The Tu-95 is the world’s only swept-wing turboprop ever to enter service.
With a range of more than 8000 miles the Tu-95 can reach any point in the Northern hemisphere without refuelling.
Each of the Bear’s eight four-blade propellers break the sound barrier as they turn, making the Tu-95 perhaps one of the loudest planes on the planet.
The Soviets built a civil airline version of the Tu-95. Known as the Tu-114 Rossiya, it still holds the world record for the fastest propeller-driven aircraft. reaching speed of 871.38km/h.
A Tu-95 dropped the world’s largest nuclear device ever tested, the 50 megaton, 60 000 lb. AN602 Tsar Bomba. The crown of the cloud was 56km high at the time of the picture.
When the RuAF decommissions its fleet of Tupolev Tu-95 bombers sometime after 2040, the Tu-95 will have been in service for over 90 years.
Now we know why the Soviet Air Forces’ pilots and crew all went deaf.
