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Showing posts with the label Tu-22 M Bomber

Why Soviet Pilots Called It “Man-Eater” and “Booze Carrier”: The Tupolev Tu-22 Story (Credits- Paper Skies)

Does India really need Russia’s ‘Backfire’ bomber? ( Source- Russia & India Report)

Russian Air Force TU-22 M Bomber ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Dmitriy Pichugin) Source- Russia & India Report Author- Rakesh Krishnan Simha The Indian Air Force has a variety of specialised fighters, ground attack jets and multirole aircraft in its fleet, but a strategic bomber has never figured in its war plans. According to the Russian wire service Interfax, that could change as India’s Ministry of Defence has reportedly sought to buy four Tupolev Tu-22M3 maritime strike bombers from Russia. This isn’t the first time reports have surfaced that India is interested in acquiring this fearsome Cold Warrior – codenamed Backfire by NATO. According to the Federation of American scientists, “In December 1999 it was announced that India would lease four Tu-22M3 Backfire bombers, with the aircraft slated to arrive in India as early as June 2000.” They never did. However, the first time the Backfire was set to fly into the subcontinent was in mid-1971 when Russ