Multiple Russian sources have confirmed a Ukrainian claim that a Russian Tu-22M3 strategic bomber was shot down by a surface-to-air missile Friday. This marks the first time a Soviet or Russian strategic bomber has been lost to hostile fire since World War II. The Tu-22, which has the NATO designation “Backfire,” is a supersonic long-range strategic and maritime strike aircraft that entered Soviet service in 1969. It has a variable geometry wing that was state-of-the-art when it was designed.
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The Backfire has seen extensive service during the Ukraine war as an air-launched cruise missile platform. At least one Tu-22 was lost over Russia to mechanical or operator failure. Several more have been lost or damaged by Ukrainian drone attacks on their air bases in Russia.
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The typical mission profile has the Tu-22M3 launching missiles from points over the Black Sea or Kursk Oblast. The maximum range for the missiles the Backfire carries is from 320 miles (Kh-22) to 540 miles (Kh-32).
The first proof of the loss came in the form of video. Here, I will give Colonel (retired) Douglas Macgregor, a Putinist sockpuppet, the honor of making the announcement.
The most likely system used here was the S-200, which first appeared in 1967 and was steadily upgraded over the years. Ukraine retired its S-200 batteries in 2013 but reactivated them in 2022. The system was designed to engage SR-71 reconnaissance aircraft and was nuclear-capable.
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Ukraine’s Armed Forces have released a video of the engagement from inside the command center. Take it for what it’s worth.
There was initial disbelief at the Ukrainian claim, but open-source information shows that the Backfire engagement happened at a range the S-200 is known to achieve. For instance, in 2001, Siberian Air Flight 1812 was shot down by an errant S-200 missile launched from a Ukrainian training range in Crimea. It crashed well over 350 kilometers from the launch site. The Tu-22M3 went down about 300km from Ukrainian territory.
This is not the first long-range shot Ukraine has taken against high-value Russian assets. Russia has lost three aircraft at what would’ve been considered outside the range of Ukrainian air defense. The exact procedure the Ukrainians are using for target acquisition is unknown but it seems to depend heavily on Russian aircraft flying strategic missions following a very predictable routine in time and flight route.
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The video of the crash looks like the Tu-22M3 took a hit and limped toward home until it suffered a catastrophic engine failure.
This engagement is not a game changer but will make Russia’s strategic bomber force much more cautious in future operations.