Russian strategic-bomber upgrade indicates new cruise-missile deployment
Although lately British focus has been on occasional pictures of the Russian Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bomber (NATO reporting name:
Bear) in the UK flight-information region, an arguably more significant image of the
Bear flying over Russia has recently also appeared.
The aircraft has been photographed fitted with four sets of large-weapon pylons between the engine nacelles. The pylon design is not new, and has been seen on Tu-95MS test aircraft for nearly two decades. What is different, however, is that the
Bear pictured – ‘Red 10’ – does not appear to be a test aircraft but rather most likely an upgraded airframe from a frontline unit. The image is stated to have been taken at Engels, the main base for the Russian air force's long-range aviation fleet. Previous images of test aircraft used in the programme to develop a cruise-missile capability on the
Bear, including ‘Red 317’, were either from the Zhukovsky flight-test research centre on the outskirts of Moscow or taken at the air force’s test centre in Akhtubinsk in southern Russia.
The pylons in question are associated with the
Raduga Kh-101/102 dual-capable long-range cruise missiles. Though circumstantial, this is an indicator that this family of weapons may finally, after near three decades of development, now be in service in frontline units.
The Kh-101/102 are designed to replace variants of the
Raduga Kh-55 cruise missile. The Kh-102 has been developed to replace the Kh-55 (AS-15
Kent) as the air force's primary nuclear weapon. The Kh-101, meanwhile, is a variant of the missile that is fitted with a conventional payload. This is a likely replacement for the Kh-555, developed to provide a conventional stand-off land-attack capability. The Kh-555 is based on the air force’s nuclear Kh-55SM cruise missile, with the nuclear package replaced and an improved guidance system. Claimed ranges for the Kh-101/Kh-102 vary from 2,700km to 5,000km.
Unlike the Kh-55, the Kh-101/102 is thought to be too large to fit into the
Bear's internal weapons bay on a rotary launcher, with the aircraft therefore limited to carrying the large cruise missile externally. Test aircraft have been seen being used to carry eight size-and-weight-representative mock-ups of the missile with two on each of the four twin pylons. The missile will also form a key element in the inventory of the Tu-160
Blackjack bomber; in the case of the
Blackjack, the weapon can be carried internally on rotary launchers. Tu-95 and Tu-160 units are based at Engels.
Work on the replacement for the Kh-55 began likely in the late 1980s, with test rounds of the Kh-101/102 design available by the latter half of the 1990s. One option pursued for the original design was the use of an unducted prop-fan engine. This approach, however, was dropped in favour of a conventional turbofan engine, likely as the result of development issues with the propulsion unit. The Kh-101/102 programme has also been hampered by inadequate funding at various points in its development, reflecting wider problems with defence R&D and procurement in Russia during the 1990s and the early part of this century.
