Tu-95 ‘Bear’ Cruise Missile Bomber Crashes in Russia’s Far East
A Tu-95 “Bear” strategic bomber used to employ air launched cruise missiles at civilian targets in Ukraine, has crashed during a training flight in the far eastern Russian Amur region, killing at least six out of seven crewmembers. The subsonic turboprop warplane is not capable of delivering the hypersonic Kh-47 Kinzhal air launched ballistic missile, but menaces Ukraine with nearly all other heavy aerial ordnance in Kremlin stockpiles.
In brief: A Tu-95 “Bear” strategic bomber used to employ air launched cruise missiles at civilian targets in Ukraine, has crashed during a training flight in the far eastern Russian Amur region, killing at least six out of seven crewmembers. The subsonic turboprop warplane is not capable of delivering the hypersonic Kh-47 Kinzhal air launched ballistic missile, but menaces Ukraine with nearly all other heavy aerial ordnance in Kremlin stockpiles.
Kremlin officials have announced the crash of a Tu-95 (NATO: “Bear”) strategic bomber during a routine continuation training flight in the far eastern Russian Amur region, killing at least six out of seven crewmembers.
“On September 29, a Tu-95 aircraft crashed in the Amur region during a training flight. The aircraft went down in an uninhabited area. According to preliminary data, six crew members died, while one was injured and evacuated to a medical facility,” the Russian Ministry of Defense said, reported by TASS and quoted here from Bangladesh’s BSSNews.
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The identification of the aircraft as a Tu-95 was corroborated by reports from the independent Moscow Times.
Earlier reporting on Russian Telegram channels, including BAZA , had mis-identified the aircraft as a Tu-154 (NATO: “Careless”) military cargo plane, despite having photos of the vertical tail with no third engine nacelle above the fuselage.
Initial reports said that firefighters were working to extinguish a blaze at the crash site.
The loss of another strategic bomber that is routinely used as a launch platform for nearly every type of heavy ordnance used to attack Ukraine is likely to be welcome news in Kyiv, which has been subject to heavy bombardment recently from cruise and ballistic missiles and jet-powered drones.
The Tu-95 is a subsonic aircraft with counter-rotating turboprop engines optimized for long-distance intercontinental strategic bomber missions, a la Cold War fears, and is used to deliver long-range (over 4,000 km) subsonic air-launched cruise missiles (ALCMs) such as the stealthy Kh-101 or the older Kh-55.
The Bear is too slow and has too low a service ceiling to be able to launch the hypersonic air-launched ballistic missiles (ALBMs), like the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal, that confound all air defenses except the PAC-3 Patriot. The Kinzhal is employed by supersonic aircraft – either the MiG 31K (NATO: “Foxhound”) fighter-bomber or the Tu-22M (NATO: “Backfire”) strategic bomber, according to RealClearDefense.
“The Tu-95 was reportedly stationed at the Ukrainka air base, one of Russia’s largest long-range Air Force bases. Reports said the plane crashed near the village of Krasnoyarovo, which is located 30 kilometers (18.5 miles) north of the Ukrainka base.”
A later post by BAZA correctly identified the crashed plane as a Tu95, with the Moscow Times commenting on their added information:
“Unverified reports from Telegram news with ties to Russian law enforcement and security services claimed the bomber plane may have crashed as the result of an engine fire and explosion.
“Officials have not commented on the possible cause of the crash.”
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