Immediately after the end of World War II, a radical redistribution of spheres of influence took place in the world. In the 50s of the last century, two military blocs formed: NATO and the Warsaw Pact countries, which for all subsequent years were in a state of ongoing confrontation. The Cold War, which unfolded at that time, could at any moment develop into an open conflict, which would most likely end in a nuclear war.
Industry decline
Of course, in such circumstances, the arms race could not start, when none of the rivals could not admit their lag. In the early 60s, the Soviet Union managed to break ahead in the field of strategic missile weapons, while the United States was clearly the leader in the number and quality of
long-range aircraft. There was a military parity.
The arrival of Khrushchev further exacerbated the situation. He was so keen on rocketry that he “stabbed” many promising ideas in the field of barrel artillery and strategic bombers at the root. Khrushchev believed that the USSR did not need them too much. As a result, by the 70s there was a situation when we had only the old T-95 and some other machines. These aircraft, even hypothetically could not overcome the developed air defense system of the probable enemy.
What are strategic missile carriers for?
Of course, the presence of a powerful nuclear arsenal in missile execution was a sufficient guarantee of peace, only the possibility of delivering a warning strike or simply “hinting” to the enemy about the undesirability of subsequent actions with its help was impossible.
The situation was so serious that the country's leadership finally realized the need to develop a new strategic bomber. So began the story of the famous TU-160, the technical characteristics of which are described in this article.
Developers
Initially, all the work was assigned to the Sukhoi Design Bureau and the Myasishchev Design Bureau. Why is there no legendary Tupolev in this short list? It's simple: the management of the enterprise was not enthusiastic about Khrushchev, who had already managed to ruin several promising projects. Accordingly, Nikita Sergeyevich himself was also not too good about a “masterful” designer. In a word, Tupolev’s design bureau was “out of work”.
By the beginning of the 70s of the last century, all contestants submitted their projects. Dry put on display M-4. The car was impressive, striking in its characteristics. The only disadvantage was the cost: after all, a fully titanium case can’t be made cheap if you wish. OKB Myasishcheva presented its M-18. For unknown reasons, Tupolev’s bureau connected with the “Project 70”.
Winner of competition
As a result, we chose the Sukhoi variant. Myasishchev's project was somehow unpretentious, and the development of Tupolev seemed to be a slightly altered civilian aircraft. And how did the TU-160 come about , the technical characteristics of which are still shaking the potential enemy? This is where the fun begins.
Since the Sukhoi Design Bureau was once trite to engage in a new project (they were just creating the Su-27), and Myasishchev’s design bureau was removed for some reason (there are a lot of ambiguities here), papers on the M-4 were transferred to Tupolev. It's just that they also did not appreciate the titanium case and turned their eyes to the outsider - the M-18 project. It was he who formed the basis for the design of the White Swan. By the way, the supersonic strategic bomber with a variable sweep wing, according to NATO codification, has a completely different name - Blackjack.
Key Specifications
And yet, why is the TU-160 so famous? The technical characteristics of this aircraft are so amazing that even in modern times the car does not look “antique” in the least. We presented all the basic data in the table, so you can verify this yourself.
Feature Name | Value |
The full wingspan (at two points), meters | 55.7 / 35.6 |
Fuselage length, meters | 54.1 |
Fuselage height, meters | 13.1 |
The total bearing area of ​​the wings, square meters | 232 |
The mass of the empty car, tons | 110 |
Mass of fuel (full refueling), tons | 171.1 |
Gross take-off weight, tons | 275 |
Engine model | TRDDF NK-32 |
Maximum thrust value (afterburner / afterburner) | 4x137.2 kN / 4x245 kN |
Speed ​​ceiling, km / h | 2200 |
Landing speed, km / h | 260-300 |
Maximum height, kilometers | fifteen |
Maximum flight range, kilometers | 12300 |
Range, kilometers | 6000 |
The necessary length of the runway, meters | 2000 |
The maximum mass of missile and bomb weapons, tons | 40 |
It is not surprising that the very appearance of the TU-160, the technical characteristics of which are described in the article, was a very unpleasant surprise for many Western powers. This aircraft (subject to refueling) will be able to "please" with its appearance almost any country. By the way, in some foreign publishing houses the car is called D-160. Technical specifications are good, but what exactly is the White Swan armed with? After all, it wasn’t created for pleasure walks ?!
