Summary: Ukriane has successfully downed a Russian Tu-22M3 bomber, marking the first such loss for Russia in the Ukraine war.

The Tu-22M3, used by Russia to launch Kh-22 cruise missiles into Ukraine, crashed due to an alleged "technical malfunction" according to Moscow, although it was reportedly shot down during a missile attack.

Despite being a Cold War-era aircraft, the Tu-22M3 remains a significant asset in Russia's aerospace forces, designed primarily for theater-level engagements rather than intercontinental missions.

Its operational history includes limited combat roles in conflicts such as in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria, and now in Ukraine.

Tu-22M3: From Cold War Relic to Modern War Asset in Ukraine Conflict

Kyiv has claimed to have shot down a Russian Tu-22M3 supersonic bomber for the first time. Ukraine has said that the Kremlin has employed the Tupolev Tu-22M3 aircraft to fire the Kh-22 cruise missile at Ukraine territory, and the bomber was downed while carrying out “a missile attack.”

Moscow only confirmed that the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber had crashed in a “deserted area” in Stavropol’s Krasnogvardeysky district, and claimed the crash occurred due to a “technical malfunction” while a search was ongoing for one crew member. The Kremlin has rarely acknowledged that its aircraft have been shot down by enemy fire.

This is the first loss of a Tu-22M3 in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Even though the aircraft was introduced in the late Cold War, the Tu-22M3 has remained the face of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Russia’s Backfire

The Tupolev Tu-22M3 long-range bomber (NATO reporting name “Backfire”) is a modernized version of the Cold War long-range supersonic, variable-sweep wing aircraft that were designed to strike ground and sea targets with supersonic missiles and bombs. The Tu-22M3 has an operating range of 7,000 km (4,350 miles) and is capable of carrying nuclear weapons.

The Tu-22 was originally introduced in 1983, and the M3 models remained in service after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Tu-22M3 model was developed in the early 1980s and officially entered service in 1989. The Tu-22 is in some ways analogous to the United States Air Force’s B-1 Lancer.

However, whereas the B-1 has greater range and is a true intercontinental bomber, the Backfire is faster but is essentially a “theater” bomber in that it was designed to strike continental Europe and possibly some targets in the Atlantic. It also has far less bomb load capacity. The Federation of American Scientists reported, “Its low-level penetration features make it a much more survivable system than its predecessors.”

The bomber saw limited use at the end of the Soviet-Afghan War, and Russia currently maintains a force of more than 100 Tu-22M bombers in all configurations. The Backfire also was used in nearly 100 operational sorties against rebels in Chechnya in the mid-1990s and Georgian forces in the 2008 South Ossetian war. One was actually lost in combat, shot down by a Georgian missile in the latter conflict.

Backfires have further participated alongside Tu-95 Bears and Tu-160 Blackjacks to launch cruise missile strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. It was on April 14, 2022, that Tu-22M3s were first employed in the conflict in Ukraine for the first time, where the bombers dropped “dumb bombs” as part of the Kremlin’s campaign in the then-besieged city of Mariupol.

Russia currently maintains a force of more than 100 of the Tu-22M bombers in all configurations. Minus the one shot down, of course.

Author Experience and Expertise: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.

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