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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 629.13334
EAN num: 9781932525038
ISBN number: 1932525033
Label: Polygon Press
Manufacturer: Polygon Press
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 80
Printing Date: March 06, 2005
Publishing house: Polygon Press
Sale Popularity Level: 776817
Studio: Polygon Press
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In 1964, the Tupolev Design Bureau began development of a twin-engined medium bomber intended as a replacement for the Tu-22 supersonic bomber which had entered service in the early 1960s.
For political reasons, Andrey Nikolayevich Tupolev presented the project as the Tu-22M; this was a trick intended to fool the Soviet government into thinking a considerable increase in capabilities could be obtained by a simple modification of the existing Tu-22 'Blinder'. This, according to Tupolev, was easier and cheaper than the 'clean sheet of paper' designs proposed by the rival Sukhoi and Myasischev bureaus.
Known in-house as 'aircraft 145', initially the projected bomber indeed looked like a rehash of the production Tu-22 with new variable-geometry wings. Soon, however, it became obvious that this approach was no good, and the aircraft which eventually entered flight testing on 30 August 1969 as the Tu-22M0 had virtually nothing in common with the Blinder. Suffice it to say that the engines were now buried in the fuselage, not mounted at the base of the fin.
Achieving initial operating capability in 1972, the bomber was initially misidentified by the West as the Tu-26 and code-named Backfire. The initial Tu-22M2 production version evolved into the improved Tu-22M3 and the Tu-22MR reconnaissance version. In addition to conventional bombing, the aircraft was suitable for naval missile strike missions. From 1987 on, the type saw action during the closing stage of the Afghan War, dropping heavy bombs which, in the words of the crew, 'flattened the mountains completely'. After the demise of the Soviet Union, the type was operated by two of the new CIS republics, Russia and the Ukraine.
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Rated by buyers -
Yefim Gordon is the foremost author on Soviet/Russian aviation today. He writes about airplane projects that were almost completely unknown in the West as late as the 1980s, and his books are filled with amazing detail.
During the latter 1970s the Tu-22M "Backfire" bomber was a major source of controversy within the arms control community. The Soviets designed it as a medium-range bomber. But the fact that some versions were equipped for in-flight refueling meant that it could theoretically reach the United States and it was therefore possibly a strategic bomber. The United States insisted that the Backfire be counted as a strategic bomber in arms control treaties. Meanwhile, the naval version of this aircraft was a major threat to U.S. Navy aircraft carriers.
This book is primarily a picture book. It only has four pages of text providing an overview of the program. The rest are photographs, primarily in grey and white with some in color. These are interesting photos showing the exteriors of many aircraft. This should be useful for model-builders.
But there are several problems with the book. First, the photo reproduction is not great. It is not bad or awful, but occasionally the contrast is not as good as it should be. For instance, the early models of the bomber had an unusual landing gear configuration with a forward "toe" on each main gear. But this is not really visible in the photographs and is usually lost in shadow. In addition, the paper is thin and some of the photos bleed through to the other side of the page. Second, many of the photos are not really distinguishable from each other. We don't get to see these planes in many action shots or with people fueling or servicing them. We primarily see the planes parked or occasionally in flight and this gets rather boring. Although we no longer have to face outright censorship, what we get to see of these planes is not very revealing. There are no shots of pilots in the cockpit or good shots of the planes in maintenance or operations. Finally, there are a lot of typos in the photo captions and these are very annoying. A simple copy editing would have caught these.
If you are interested in the Backfire and its history, this book provides a minimum of detail and leaves a lot of things out. For instance, nowhere does the text mention how many aircraft were actually built. But it has a lot of pictures.
I suggest getting Gordon's other Tu-22M Backfire book: "Tupelov Tu-22 `Blinder' Tu-22m `Backfire': Russia's Long Range Supersonic Bombers." It is available from Aerofax.
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