"I couldn't possibly fail to disagree with you less."
18 August 2007Speaking of oxidationYou know all that sabre-rattling the Russians have been doing? Rusty sabres at best, says Tam:
Military aviation nerds are probably chuckling by now, and we should let the rest of y'all in on the joke. The Tu-95 is a bomber that was state of the art at the time of its first flight, in 1952. An aircraft that makes the equally geriatric B-52 look sleek and modern by comparison, the Tu-95 Bear hasn't been a viable strategic threat since before JFK took office. The Tu-160 Blackjack, on the other hand, is state of the art circa 1970. Designed to fly really high and really fast, the "B-1ski" was a white elephant even before the end of the Cold War, since Surface-to-Air missiles fly higher and faster.
This does not, of course, guarantee that there won't be bigger and badder bombers to come, but it's not like Putin can put a fleet of modern planes on his Soviet Express card ("leaves home without you!") these days. Posted at 10:12 AM to DyssynergyBut ... but I heard the Russians were buying supersonic submarines from Iran! Posted by: McGehee at 12:25 PM on 18 August 2007A very interesting article on the plane is at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu-95 It is amazing to me that these planes are turboprobs, but also amazing that they are so versatile and continue to be such a threat. Posted by: J. M. Branum at 11:19 PM on 19 August 2007Doing more with less. It's a tradition of sorts. Posted by: CGHill at 6:57 AM on 20 August 2007 |