Russia's aging Tu‑95MS bombers: Technical woes hinder mission effectiveness
According to an analysis published by Defence Express, the Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber fleet faces challenges that limit its operational effectiveness. What are the exact details?
At the start of 2024, Russia had around 47 Tu-95MS strategic bombers, some of which had been upgraded to the Tu-95MSM version. These bombers still play a significant role in the Russian armed forces, especially in strategic nuclear deterrence and offensive operations, such as using Kh-101 cruise missiles to attack targets in Ukraine.
Despite the understandable interest of the Russian armed forces in maintaining a high potential for their bombers to conduct massive attacks, in practice, each of these "strategists" takes on a virtually impossible task.
Detailed analysis points to problems
One of the most surprising issues is that despite the Tu-95MS bomber's declared capability to carry up to eight Kh-101 missiles, actual military operations often involve the use of only one to two such missiles per individual aircraft. This indicates significant limitations faced by Russian military strategy, especially considering the necessity to mount missiles only on external suspension points, which places additional strain on aircraft constructed around 40 years ago.
Limited flight hours and technical issues
Publicly available sources indicate that the NK-12MP bomber engine has a declared lifespan of 5,000 flight hours, which, with limited annual use up to 200 hours, shows how narrow these machines' operational scope is.
In the past, technical problems, such as an accidental fire in the onboard electronic equipment, led to the crash of one of the bombers in 2013, further casting a shadow on the technical condition of the fleet.
Conclusions and future prospects
Russian military authorities face the challenge of increasing the operational potential of Tu-95MS bombers, given their limited technical lifespan and the challenges associated with keeping older-generation machines in active service.
Propaganda assurances of the ability to operate these bombers until 2035-2040 seem to be overly optimistic in light of current challenges. Defence Express, therefore, emphasizes that the implementation of Russian strategic plans may encounter significant difficulties, limiting the ability to conduct operations using such machines on the required scale.
