Military

As Another Bomber Crash Lands, Is Russia's Military Hardware Falling Apart?

A Russian bomber crew successfully landed their stricken aircraft in a field after the one of the airplane’s engines failed. The Tu-22M3 bomber was put down away from populated areas and Russia’s air force is now trying to figure out how to recover it for repairs. The incident is just the latest in a long line of disasters—big and small—plaguing the Russian military as it tries to wring as much use out of old, outdated equipment.

The incident, according to Russian state media outlet TASS, took place in southern Russia at the Chkalov State Flight Testing Center. The two-man crew, discovering that an engine had failed, guided the airplane away from populated areas and performed a belly landing. Neither of the crew members were injured but the aircraft itself reportedly sustained some damage.

The Tu-22M3 bomber, known as “Backfire” to NATO, is a long-range bomber originally designed to strike the continental U.S. with nuclear weapons. The aircraft were produced in the 1970s and 1980s and updated versions currently serve with the Russian Air Force. The bombers were recently used to strike targets in Syria.

The crash in Astrakan is also just the latest in a series of accidents and disasters involving Russian military equipment. Last week, the Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov caught fire during a planned upgrade in port. In July a fire swept through the Russian spy submarine Losharik, killing fourteen sailors. In late 2018, Russia’s largest floating drydock, PD-50 sank, narrowly taking Admiral Kuznetsov with it, and two days ago another floating drydock, PD-16, also sank.

A common denominator among these accidents is aging equipment. Almost all of the equipment involved in these disasters was made (or in the case of PD-50 purchased) by the Soviet Union decades ago. Russia is stuck with the dilemma of trying to keep aging bombers flying and aircraft carriers sailing to prop up its military power, sometimes with tragic results for Russian military personnel.