Russians buzz U.S. Navy Carrier

Thag · Post by **Thag** » 2008-02-12 06:43pm

I'd be willing to bet the AEGIS ships in the group made sure their volume was turned up. Wasn't there a joke about them mutating offensive pilots?

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2008-02-12 06:50pm

Vympel wrote:It might also be that a Tu-95MS has absolutely no way to harm a ship, short of flying near the deck and shooting it's rear 23mm guns at it ...

I highly doubt that. It can carry Kh-55, so it is safe to expect that the aircraft has also been adapted to launch the related Kh-65 anti ship missile if not even more weapons then that.

Pelranius · Post by **Pelranius** » 2008-02-12 10:58pm

How much does a Tu-95 go for nowadays? You could use it as a giant cruise missile, but that would obviously be a one time only use.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2008-02-13 12:14am

Pelranius wrote:How much does a Tu-95 go for nowadays? You could use it as a giant cruise missile, but that would obviously be a one time only use.

However much it costs, you could buy a airliner near the end of its airframe life with greater weight and higher speed for less. What’s more you can buy the airliner without dealing with the Russia government; if the Russians will sell you a Tu-95 then they’d also just sell you a pile of real cruise missiles which will be far more effective against any possible target.

Post by **Vympel** » 2008-02-13 12:45am

Sea Skimmer wrote: I highly doubt that. It can carry Kh-55, so it is safe to expect that the aircraft has also been adapted to launch the related Kh-65 anti ship missile if not even more weapons then that.

Well prior to the Tu-95MSM upgrades (33 upgraded by 2005, which means it's more or less finished since only the Tu-95MS16s are being upgraded last I heard) it could only carry the Kh-55 and Kh-55SM. The upgrade certainly allows them to use the Kh-65 missile but I kinda doubt it's even in service - not the 37th's job.

Post by **Vympel** » 2008-02-13 12:52am

Chris OFarrell wrote:
It doesn't have ANY hardpoints at ALL?

Well, not the original Tu-95MS or Tu-95MS6 as it was later called. The Tu-95MS16 variant had hardpoints on the wings to carry an extra ten Kh-55 missiles (and internal upgrades so it could fire them all), but they were removed to comply with arms limitation treaties (of course, they can easily be put back on).

The Tu-95MSM (as shown in the first ever picture of one that was posted here a few months ago) has hardpoints for external carriage of the Kh-101s.

Its complete ELINT and nothing else? Not even a few Harpoonskis?

The Tu-95RT is the naval recon/ ELINT etc. version- it's out of service IIRC. The Tu-95MS is a pure nuclear cruise missile carrier (now just a pure strategic bomber thanks to the Tu-95MSM upgrade).

Also the Tu-95RT was part of Naval Aviation, not the Air Force (and so wouldn't have taken off from the relevant air base).

A proposed upgrade for the Tu-142 force would see them carrying Kh-35 Harpoonskis (amongst numerous other upgrades), but I don't think anything's happened on that- I don't think a long-legged ASW platform like the Tu-142 is a terribly high priority, nor do I think they'll even bother to replace the type (they're upgrading/ replacing the shorter-range types - the venerable Il-38 and the ancient Be-12 respectively)