Army 2020: Latest Russian Tu-95 variant prototype flies for the first time

Russia’s Tu-95MSM prototype, the latest variant of the Russian strategic missile carrying turboprop bomber, flew for the first time on 22 August from the Taganrog Aviation Plant, United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) director general Yuri Slyusar announced at the Army 2020 defence exhibition in Kubinka near Moscow on 23 August before it opened the same day.

The Tu-95 entered service with the Russian military in the 1950s and has since been extensively modernised. Current upgrade work on the Tu-95MSM has been carried out jointly by Tupolev and GM Beriyeva. The aircraft received improved Kuznetsov NK-12MPM turboprops and new propellers from the Aerosila Research and Production Enterprise. The Rostec press office said in a statement in August 2018 that these new engines would increase the aircraft’s range and significantly reduce vibration. A new phased array radar has been fitted, likely to be the Novella-NV1.021.