u/Looselipssinkships93

the Tu-22MR was intended to replace the aging recon variants of the Tu-16 and Tu-22, a Tu-22M3 was converted into the 1st prototype and had it's maiden flight on December 6, 1985, 4 years later it was lost in an accident due to a mid-air fire and crashed into a swamp, the crew ejected with multiple injuries but survived

due to being built for reconnaissance it's missile and bomb capabilities were removed, the bulk of the recon equipment is in a technical compartment which is located in the bomb bay, it still retained it's 23mm tail gun which using special chaff and decoy rounds acts as a countermeasure system for self-defense

the equipment installed was the BKR-2 airborne reconnaissance complex (the BKR-1 was installed on the Su-24MR), which consisted of the M-202 Shompol SLAR, M-361 X-ray meter and M-265 aerial camera

a U-006 Obzor-MR forward-looking radar (modified from the T-160's Obzor-K) in the nose, OPB-18 television sight and K-044 navigation system

production of the MR was cancelled due to the collapse of the soviet union

the status of the 4 are:

• 2nd prototype/pre-production #36 - delivered to the VVS from the Kazan plant in 1988 and underwent testing at Akhtubinsk, after which it was transferred to Dyagilevo Air Base where it's currently in storage
• 1st serial-production #1, serial number 11103 - built in 1991, assigned to the 219th ODRAP in Spassk-Dalny then later ended up at Belaya Air Base in 2010, while there it was plagued by breakdowns and equipment failures and rarely flew, it's currently in storage
• 2nd serial-production #2, serial number 11201 - currently in service with registration number RF-94239
• 3rd serial-production, serial number 11301 - remains incomplete and in storage at the Kazan plant because the Ministry of Defense did not buy it

710 was built in 1992 and used as a test bed for the Saturn AL-41F1 engines that power the Su-35S, T-50 prototypes and the Su-57, it also powers the S-70 drone and the Su-30SM2 and powered the 3 prototype Su-35s. The original AL-41 was used on the prototype MiG 1.44. 710 was the last Su-27M that was still active and flying, it's most likely been retired.

134 first flew in 2009 and is owned by Irkutsk and used as a demonstrator, in 2024 it was reworked into a Yak-130M demonstrator and repainted in Su-57 camouflage.

83 Red - SM, RF-95260
43 Red - UB, RF-95271

24 Red has since been renumbered to 94 Red, given the registration number RF-33745 and repainted

despite being only 3 years old they were retired early due to the much more capable Ka-52s being accepted into service the same year the photos were taken

both have had their bort numbers changed, given RF registration numbers and been repainted after being overhauled

UB - 100 Red, RF-33758
P - 94 Red, RF-33745

the Stuka was damaged either by anti-aircraft fire or fighters and made a crash landing, both crew members were not injured and made it back to German lines where they rejoined their unit, the bomber was recovered in 1994 and purchased by New Zealand collector Tim Wallis in 1996 who had planned to rebuild it to airworthy status, currently at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin

the R-2 was the long range version fitted with additional fuel tanks, it's Werk Nr. was 5856 and served with the 3./St.G.5, 3rd Staffel (3rd Squadron) of Sturzkampfgeschwader 5 (StG 5)

the other helicopters there are 2 Ka-27s, 6 Mi-24s and 2 Ka-52s

as for the Ka-50s, only 2 numbers can be seen:

23 yellow - 8th pre production - built in 1996 and retired in 2010, later moved to kubinka's patriot park in 2020 for static display

26 yellow - 1st serial production - built in 1999 and retired in 2010

the one in front of 26 yellow is the 2nd serial production version built in 2006 and retired in 2010, it didnt have a number

the 2 others between the mi-24s and Ka-52s are the 3rd and 4th serial production versions, 27 yellow and 28 yellow (camouflaged), both built in 2009 and retired in 2012

when Airwolf was cancelled, the modifications were removed and was repainted, in 1987 the helicopter was sold to German helicopter charter company Hubschrauber-Sonder-Dienst and given the registration D-HHSD

Airwolf had just performed a mercy mission for a little girl suffering from severe burns, she was flown from Berlin to the Cologne University Burns Unit in Köln, after dropping her off, the helicopter was heading back to Berlin where it encountered unexpected weather, visibility was reduced to nearly 100 feet due to fog amidst an oncoming thunderstorm.

At the speed of nearly 100 mph, it impacted near a rock quarry near Halbeswig. Its rotor blades clipped the tops of several trees, and then struck the mountainside killing the pilot, a doctor and his assistant instantly, due to the weather it took rescue crews an hour to reach the crash site, Airwolf had broken in half in the middle and it's engine destroyed. The wreckage was salvaged by the helicopter's owners. However, due to the impassable terrain, some parts of the helicopter could only be slung out by air.

