Translated material
Cutting "carcasses"
At the airfield in the Novgorod region, Drona was destroyed by the Far T-22M3 long bomber. How serious is this loss for the Russian army?
The explosion of the Tu-22M3 bomber at the military airfield in the Novgorod region. Photo: Ukraine Weapons Tracker / Twitter
Completely destroyed
The Ukrainian drone attacked a military airfield in the Novgorod region on Saturday August 19. The Russian authorities called the incident a terrorist act and told some details of the emergency. So, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that "as a result of the attack on the territory of the airfield, a fire arose in the parking lots, which was promptly eliminated by fire calculations." According to the military department, no one was injured in the capter -type drone, one plane received damage. Airdrops from this airfield fired at Ukrainian cities.
Soon, fires of fire at the airfield appeared on the Internet. The Telegram channel “Military informant” said that in the photographs “allegedly burning Tu-22M3 at the Soltsi airfield in the Novgorod region, which was attacked by the Ukrainian drone yesterday. The Ministry of Defense declared damage to one aircraft during the attack. However, apparently, the Tu-22M3 is completely destroyed. There are no shelters or awnings for the rocket carrier. ”
According to the telegram channel of The Moscow Times, during Ukrainian sabotage and attacks, more than a dozen Russian aircraft and helicopters were destroyed and damaged at air base in Belarus, Crimea, Ryazan, Engels, Novosibirsk and Pskov regions.
Sources of the publication said that earlier the issue of sabotage was discussed at meetings of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin with the security forces. “They swore that this would no longer happen, but no one could give a 100%guarantee,” reported The Moscow Times.
Several such cases are described by the media.
On the morning of December 5, the drone attacked the air base in Engels of the Saratov region. “Two Tu-95 aircraft were damaged as a result of the drone attack on the air base in Engels of the Saratov region,” wrote Astra telegram channel. - The attack occurred in the morning, December 5th. The unidentified drone fell into the runway at the Engels air base. As a result of the damage, two Tu-95 racketeer bombers received. Two military personnel were injured, they are hospitalized. ”
On the same day , December 5, the drone attacked the Russian Diaghilevo airfield, located in the vicinity of Ryazan. As a result, the Tu-22M3 bomber was damaged and the fuel is destroyed. Three troops died, and six more were injured.
At the Belarusian Machulishchi airfield on February 26 of this year, a sabotage was committed, as a result of which the Russian military aircraft of long-range radar detection and management (DRLO) A-50 received serious damage. His front and central parts fell under the blow. Avionic and radar antenna were also affected.
On the morning of August 21, the drone tried to attack the airfield in the Kaluga region. Baza telegram channel reports that Dron-Kamikadze fell in the airfield. “According to preliminary information, as a result of the fall, an unused plane located at the airfield was damaged,” wrote a telegram channel. “However, this information is not officially confirmed.”
At another time, there were attacks on the same Russian air base. However, there is no information about their results.
A good bomber
“It should be borne in mind that the Tu-22 and Tu22M3 are two fundamentally different aircraft,” the Russian military expert says on the conditions of anonymity. -If the unsuccessful Tu-22 after a series of disasters that claimed the lives of many crews, the pilots were nicknamed the “flying coffin”, then the Tu-22M3 is a good long-standing supersonic missile carrier with a wing of a variable assault. Its main task is to fight with American aircraft groups. For this, anti-ship missiles of the X-22 should be used, which can be equipped with a nuclear warhead. It is precisely such missiles that Russia now often fired at Ukraine. When hitting ground targets, these missiles have very low accuracy. ”
According to the project on aviation "Corner of Heaven", the maximum speed of distant Tu-22M3 bombers is 2300 km/h. The ceiling in height is 13.3 km, and the combat radius of action at the subsonic speed exceeds 2400 km. The maximum plane can take 24 tons of combat load on board and is able to carry up to three X-22M missiles or 10 X-15 aeroballistic missiles. The first test flight Tu-22M3 made in 1977. In final form, it was adopted in 1989.
According to the Russian expert, today many Tu-22M3 bombers undergo modernization. They install a new avionic and equipment that allows you to expand the range of weapons. The gun installed behind is dismantled (not necessary in modern conditions).
Retired Russian military pilot, who asked not to name his name, recalls that it was the Tu-22M3 that was shot down by Georgian air defense during the 2008 war. According to the pilot, during the tests and at all time, the Russian Air Force lost more than 20 such bombers.
“If the Tu-22M3 was attacked by UAVs of the copper type, then it was launched from somewhere near the airfield, because such a drone is not able to overcome hundreds of kilometers from the border with Ukraine,” says a military pilot. - Judging by the photographs, the plane blazes as if it was tucked up by combustible. I was probably preparing to take off. There are no talks that there are no designs that protect the planes from drones at Russian airfields for a long time. But to build such concrete structures, as is done at some air base, for a long time and expensive. And distant and strategic bombers are very large in size. They need huge shelters. It is impossible to tighten the entire zone of the airfield in the airfield: then the aircraft will not be able to move around the airfield, take off and sit down. Now the main method of defense from air attacks is the means of air defense and electronic warfare. As far as I know, the issue of creating metal structures is being considered, which could protect the planes from attacks on the attacks of the veilists. ”
According to the Russian pilot, today in the Russian Air Force more than 40 units of Tu-22M3 aircraft and their modernized versions capable of climbing into the air. However, Russian industry currently no longer has capacities for creating new similar machines.