Right On Cue, Russian Tu-22M3 Bombers Now Flying From Syria Brandish Anti-Ship Missil

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Right On Cue, Russian Tu-22M3 Bombers Now Flying From Syria Brandish Anti-Ship Missiles
By: Thomas Newdick - The War-Zone News & The Drive News - 05-26-21
Re: https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...-ship-missiles

Photo link: https://www.thedrive.com/content/202...440&quality=70

The Russian Ministry of Defense has released new video and photos showing the current deployment of three Tu-22M3 Backfire-C swing-wing bombers to Khmeimim airbase in Syria, the story of which we were first to report on Monday and followed up on a day later with additional details. Now, as we expected, one of the jets has appeared toting a single example of the enormous Kh-22 series standoff missile. Known in the West as the AS-4 Kitchen, the weapon is now primarily used for anti-shipping strike, in keeping with the maritime mission that Moscow has said the Backfires will undertake while in Syria.

A video published today by the Russian Ministry of Defense’s official television station, TV Zvezda, shows crew strapping into one of the four-seat bombers at Khmeimim, with an example of the A-50U Mainstayairborne early warning aircraft visible on the ramp in the background. An unarmed Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-22M3 is shown departing the airbase, while another is shown flying, with a single Kh-22 (or possibly a modernized Kh-32) carried asymmetrically, under the port wing. There is also an inflight sequence onboard one of the bombers, revealing the non-upgraded cockpit and one of the pilots studying a paper map. Additional footage published by the same source also shows Su-35S Flanker escort fighters departing to accompany the bombers.

2nd photo link: https://www.thedrive.com/content-b/m...jpg?quality=60
Tu-22M3 ‘Red 15,’ carrying a single Kh-22/Kh-32 missile, at Khmeimim Air Base.

The two bombers that can be identified while loaded with missiles are ‘Red 15,’ wearing the Russian registration RF-94149, and thought to be homebased at Shaykovka in western Russia, and ‘Red 50,’ RF-34091, from Belaya in the Russian Far East.

3rd photo link: https://www.thedrive.com/content-b/m...jpg?quality=60
A Tu-22M3 overhead Khmeimim, carrying a single Kh-22/Kh-32 under the port wing.

There is also a series of photos taken of the bombers at the Syrian base, showing a missile-armed aircraft landing, and again on the hardstand, as well as shots of ground crew wearing desert-colored summer flying suits. The caption to this series is “Crews of Tu-22M3 long-range bombers have begun to perform missions in the Mediterranean sea zone.”

4th video link: https://youtu.be/x_up2dlTQSQ
Since this is the first deployment of Tu-22M3s — or any Russian long-range bomber —to the Syrian base, it wasn’t guaranteed that they would have brandished any weapons. So far, it’s not possible to confirm if more than two missiles are available to the three bombers at Khmeimim and it’s even possible that only these two rounds are on hand to provide for training — and media opportunities of this type.

Theoretically, each Tu-22M3 can carry as many as three of these 38-foot, liquid—fueled missiles, although a single example is a far more common payload. These missiles are best known as high-speed ship-killers, for which they can be armed with a nuclear of conventional warhead, but there is also a nuclear-only land-attack version that can be used to attack high-value stationary targets, such as airbases or ports.

Since the Backfire-C is the only aircraft in the Russian inventory that currently carries the Kh-22 or Kh-32, having examples of the missiles in Syria is significant, as there wouldn’t have been stockpiles of them at the base to begin with.

The appearance of the Backfire and anti-ship missile combination is also fully in line with the Russian Ministry of Defense’s description of the current deployment as fulfilling “the tasks of mastering the airspace in the maritime zone of the Mediterranean Sea.”

We have already examined how a Tu-22M3, armed with a single Kh-22, can range across the Eastern Mediterranean, over the Black Sea, and even the Red Sea, from Syria, presenting a serious threat to NATO shipping. In its anti-ship version, the Kh-22, while positively antiquated, would still provide the defensive systems operators of any surface warships with a serious headache. Launched at Mach 1.5, the missile accelerates to a cruising speed of Mach 3 after flying for around 14 miles. Then, when approaching the target, the missile dives at an angle of around 30 degrees, accelerating to a terminal speed of Mach 4.1. Maximum range of the anti-shipping Kh-22 is over 300 miles, while the improved Kh-32 is said to extend this to more than 500 miles.