Missile bomb information
The standard mass of weapons that can fit in compartments inside the fuselage is 22,500 kilograms. In exceptional cases, it is allowed to increase these indicators to 40 tons (such a figure is indicated in the table). The armament includes two launchers (launchers ) of drum type, which can contain the continental and strategic missiles of the Kyrgyz Republic X-55 and X-55M. In the other two drum launchers there are 12 aeroballistic missiles X-15 (M = 5.0).
Thus, the tactical and technical characteristics of the TU-160 aircraft suggest that, after modernization, these machines will be in service with our army for more than a dozen years.
Allowed the loading of missiles with nuclear and non-nuclear warheads, KAB of all kinds of types (up to KAB-1500). Conventional and nuclear bombs, as well as mines of various types, can be mounted in bombs. Important! Under the fuselage, the Burlak launch vehicle can be installed, which is used to launch satellite satellites into orbit. Thus, the TU-160 aircraft is a real "flying fortress", armed so that it is possible to destroy a couple or two of medium-sized countries in one flight.
Power point
And now let's remember what distances this machine is able to cover. In this regard, the question immediately arises about the engines, thanks to which the characteristics of the TU-160 are known to the whole world. In this, the strategic bomber was unique as well, since the development of its power plant was not done by the design bureau that was responsible for the design of the aircraft.
Initially, it was planned to use the NK-25 as engines, almost completely identical to those that they wanted to install on the Tu-22MZ. Their traction performance characteristics were quite satisfactory, only they had to do something with the fuel consumption, since one could not even dream of any intercontinental flights with such “appetite”. Due to what were the high technical characteristics of the TU-160 missile carrier achieved, thanks to which it is still considered one of the best combat vehicles in the world?
Where did the new engine come from?
Just at that time, the Design Bureau, led by N. D. Kuznetsov, began designing a fundamentally new NK-32 jet engine (it was created on the basis of the already well-established models HK-144, HK-144A). In contrast, the new power plant was supposed to consume significantly less fuel. In addition, it was planned that some of the important structural components would be taken from the NK-25 engine, which would make it possible to reduce the cost of production.
It should be especially noted that the aircraft itself is not cheap. Currently, the cost of one unit is estimated at 7.5 billion rubles. Accordingly, at a time when this promising machine was only being created, it cost even more. That is why only 32 aircraft were built, and each of them had its own name, and not just the tail number.
Tupolev’s specialists immediately grasped at such an opportunity, since it saved them from many problems that arose in many attempts to modify the engine from the old Tu-144. Thus, the situation was resolved to the benefit of all: the TU-160 aircraft received an excellent power plant, the Kuznetsov Design Bureau - valuable experience. Tupolev himself received more time that could be spent on the development of other important systems.
Fuselage base
Unlike many other structural parts, the White Swan wing was received from the Tu-22M. Almost all parts are absolutely structurally similar, the only difference is in more powerful drives. Consider the special cases that distinguish the TU-160 aircraft. The technical characteristics of the side members are unique in that they were assembled immediately from seven monolithic panels, which were then hung on the nodes of the center beam. Actually, around the entire structure, they “built up” the entire remaining fuselage.
The central beam is made of pure titanium, since only this material is able to withstand the loads that a unique aircraft is exposed to during flight. By the way, the technology of electron beam welding in a neutral gas environment was specially developed for its production, which is still an extremely complex and expensive process even without taking into account the titanium used.
Wings
The development of a variable geometry wing for a machine of this size and mass proved to be a very non-trivial task. Difficulties began already with the fact that for its creation it was necessary to radically change almost the entire production technology. The state program, launched specifically for this, was led by P.V. Dementiev.
In order for sufficient lift to develop at all wing positions, a rather ingenious design was used. The main element was the so-called "ridges". These were the parts of the flaps that could be deflected, if necessary, helping the aircraft gain full sweep. In addition, in the event of a change in wing geometry, it was the “ridges” that formed smooth transitions between the fuselage elements, reducing air resistance.
So the TU-160 aircraft, whose tactical and technical characteristics continue to amaze today, owes a lot of these details to its speed.
Tail stabilizers
As for the tail stabilizers, in the final version, the designers decided to use a scheme with a two-section keel. The basis is the lower, fixed part, to which the stabilizer is attached directly. The peculiarity of this design is that its top is made completely motionless. Why was this done? And in order to somehow mark electrohydraulic amplifiers, as well as drives for deflected parts of the tail unit, in an extremely limited space.
That's how the Tu-160 (Blackjack) came about. Description and specifications give a pretty good idea of ​​this unique car, which is actually ahead of its time by several years at once. Today, these aircraft are being modernized according to a special program: most of the outdated electronic equipment, navigation systems and weapons are being replaced. In addition, the
resource of engines increases
.