During the Cold War, in order to crush one side, the United States and the Soviet Union launched a vigorous military competition. Both sides chased each other and neither of them obeyed each other. For example, on the bomber , the United States has made significant achievements, building the B-1 bomber , which was put into service in 1985. It can fly at supersonic speeds of . It is a long-range bomber that has been a strategic force of the US Air Force for decades to this day.
In order to catch up with the United States and maintain an advantage in the air force, the Soviet Union was not willing to be outdone and built the Tu-160 bomber and served the troops in 1987. Compared with the US B-1 bomber, its performance is slightly better. Attack raid missions can be carried out at high and low altitudes, with a load of up to 45 tons, and can carry various types of ammunition such as cruise missile , nuclear bomb , conventional bombs, etc., and is loaded with 4 NK-321 afterburner turbofan engines. At that time, the Soviet Union built 25 aircraft in one go.
However, in , the US-Soviet contends , due to the economic collapse, the Soviet Union moved towards the understanding in 1991. Since the resident base of these map-160 is located in the Ukrainian mainland, most of the map-160s were inherited by the Ukrainian army, with a number of 19 aircraft. The remaining six were assigned to the Russian army. However, due to the very sluggish economy, in order to repay huge foreign debt and reduce military spending pressure, Ukraine wanted to sell Tu-160 for foreign exchange .
At that time, China was working hard to develop and vigorously built the air force. When he learned that Ukraine wanted to sell Tu-160, he planned to trade with Ukraine. But unexpectedly, the progress was very smooth at the beginning and the contract was signed. As a result, Ukraine suddenly changed its mind and said it would not sell it. This is strange. Ukraine released news to sell the map-160 to alleviate the pressure on foreign debt. How could it be well negotiated and suddenly stopped selling it?
In fact, Ukraine was involuntarily under pressure from the United States and Russia. As Ukraine's largest foreign debt country, Russia wanted Ukraine to submit all Tu-160 to repay debts. Under pressure, Ukraine eventually handed over eight Tu-160s to Russia, including 3 Tu-95MCs and some production equipment. Of course, in addition to wanting to obtain advanced fighter jets for free, Russia is more importantly, it does not want to sell such advanced technology and fighter jets in other countries to avoid affecting its own interests.
There is also the United States who have this idea. Seeing that Russia has got so many bombers, the United States is not happy and wants to get some. But due to Russia's obstruction and restraint, the United States ultimately failed. When the United States knew that we wanted to buy the Tu-160, it immediately jumped out to object, believing that this was absolutely impossible. If China gained the Tu-160, it would threaten its position. Therefore, we also used our power to prevent Ukraine from selling Tu-160.
A man is innocent and bears a treasure. Ukraine has no choice but to reject our purchase request under the suppression of the two major countries. But later, when we proposed to purchase the NK-321 engine, the United States and Russia once again put pressure on Ukraine. In order not to sell it to China, Ukraine simply smashed the remaining Tu-160 and 70 related engines to endure pain. In order to give an explanation to everyone, even the design drawings were set on fire. It can only be said that Ukraine's weak strength has no right to speak.
It also shows the advanced nature of the Tu-160 bomber. The technology it contains has always been in the leading position and has become a hot commodity in the eyes of major countries. Now there are 15 Tu-160s left in the hands of the Russian army. Can still serve until 2030. Of course, even if Russia wants to sell it now, we don’t need it anymore. China’s H-20 will be released soon, which will make the world admire it.
