A Russian Aerospace Forces Tu-22M3 | |
Role | Strategic bomber/Maritime strike |
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National origin | Soviet Union |
Manufacturer | Tupolev |
First flight | 30 August 1969; 54 years ago |
Introduction | 1972 |
Status | In service |
Primary users |
Russian Aerospace Forces
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Produced | 1967–1993 |
Number built | 497 |
Developed from | Tupolev Tu-22 |
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Ukrainian Air Force and Navy inherited a large number of Tu-22M2/M3 bombers. 60 Tu-22Ms (17 Tu-22M2 and 43 Tu-22M3) and 423 Kh-22 cruise missiles were scrapped under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement led by the US. The last bombers were scrapped in January 2006.
Since late January 2017, six Tu-22M3s resumed airstrikes in the area of Deir ez-Zor to prevent capture of the city by jihadists and again in late 2017 to support a government offensive
On 15 April 2022, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry stated Russia had used Tu-22M3 bombers for the first time since the start of its invasion of Ukraine, to strike targets in Mariupol.