The Tupolev Tu-142 (142; NATO reporting name: Bear F/J) is a Soviet/Russian maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft derived from the Tu-95 turboprop strategic bomber. A specialised communications variant designated Tu-142MR was tasked with long-range communications duties with Soviet ballistic missile submarines. The Tu-142 was designed by the Tupolev design bureau, and manufactured by the Kuibyshev Aviation and Taganrog Machinery Plants from 1968 to 1994. Formerly operated by the Soviet Navy and Ukrainian Air Force, the Tu-142 currently serves with the Russian Navy.
Developed in response to the American Polaris programme, the Tu-142 grew out of the need for a viable Soviet ASW platform. It succeeded the failed Tu-95PLO project, Tupolev's first attempt at modifying the Tu-95 for maritime use. The Tu-142 differed from the Tu-95 in having a stretched fuselage to accommodate specialised equipment for its ASW and surveillance roles, a reinforced undercarriage to support rough-field capability, improved avionics and weapons, and enhancements to general performance. The Tu-142's capability was incrementally improved while the type was in service, eventually resulting in the Tu-142MZ, the final long-range Tu-142 with highly sophisticated combat avionics and a large payload. Tupolev also converted a number of Tu-142s as avionics (Tu-142MP) and engine (Tu-142LL) testbeds.
Design and development
Early designs
In the late 1950s the US Navy developed the UGM-27 Polaris, a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) with a range of more of than (). They had test-fired rocket boosters to perfect the design, culminating in the first underwater launch of a ballistic missile by USS George Washington on . Polaris became operational on that year, when the George Washington left Charleston, South Carolina, with a complement of nuclear-armed Polaris missiles.
The Soviet government consequently ordered Tupolev and other aircraft design bureaus to study possible dedicated anti-submarine warfare (ASW) designs. Tupolev initially designed the Tu-95PLO (protivolodochnaya oborona, or ASW), a development of the Tu-95 equipped with sonobuoys, anti-submarine mines and torpedoes. It was to carry a () payload with a maximum loiter time of . The design was dropped, however, because it lacked a powerful radar, thermal imaging (infrared) system and magnetic anomaly detector (MAD). On , the Council of Ministers (the highest executive and administrative body of the Soviet Union) issued a directive to Tupolev requiring his bureau to develop a long-range ASW aircraft.
The resultant design was named Tu-142 and had features in common with the Tu-95RT. The ventral and dorsal gun turrets were removed, as was the large dielectric radome housing the Uspeh radar system, which was replaced by a thermal imaging system located in a smaller fairing. This left the tail turret with twin 23-mm AM-23 cannons, along with electronic countermeasures, as the only defensive armament. The aircraft's search-and-targeting system featured Berkut (Golden Eagle) . A complex navigation system was integrated with the weapons targeting system. Structural differences included an airfoil change to the wing, expanding its area to (). The area of the elevators was increased by 14%, and improved hydraulic actuators were fitted. Metal fuel tanks replaced rubber bladders. To allow the Tu-142 to operate from semi-prepared runways, the Tu-95's four-wheel main undercarriage bogies were replaced with 12-wheel units; the main undercarriage fairings were also modified.
The first Tu-142 (construction number 4200) was built at the in Samara. It performed its first flight on , with test pilot at the controls, taking off from Zhukovsky Airfield southeast of Moscow. Early testing indicated that the fuselage needed to be lengthened by at least to accommodate new combat equipment. Therefore, the second prototype (c/n 4201) joined the flight-test programme on 3 September with a front fuselage stretch, a modification found on all subsequent Tu-142s. The third and final development Tu-142 entered flight test on , complete with the full equipment suite. In May 1970, the Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF) – the air arm of the Soviet Navy – began receiving production Tu-142s for operational trials.