Tupolev Tu-95 bomber dropping a cruise missile

Please visit my channel @ The Tupolev Tu-95 (Russian: Туполев Ту--95 NATO reporting name: Bear) is a large, four-engine turboprop-powered strategic bomber and missile platform. First flown in 1952, the Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Union in 1956 and is expected to serve the Russian Air Force until at least 2040. A naval development of the bomber is designated Tu-142. The aircraft has four Kuznetsov NK-12 engines, developed by the Kuznetsov Design Bureau with participation of Ferdinand Brandner and other captured Nazi engineers, each driving contra-rotating propellers. An airliner variant Tu-114 holds the record as the world’s fastest propeller-driven aircraft. Some experimental aircraft were designed for theoretically higher speeds, but none attained or registered them. It also remains the only turboprop-powered strategic bomber in operational use. Its distinctively swept-back wings are at 35°, a very sharp angle by the standards of propeller-driven aircraft, and justified by its operating speeds and altitudes. Its blades, which rotate faster than the speed of sound, according to one media source, make it arguably the noisiest military aircraft on earth, with only the experimental 1950s era Republic XF-84H “Thunderscreech“ turboprop powered American fighter design as a likely rival.