Alexander Shipilenko
February 4
Ilya Vedmedenko
The newly built Tu-160M received a rear-view radar, thanks to which it will be able to use reverse launch missiles.
Tu-160M / ©OAK
In Russia, they often talked about the so-called reverse launch missile, capable of turning 180 degrees and hitting targets in the rear hemisphere. The Su-34 front-line bomber was called as a potential carrier, however, as it became known, it was not he who could receive such a product first, but the new-built "strategist" Tu-160.
This was reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a source in the aircraft industry. According to the interlocutor of the news agency, the rear-view radar station will allow to implement the concept. It is not on the basic version of the Tu-160, but is on the new Tu-160M.
Reverse launch missiles can be used to protect against other air-to-air and ground-to-air missiles, as well as to destroy fighters. At the same time, they also want to destroy targets in the front hemisphere, without a 180-degree turn.
The news met with mixed reactions from experts. According to the former commander of the 4th Air Force and Air Defense Army, Lieutenant General Valery Gorbenko, the Tu-160 needs protection from rear attacks, but this can be achieved by a less expensive method. “It’s easier to install special launchers in order to immediately shoot back, ” Izvestia quotes him as saying.
The newly built Tu-160M made its first flight on 12 January. The rear-view radar is an important, but not the only feature of the aircraft. It is known that it was equipped with upgraded engines, updated avionics and avionics, as well as new weapons control systems.
Tu-160M of new construction / ©UAC
The Tu-160 bomber is the largest and most powerful supersonic aircraft with variable wing geometry in world history. The car first took to the skies on December 18, 1981. It was put into operation on April 23, 1987.
The first combat use of the Tu-160 took place during the Russian operation in Syria. Then the planes launched Kh-555 and Kh-101 cruise missiles.
According to some reports, in the future they want to equip the strategic bomber with the promising Kh-BD missile. Its range can exceed five thousand kilometers.
Whatever new features the Tu-160 has received, it has one drawback - the lack of stealth technology. Therefore, now in Russia they are creating a completely new “invisible” bomber. The first sample could be ready by 2023, and the aircraft's launch flight is expected around the middle of the decade.
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