Ahead of the Tu-22M3 deployment to Syria, Russia undertook extensive renovation work at the airfield, extending one of the two runways as well as resurfacing and adding new lighting and radio communications aids on both of them. At the time, The War Zone postulated that this was to accommodate bomber operations of the Mediterranean, to NATO’s chagrin. You can read more about that effort and its other potential implications for Russian airpower in this previous story.

So far, the inaugural Tu-22M3 deployment to Syria has played out much as we predicted. Now that it’s confirmed that the bomber will operate in a maritime role, and potentially carry anti-ship missiles, too, it will be fascinating to see where they venture next in the Mediterranean theater and what NATO's response to their presence will be.

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Personal note: Looks like our aircraft but reverse-engineered.
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Russia’s New State-of-the-Art Ballistic Missile Submarine Will Soon Head to Sea
By: Peter Suciu - National Interest News - 05-27-21
Re: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/bu...ead-sea-186157

The submarine was developed by the Rubin Design Bureau and was laid down in July 2014, but the construction of it was delayed due to supply problems.
Photo link: https://nationalinterest.org/sites/d...?itok=BZ8IDS07
Tags: Russia - Submarines - Technology - Weapons - War - Borei-Class

Delays are increasingly common with military hardware today, and when it comes to Russia it is almost expected that deadlines won’t be met. This has certainly been the case with Knyaz Oleg, the latest improved Borei-class (Project 955A) nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine.

The submarine was developed by the Rubin Design Bureau and was laid down in July 2014, but the construction of it was delayed due to supply problems. The boat was only finally launched last summer and is now about to begin sea trials early next month.

“Under the plans as of today, the Knyaz Oleg will deploy to the sea for trials for the first time at the beginning of June,” a source in the domestic defense industry told Tass.

It had been planned that the submarine would enter service by Russia’s Navy Day, which is a senior holiday of the Russian Armed Forces and celebrated annually on the last Sunday of July. The day honors the sailors in units of the Russian Navy and was regularly held during the Soviet era until 1980. However, it was reestablished by the Decree of the Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2017.

Given that the Knyaz Oleg will need to complete a program of shipbuilders’ sea and state trials it is unlikely the submarine will meet the deadline. The sea and state trials notably include a test-launch of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBMs) from the Barents Sea from a submerged position against a target at the Kura proving ground on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East.

Russia’s Navy Commander-in-Chief Admiral Nikolai Yevmenov earlier told the Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper that the Navy would receive the Borei-A-class strategic nuclear-powered missile-carrying submarine Knyaz Oleg by the end of 2021.

Knyaz Oleg isn’t the first of the submarines to see such a delay in entering service. After eight years in construction, the first Borei-A-class submarine Knyaz Vladimir was commissioned during a flag-raising ceremony last summer and was handed off to the Russian Navy’s Northern Fleet. Named for Prince Vladimir the Great of Novgorod and ruler of the Kievan Rus from the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, Knyaz Vladimir was the first of the advanced iteration of the Borei-class Project 955A. The strategic missile-carrying underwater cruiser represents the fourth generation of nuclear-powered subs built for the Russian Navy.

The Russian Navy currently operates four Project 955/Project 955A strategic missile-carrying submarines, and three additional Project 955A submarines are now in various stages of their respective construction at the Sevmash Shipyard. Each of the Project 955/Project 955A submarines carries sixteen Bulava ICBMs. As with the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines operated by the United States, China, France, the United Kingdom and India, the primary purpose of the Borei-class is to bring ruin to an adversary’s cities, even if other nuclear forces are whipped out in a first strike.

About this writer: Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer who has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers and websites. He regularly writes about military small arms, and is the author of several books on military headgear including A Gallery of Military Headdress, which is available on Amazon.com.

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Personal note: Anything new may take a couple years to debug all the glitches they encounter during sea trials. Who knows - it may sink or have a nuclear power leak or malfunction. Because its new doesn't mean it won't have issues - we all know that!
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