Alcoholic consumption, particularly hard liquor, is a leisure activity long associated with combat aviators, as exemplified in the American fighter pilot ditty “Jeremiah Weed.” However, to my knowledge, there’s only one Western warbird that includes a “potent potable” (to use a “Jeopardy!” slang term) in its moniker, that being the U.S. Marine Corps’ AH-1W “Whiskey Cobra” helicopter gunship.

However, not to be outdone—and very much in keeping with the East vs. West one-upmanship games of the Cold War—the Soviet Union had its own military aircraft with an alcohol-related nickname: the Tupolev Tu-22, which was given the NATO reporting name of “Blinder” but was unofficially nicknamed the “Booze Carrier” by her own crews.

Tu-22 Initial History and Specifications

The Tu-22 made her maiden flight on September 7, 1959, and was officially introduced into service in 1962. The “Blinder” made history as the USSR’s first supersonic bomber, with a max airspeed of Mach 1.42 (1,510 km/h, 940 mph, 820 kn). She had the following additional specifications and vital stats:

· Crew: three (pilot, navigator, weapons officer)

· Fuselage length: 41.6 m (136 ft 6 in)

· Wingspan: 23.17 m (76 ft 0 in)

· Height: 10.13 m (33 ft 3 in)

· Maximum takeoff weight: 92,000 kg (202,825 lb)

· Powerplant: 2 × Dobrynin RD-7M-2 afterburning turbojet engines, 107.9 kN (24,300 lbf) thrust each dry, 161.9 kN (36,400 lbf) with afterburner

· Range: 4,900 km (3,000 mi, 2,600 nmi)

· Service ceiling: 13,300 m (43,600 ft)

· Armament:

     o Guns: 1 × Rikhter R-23 23mm cannon in tail turret

     o Missiles: 1 × Kh-22 ”Storm” (AS-4 Kitchen) cruise missile

     o Bombs: 12,000 kg (26,500 lb) capacity

          o twenty-four × FAB-500 bombs or

          o one × FAB-9000 bomb

Production of the “Blinder” ceased in 1969. As an interesting sidebar note, the Rikhter R-23 cannon made history in its own right as the only cannon fired in outer space; this event took place on January 24, 1975.

Operational Performance/Combat History

Although intended to provide a far-reaching offensive punch to Soviet Air Force operations, the Russians only ended up using the “Booze Carrier” in combat once. This was in 1988 during the Soviets’ withdrawal from their nine-year occupation of Afghanistan, whereupon the “Blinders” were tasked with radar-jamming duties to protect Backfire bombers against Pakistani F-16 air defense activity and suppressed radar systems.

The warbirds saw more regular combat usage at the hands of Muammar Ghaddafi’s Libyan Air Force during the Chadian-Libyan War between 1980 and 1987 and Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Air Force (IqAF) during the Iran-Iraq War between 1980 and 1988. During the very first day of the latter conflict, an IqAF Tu-22 based at H-3 Air Base struck an Iranian fuel depot at Mehrabad International Airport, Tehran. Fast-forward to the final year of that war, during the so-called “Tanker War” phase, and Iraqi Blinder drivers sank one Iranian supertanker near Kharg Island and severely damaged another.

But What About That “Booze Carrier” Moniker?

The narrator and administrator of the Paper Skies YouTube channel, in an episode titled “Why Soviet Pilots Called It ‘The Booze Carrier’: The Tupolev Tu-22 Story,” tells that amusing story starting at the 15:49 mark:

“After pretty much day one of the Tu-22 appearing in Soviet Air Force Units, the aircraft received the nickname—Supersonic Booze Carrier. There were also some other, less common names like ‘Flying Liquor Store’’ and ‘Vodka Truck’’ but the reason was the same—the impressive amount of alcohol on board, which was used as a refrigerant in the air conditioning system of the aircraft … [T]he liquid mixture used on the Tu-22 consisted of 60% distilled water and 40% of the purest ethyl alcohol, which in fact, was no different from regular Soviet vodka … The air conditioning system was very simple and efficient.

To put it in very simple words just so you get the idea: the hot air taken from the engine compressor goes through the pipes to the evaporator, which is placed in the tank filled with the refrigerant, the air then gets cooled and goes further to the ventilation system of the aircrew cabin. As the alcohol evaporated, it took away heat and cooled the ventilated air. As simple as that. The consumption of the alcohol mixture depended on the operating mode of the engines but, what’s important, is that it could be controlled by the captain during the flight, who could set its consumption to the minimum or even turn it off. … Soviet airmen immediately appreciated all the advantages of this brilliant engineering solution. Unused alcohol mixture usually would be just drained off from the aircraft and then used either in a direct way—as a liquor drink or as a liquid currency. Without going too deep into what life was like in the USSR, alcohol was frequently used as an unofficial payment method in the Soviet Union for various types of goods or services—whether it was hiring workers to build your dacha or paying for your kids’ education in university.”

In case anybody’s wondering, “booze carrier” translates into Russian as “nositel vypivki.”

Where Are They Now?

The last nation to retire the “Blinder” from official service was Libya, doing so sometime in the early 2000s. Out of the 311 Tu-22s built, four specimens still survive today. Three are on static display in Russian museums, and the fourth is at the Poltava Museum of Long-Range and Strategic Aviation (AKA the Museum of Heavy Bomber Aviation) in Ukraine.

About the Author: Christian D. Orr

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch, The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).