Russian Tu-160 BLACKJACK Fleet

[MRAF]

I was curious to find out about Russia's Tu-160 BLACKJACK fleet and was surprised to find that there was no consolidated list of the active aircraft out there on the internet. But there are loads of snippets out there on each airframe including spotters pages. So i've smashed it all together in one place and thought i'd share for interest... For those who like that kind of thing. Happy to be corrected but i've also found loads of mistakes out there. There are a few MSN's missing too and the RF-# and RED Bort number for the new Tu-160M2 (08-04) is not known yet. This is the best stab at their latest fleet with 17 active airframes.


RuAF Tu-160 Fleet - as of Mar 2022
02 RED RF-94102 Vasily Reshetnikov 07-02 MSN 83007526
03 RED RF-94101 Pavel Taran 07-03
04 RED RF-94112 Ivan Yarygin or Ivan Jarygin 07-04 MSN 84007142
05 RED RF-94104 Aleksandr Golovanov 07-05
06 RED RF-94105 Illya Morumets 08-01 MSN 84308216
07 RED RF-94106 Aleksander Molodchii or Aleksandr Molodchiy 05-02
08 RED RF-94115 Vitaliy Kopylov 08-03
10 RED RF-94100 Nikolay Kuznetsov 06-01 MSN 84906217
11 RED RF-94114 Vasiliy Sen'ko 06-02 MSN 84906826
12 RED RF-94109 Aleksandr Novikov 06-03 MSN 84906335
14 RED RF-94103 Igor Sikorsky 05-02 MSN 83804352
15 RED RF-94108 Vladimir Sudets 05-05 MSN 82006458
16 RED RF-94107 Aleksey Plokhov or Alexei Flatv 08-03
17 RED RF-94110 Valery Chkalov or Valeriy Chelov 05-04 MSN 83905142
18 RED RF-94111 Andrey Tupolev 06-05 MSN 82006458
19 RED RF-94113 Valentin Bliznyuk 02-02 MSN 84502324
?? RED RF=94??? Petr Deinekin or Pyotr Deynekinf 08-04 (Tu-160M2)

09 & 13 RED are not used and never have been. 01 RED was Mikhail Gormov but it crashed and was destroyed on 18 Sep 2003. Some reports state that there is another half built Tu-160M2 in the factory (08-05). Additionally, another 10 are on order.

[Beamr]

Nice list!
regarding the new blackjacks: I very much doubt many will be built. If even the first finalized. RF is currently loosing gear at the rate of 5 billion $ per fortnight to Ukrainian farmers, the economy is on a freefall and hundreds of billions of dollars are on deep freeze.
Once this entire mess is over I'd say they are lucky to have a few flying.

[dead_pan]

Of course they daren't field any in Ukraine. They'd be sitting ducks for Ukrainian AD systems, and it would be a huge propaganda blow if one was lost.

(same goes for their other "game changers" e.g the Su57)

[pasta]

Originally Posted by dead_pan

(same goes for their other "game changers" e.g the Su57)

SU57 would surely be invulnerable against basic MANPADS

[TEEEJ]

Originally Posted by dead_pan

Of course they daren't field any in Ukraine. They'd be sitting ducks for Ukrainian AD systems, and it would be a huge propaganda blow if one was lost.

(same goes for their other "game changers" e.g the Su57)

No doubt they have used the Tu-160s along with the Tu-95s on strikes against Ukraine. They can stand off well outside Ukrainian airspace to launch the likes of Kh-101 cruise missiles.

Twitter

[tartare]

Worth checking out Engels airbase on Google Earth.
You can see them all lined up on the flight line - along with masses of Bears.

[sandiego89]

Nice job MRAF! interesting. Thanks for compiling and posting

Did you compile anything on retired airframes/prototypes? I see at least one derelict at Zhukovsky.

https://goo.gl/maps/J3Wrjv5CxjDTYbRx5