Three days after the crash, the Federal Air Transport Authority concluded that pilot error was the result

the Berkuts were founded in 1989 as part of the 344th Center for Combat Employment and Retraining of Army Aviation Flight Personnel at Torzhok Air Base and performed they're first public demonstration in 1992, Initially, the group consisted of three pilots who began training flights. Later, the group expanded to 6.

in 2015 the group suffered their first loss when a Mi-28N crashed during a demonstration at the Aviadarts competition, the pilot was killed and the co-pilot suffered a compression fracture of the lower cervical and thoracic vertebrae, the cause of the crash was equipment failure.

the 6 Mi-24Ps were retired in 2012 and replaced by 6 Mi-28Ns which are not painted in the groups livery, they also fly 1 Ka-52.

27 yellow was 1 of 2 to be built in 2009 from leftover incomplete airframes from the 90s, the other was 28 yellow which was also retired in 2012 and placed in storage at Tarzhok

the differences between the SM and SM2 are avionics, engines and weapons

the SM used imported foreign avionics like the french thales HUD and SMD-55 LCDs, AL-31FP engines, and N011M Bars radar

the SM2 uses domestic avionics, the engines were replaced with the more powerful AL-41F-1S used on the Su-35S and N035 Irbis-E radar from the Su-35S

the SM uses the Khibiny-U ECM wingtip pods while the SM2 uses the Khibiny-M, the same used on the Su-35S and Su-34M

as for weapons the SM2 can use the longe-range R-37M and R-77M anti-air missiles, the SM cannot use both

the vents next to the pods are the cooling intakes for the onboard equipment and ecm systems

the BK-PPS was intended for group protection for other transports by shielding them from enemy radar and anti-air missiles while flying alongside or ahead of large formations

they were equipped with 4 SPS-151 Siren-D jamming pods, 2 on the fuselage and 2 on the base of the tail, SPS-5 Fasol jamming station, a antenna for receiving radar signals under the navigators cabin, SPS-55 "Buket" jamming station in the cargo compartment, the tail gun position was covered over with a fairing that housed the SPS-100 Rezeda self-protection jammer, some kept the 23mm guns, and four ASO-2I automatic chaff/flare dispensers

most were retired and had their equipment removed and converted back into transports

all 5 were based on the Il-76MD, between 1986 and 1987 conversion was carried out by Beriev, these aircraft were widely used in testing and fine-tuning the Tu-160's missile armament, the Kh-55 cruise missile, before the 976, 2 Il-76Ms were converted in 1978 to telemetry aircraft, product 676 (CCCP-86721) and 776 (CCCP-86024)

the SKIP's primary functions are: remote monitoring of the test aircraft, their components, and systems via telemetry channels; flight trajectory monitoring of the test aircraft; radio command control; collection, processing, and display of telemetry and trajectory information onboard the SKIP in real time; and transmission and retransmission of information received and processed onboard the SKIP via satellite communications channels.

 To support these tasks, the aircraft is equipped with:

• radio telemetry system
• trajectory measurement system
• radio command control system
• on-board information processing and display system
• information transmission and retransmission system
• unified time system

it was fitted with wingtip pods borrowed from the design of the sole Il-76PP electronic countermeasure aircraft, they housed electronic monitering equipment, the tail gun was removed and replaced with a antenna

externally the SKIP resembles the A-50, to easily tell them apart is the nose and paint scheme, the SKIP retains the Il-76's glazed navigator's nose cabin and other transport features, has no external refueling probe and is painted in Aeroflot livery, the A-50 has it's glaze covered over, has a external refueling probe and is painted in either overall grey or two-tone grey

of the 5 built, 4 are active in russia while one was sold to china

1. CCCP-76452 - owned by Rosatom, russia's state nuclear company
2. CCCP/RA-76453 - owned by Rosatom
3. CCCP-76454 - owned by the Gromov Flight Research Institute, converted into a flying laboratory in 2007 and used for testing engines, among them the SaM146 engine for the Sukhoi Superjet 100
4. CCCP-76455 - - owned by Rosatom, was the last still in it's original SKIP modification but like 76452 and 76453, the rotodome was removed and repainted
5. CCCP-76456 - sold to China in 2001 and in 2004 at their request was converted into a Il-76LL flying laboratory for testing engines

the orca is for Su-33s that were deployed to syria in 2016, we all know how bad that was for them

another tail art is the Tiger, they're part of the same regiment but in the 2nd Aviation Squadron

the post soviet naval aviation had about 160 Tu-22M3s split between the northern and pacific fleets but funding cuts, run down infanstructure and the decommissioning of the aging Kh-22s reduced them to 40, they were too expensive for the MA-VMF to maintain, most of the budget was heavily prioritized toward maintaining the surface and submarine fleets, all of them were transferred to the VVS in 2011, with no dedicated long-range maritime strike bomber aircraft they currently rely on the MiG-29K, Su-24 and Su-30SM for the anti-ship role

another tail art is the Eagle, they're part of the same regiment but in the 1st Aviation Squadron