This was the only occasion when 3M bombers on quick-reaction alert (QRA) duty actually sat armed with nuclear bombs, ready to take off at short notice
When the Myasishchev design bureau was reestablished in 1951, it was promptly assigned the task of developing a high‑speed strategic bomber to counter the threat from NATO’s heavy bombers, particularly the B-52.
Designated the M-4 and given the NATO reporting name “Bison,” the new four‑turbojet bomber was created in an astonishingly short period—only one year. It incorporated some advanced design elements, such as bicycle‑type landing gear, and was built around the most powerful jet engine then available. The M-4 went on to become the ancestor of a small series of bombers and tanker aircraft, including the significantly upgraded 3M and its derivatives.
Although many planned variants were never produced and the Bison experienced numerous difficulties, it entered service at a crucial moment and served as an important element of nuclear deterrence.
As Yefim Gordon and Dmitriy Komissarov note in their book Myasishchev M-4 and 3M: The First Soviet Strategic Jet Bomber, even after the failure of the Bay of Pigs invasion (Operation Zapata) between Apr. 14 and 19, 1960, the US did not abandon its efforts to overthrow Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz’s Communist government in Cuba. Castro, for his part, was convinced that Washington was preparing a full-scale military intervention. Aware that the modest Cuban Revolutionary Armed Forces could not stand up to the US military, he turned to the Soviet Union for support.
A deal was quickly concluded under which a 40,000-strong Soviet military force was stationed in Cuba, including three regiments equipped with R-12 (izdeliye 8K63, NATO designation SS-4 Sandal) intermediate-range ballistic missiles and two regiments armed with R-14 (izdeliye 8K65, NATO designation SS-5 Skean) IRBMs. It was the deployment of these missile systems that sparked the notorious Cuban Missile Crisis of September–November 1962, bringing the world to the verge of a Third World War.
Confronted with the growing likelihood of open conflict with the US, the Soviet Ministry of Defense rapidly reorganized its forces. Among other moves, the 1096th and 1230th TBAPs, which formed the 201st TBAD, were shifted to a forward base at Siauliai to shorten the time needed for their 3M Bison strategic bombers to reach their targets. This was the only time that 3M bombers on quick‑reaction alert (QRA) actually sat on the tarmac loaded with nuclear weapons and ready to launch at a moment’s notice (whereas, in those years, USAF B-52s routinely patrolling along the Soviet borders always carried nuclear arms).
Two squadrons of each regiment were to strike at the continental US; the third squadron was equipped with hastily outfitted 3MS-2 tankers to support the operation. The bomber crews were issued sealed flight bags with route maps indicating their targets, and sealed envelopes with the nuclear bombs’ activation codes.
They never actually laid eyes on the nuclear weapons themselves, taking over aircraft that had already been armed and sealed, with security tags on the bomb bay doors. Tactical aviation units of the Soviet air force, together with the Long-Range Aviation’s Tu-16P Badger-J electronic countermeasures aircraft (P = postanovshchik pomekh — ECM platform), were tasked with escorting the bombers safely past NATO bases in Western Europe; beyond that point, however, the Bisons were expected to continue alone. The crews labored under enormous psychological pressure, fully aware that if nuclear war broke out their own families would almost certainly die. Even so, morale remained strong: “Do what you have to do, and come what may!”
Yet, recognizing that a full-scale conflict with the US would be utterly devastating, the Soviet leadership ultimately chose to step back and pursue a political resolution. On Oct. 26, Nikita S. Khrushchev admitted that Soviet missiles had been deployed to Cuba (something he had previously denied) but asserted they would never be used against the United States. He proposed to President John F. Kennedy that all Soviet offensive weapons be removed from Cuba in return for a US pledge of nonaggression toward the island, and he further insisted that the US withdraw its ballistic missiles from Turkey, which were a major source of concern for the Soviet government.
On Oct. 27, Kennedy responded that the United States would guarantee nonaggression toward Cuba and that the naval blockade would be lifted, provided that the withdrawal of Soviet offensive weapons was verified by the United Nations. The following day, the Soviet government accepted these terms and issued an official statement to that effect. Between Nov. 5 and 9, all 42 IRBMs were transported back to the USSR and the launch sites were dismantled. As a result, the state of heightened alert was called off, and the 201st TBAD’s bombers returned to their home base at Engels—to the great relief of all involved.
Myasishchev M-4 and 3M: The First Soviet Strategic Jet Bomber is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
Photo by U.S. Navy
