The Tupolev Tu-95 first thundered
over Soviet parades in the mid-1950s. Why does this giant, propeller-driven
bomber still make headlines nearly 60 years later? Stephen Dowling investigates.
It first rumbled into the skies back in the early 1950s, an
aerial giant that epitomised Soviet military might. Even its codename – ‘Bear’
– underlined its great size and strength.
When the Tupolev Tu-95 first appeared in front of Western
observers in 1956, it did so amid a revolutionary surge in aviation design; the
decade after the end of World War II saw jet technology become ascendant. Yet
the Bear had propeller-driven engines, which even then seemed archaic.
Few would have believed it would still be on the
front-line nearly 60 years later, serving as a strategic bomber, maritime
patrol aircraft – and the world’s noisiest spy plane.
Last week, the Bear
appeared in various British news outlets as two of them were escorted off the UK coast by RAF fighters.
It was a traditional, routine patrol for Bears during the height of the Cold
War – a routine Russia has recently reinstated. Yet the story of why the
Russian Air Force continues to rely on this machine nearly 60 years later is
more interesting than the sensationalist headlines.
http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150225-the-worlds-noisiest-spyplane
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