Tu-95MS
Strategic bomber / cruise-missile carrier
Iconic turboprop bomber with contra-rotating propellers; in service for decades and repeatedly modernised. Subsonic but very long range. Carries Kh-101/102 cruise missiles as a stand-off platform. Regularly used for long-range patrols near NATO airspace.
Learn more in the AirDefense Academy →Dimensionsfor imagery analysis
- Length × wingspan × height
- 46.2 × 50.1 × 12.12 m (WEG: 49.13 m long, 13.3 m high)
- Max. take-off weight
- 185,000–188,000 kg
- Empty weight
- 90,000–91,800 kg
- Dimension source
- Wikipedia; WEG (ODIN)
General
- Role
- Strategic cruise-missile carrier
- Crew
- 6–7
- Max speed
- 920 km/h (subsonic)
- Ceiling
- 39,370 ft
- Range
- ≈ 8,100 NM
- Base
- Engels-2, Ukrainka (since Sep 2026, 16 large shelters (≈ 63 × 63 m, peak ≈ 17 m) under construction at Engels-2; the first three frames were nearly finished on 12 Oct — AviVector via Defence Blog, RU Mil Tracker e-20261014-07)
- Loss 29 Sep 2026
- A Tu-95MS crashed on a training flight without munitions near Krasnoyarovo (Amur Oblast), about 50 km from Ukrainka; according to the Russian Ministry of Defence six crew were killed and one was injured. The independent outlet Mediazona later verified eight dead strategic aviation servicemen; a Ukrainian database links three of them to missile strikes on Ukraine. The gap with the ministry's account has not been officially explained. Cause not officially established (engine failure on takeoff according to Defence Blog) — source: RU Mil Tracker e-20260930-01 (TASS, Meduza, Defence Blog, Ukrainska Pravda)
Armament
- Cruise missiles
- Kh-101 / Kh-102, Kh-55SM
- Load
- up to 8 under the wings + internal
- Tail
- GSh-23 gun (defensive)
Threat
- Primary threat
- Stand-off cruise missiles at great distance
- Countermeasure
- Early interception, cruise-missile defence
- Threat level
- Strategic
- Production
- No series production of new airframes; the fleet is kept flying through repair and modernisation, so every write-off is permanent — source: HUR via UNIAN (23 Oct 2026) and Euromaidan Press, RU Mil Tracker e-20261027-06; not independently confirmed
News archive 6
Analysed reports from the RU Mil Tracker about this system, newest first. Archive since 2026-07-17.
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Ukrainian intelligence: Russia can probably add 10–15 Su-34s a year, but builds no new Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s or Su-24s
In a reply published by the Ukrainian news agency UNIAN on 23 October, Ukraine's military intelligence agency HUR said Russian aircraft plants still produce modern fighter-bombers and fighters, enough to partly cover losses. Older bombers are different: Russia has no serial production of new Tu-95s, Tu-22M3s or Su-24s and keeps them flying through repairs a…
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Russian Su-30SM crashes on a training flight in Kaliningrad Oblast and both crew eject; pro-war Telegram channels report a second Russian fighter lost the same day, with its pilots probably killed
A Russian Su-30SM two-seat multirole fighter crashed on 21 October 2026 in the Chernyakhovsk district of Kaliningrad Oblast. Russian media placed the wreck in a field between the villages of Timofeyevka and Zelyony Bor. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the crash, as reported by RIA Novosti and TASS. It said the aircraft was on a scheduled training fli…
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Satellite Images Reveal russian Tu-160Ms Being Armed with Kh-101 Missiles at Engels and Tu-95MS, Tu-22M3 Bomber Deployments at Olenya (Defense Express)
Defense Express reports on new satellite imagery published by the monitoring site AviVector showing Tu-160M strategic bombers being loaded with Kh-101 cruise missiles at Engels airbase. According to the outlet, the images suggest Russia brings its bombers to Engels one at a time and arms them with cruise missiles in the same sequence, so that the intervals…
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Russia builds the first three of 16 large bomber shelters, each about 63 x 63 m, at Engels-2 after repeated Ukrainian drone strikes (Defence Blog)
Russia has nearly finished the steel frames of the first three of 16 planned large aircraft shelters at Engels-2 in Saratov Oblast, the main base of its strategic bomber fleet. Defence Blog reports this based on satellite imagery published by the open-source analysis group AviVector. An Airbus Defence and Space image dated 12 October shows three shelter fra…
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Tu-95MS crash in Amur Oblast killed eight strategic aviation personnel, including officers linked to missile strikes on Ukraine
A Russian Tu-95MS strategic bomber (NATO: Bear-H) crashed on 29 September 2026 during a training flight near the village of Krasnoyarovo in Amur Oblast, in the Russian Far East. The Russian Ministry of Defence (via TASS) said the aircraft carried no munitions and that, according to preliminary data, six crew members were killed and one was injured and hospi…
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Russian Tu-95MS Bombers Carrying Kh-101 Missiles Flew Over Barents and Norwegian Seas
On 15 September 2026, multiple Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS) Tu-95MS 'Bear' strategic bombers flew a roughly five-hour patrol over the Barents Sea and Norwegian Sea, north of Scandinavia. The bombers were escorted by Russian fighter jets (sources vary between Su-33 and Su-30SM). Norwegian F-35s, scrambled from Evenes Air Base under NATO Quick Reaction Aler…