Tu-95 strategic bomber: The true icon of Russia’s Air Force

The history of Russia’s renowned Tu-95 strategic bombers began at the end of the 1940s, when Soviet aerospace engineer Andrei Tupolev and his team were asked to design a bomber that could be capable of flying from the USSR to the United States and back.

Tupolev’s Design Bureau (known in Russia as OKB-156) put forward a suggestion to equip the new aircraft with jet-prop engines that were much more efficient and economizing in comparison with jet engines.

Tupolev’s Design Bureau started the construction of the new strategic intercontinental bomber aircraft in the beginning of the 1950s.

Read more