Tupolev Tu-142

what is it?

The Tupolev Tu-142 (Russian: Туполев Ту-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.

🔎How to recognise it: 4 turboprops · 50 m wingspan

base stats

• speed 925 km/htop speed
• size 185 tmax take-off weight
• built 101made in total

Bars compare against all aircraft: 3,500 km/h, 20,000 km, 850 seats; size and number built on a log scale up to 640 t (An-225) and 45,000 built (Cessna 172).

fun facts

• 🎂First flew 58 years ago, in 1968.
• 🏎️Top speed is 7.1× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
• 🚗Wingspan of 50 m: about 11 cars parked nose to tail.
• 🐘Fully loaded it can weigh as much as 31 African elephants (~6 t each).
• 🏔️Can fly 1.4× higher than Mount Everest (8,849 m).

turboprop: A jet-style turbine turning a propeller: efficient on short hops.

spec sheet

first flight

1968-06-18

introduced

1972

retired

2017

status

still flying

number built

101

role

maritime patrol and anti-submarine warfare aircraft

origin

🇷🇺 Soviet Union

makers

Tupolev, Aviakor, Taganrog aviation

engines

4× Kuznetsov NK-12MP / NK-12

crew

11

length

53.1 m

wingspan

50 m

height

12.1 m

max take-off weight

185 t

top speed

925 km/h

cruise speed

711 km/h

range

—

ceiling

12,000 m

Specs are for the version in the Wikipedia article's specification section. Blank means the sources don't say.