. Flyur Z. Iskhakov, and instructor navigator Lt. Col. Vladimir V. Sookhodol’skiy as WSO.
This was the second occasion on which the Tu-160 had carried out an ultra-long-range mission; the first was in 2009, when two Blackjacks remained airborne for roughly 21 hours. This time, however, the record was pushed even further. The aircraft followed a route skirting Russia’s borders over the Arctic Ocean before continuing out over the Pacific, carefully remaining in international airspace and avoiding any incursion into other countries’ territory. During the sortie, the crews trained for extended flights over featureless regions lacking landmarks and with minimal navigation aids. They also practiced IFR procedures, refueling twice from Il-78M tankers. In doing so, they achieved another first for the Tu-160 by taking on 50 tons (110,230 lb) of fuel twice during a single mission.
The mission proceeded flawlessly, with the Tu-160s flying roughly 18,000 km (11,180 miles) non-stop, part of it at supersonic speed. “06 Red” remained in the air for 23 hours 32 minutes, while “16 Red” stayed aloft even longer, clocking 24 hours 22 minutes.
Tupolev Tu-160 Soviet Strike Force Spearhead is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by Dmitry Terekhov from Odintsovo, Russian Federation, and Alex Beltyukov via Wikipedia
