DTN News - RUSSIAN DEFENSE NEWS: Russian Defense Ministry Signs $100 Mln Deal To Overhaul 3 Tu-160 Bombers
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RIA Novosti
(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 27, 2013: (MOSCOW) - Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a 3.4 billion ruble ($103 million) contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant to upgrade three Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, Tupolev said Friday.
The delivery date for the supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber is December 31, 2015, the company said.
The ministry said last year at least 10 of the Russian Air Force’s Tu-160 bombers will be modernized by 2020, after which the upgraded aircraft will remain in service until a new-generation strategic bomber known as PAK-DA is developed.
The Tu-160, which entered service in 1987 and remains the largest supersonic aircraft in the world, is designed to engage strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons.
The Tu-160 supersonic strategic bomber was manufactured by the Tupolev Aircraft Research and Engineering Complex Joint Stock Company in Moscow and the Kazan based Gorbunov Aircraft Production Association in Tatarstan from 1980 to 1992. Production has since been restarted and a Tu-160 was delivered to the Russian Air Force in May 2000.
14 aircraft are now in service with Russia. One unarmed aircraft crashed in September 2003, the first crash since the aircraft entered service. Another aircraft is under construction. The Ukraine destroyed the last of its fleet in February 2001.
The purpose of the aircraft is the delivery of nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theatres of operation. The aircraft has all-weather, day-and-night capability and can operate at all geographical latitudes.
The performance of the Russian Tu-160 is often compared to the US B-1B. The aircraft has an operational range of 14,000km and a service ceiling of 16,000m. The maximum flight speed is 2,000kph at high altitude and 1,030kph at low altitude.
Kazan Aircraft Production Organisation (KAPO) has been given a contract to upgrade the Russian Air Force's 15 Tu-160 bombers. The Tupolev upgrade package will include new targeting systems, upgraded cruise missiles and electronic warfare suite.
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 degrees in order to provide high-performance flight characteristics at both supersonic and subsonic speeds. The tail surfaces, both horizontal and vertical, are one piece and all-moving.
The aircraft uses fly-by-wire controls.
The aircraft is equipped with three-strut landing gear, a tail wheel and a brake parachute. For take-off, the aircraft requires a concrete runway of 3,050m.
The crew of the Tu-160 comprises a pilot and copilot, 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.
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-16 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 twelve 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 200-kiloton 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 40 tons.
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.
ENGINES
The aircraft propulsion system consists of four NK-32 augmented turbofan engines, which each 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. In February 2008, Tu-160 bombers and Il-78 refueling tankers practiced air refueling during air combat exercise, as well as Mig-31, A50 and other Russian combat aircrafts.
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RIA Novosti
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RIA Novosti(NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - July 27, 2013: (MOSCOW) - Russia's Defense Ministry has signed a 3.4 billion ruble ($103 million) contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant to upgrade three Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers, Tupolev said Friday.
The ministry said last year at least 10 of the Russian Air Force’s Tu-160 bombers will be modernized by 2020, after which the upgraded aircraft will remain in service until a new-generation strategic bomber known as PAK-DA is developed.
The Tu-160, which entered service in 1987 and remains the largest supersonic aircraft in the world, is designed to engage strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons.
The Tu-160 supersonic strategic bomber was manufactured by the Tupolev Aircraft Research and Engineering Complex Joint Stock Company in Moscow and the Kazan based Gorbunov Aircraft Production Association in Tatarstan from 1980 to 1992. Production has since been restarted and a Tu-160 was delivered to the Russian Air Force in May 2000.
14 aircraft are now in service with Russia. One unarmed aircraft crashed in September 2003, the first crash since the aircraft entered service. Another aircraft is under construction. The Ukraine destroyed the last of its fleet in February 2001.
The purpose of the aircraft is the delivery of nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theatres of operation. The aircraft has all-weather, day-and-night capability and can operate at all geographical latitudes.
The performance of the Russian Tu-160 is often compared to the US B-1B. The aircraft has an operational range of 14,000km and a service ceiling of 16,000m. The maximum flight speed is 2,000kph at high altitude and 1,030kph at low altitude.
Kazan Aircraft Production Organisation (KAPO) has been given a contract to upgrade the Russian Air Force's 15 Tu-160 bombers. The Tupolev upgrade package will include new targeting systems, upgraded cruise missiles and electronic warfare suite.
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 degrees in order to provide high-performance flight characteristics at both supersonic and subsonic speeds. The tail surfaces, both horizontal and vertical, are one piece and all-moving.
The aircraft uses fly-by-wire controls.
The aircraft is equipped with three-strut landing gear, a tail wheel and a brake parachute. For take-off, the aircraft requires a concrete runway of 3,050m.
The crew of the Tu-160 comprises a pilot and copilot, 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.
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-16 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 twelve 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 200-kiloton 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 40 tons.
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.
ENGINES
The aircraft propulsion system consists of four NK-32 augmented turbofan engines, which each 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. In February 2008, Tu-160 bombers and Il-78 refueling tankers practiced air refueling during air combat exercise, as well as Mig-31, A50 and other Russian combat aircrafts.
*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources RIA Novosti
*Speaking Image - Creation of DTN News ~ Defense Technology News
*Photograph: IPF (International Pool of Friends) + DTN News / otherwise source stated
*This article is being posted from Toronto, Canada By DTN News ~ Defense-Technology News Contact:dtnnews@ymail.com
©COPYRIGHT (C) DTN NEWS DEFENSE-TECHNOLOGY NEWS
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