Colonel Khodarenok: one pilot could not hijack a Tu-22M3 to Ukraine
The FSB of Russia announced that it had stopped an attempt by the special services of Ukraine to organize the hijacking of the Tu-22M3 strategic missile carrier. The Russian pilot, whom they tried to recruit, was promised $ 3 million and Italian citizenship. They also tried to intimidate him with threats against his relatives. What kind of plane they wanted to hijack and whether the pilot could have done it alone, says the military observer of the newspaper.En" Mikhail Khodarenok.
An operational game and a strike on the AFU airfield
According to the FSB, the countries of the NATO bloc are involved in the organization of the hijacking of the Tu-22M3 supersonic missile bomber by the special services of Ukraine.
Ukrainian military intelligence intended to recruit a pilot of the Russian Aerospace Forces, promising him Italian citizenship for the hijacking. For this, he had to land a strategic bomber at one of the airfields of the republic. The pilot was also offered $3 million for betrayal.
He himself said on the FSB video that the person who communicated with him on Telegram introduced himself as Pavlo and did not hide that he was from the Ukrainian special services. The pilot also noted that the interlocutor had threatened his family:
"No morals, no ethics. They asked to set fire to aviation equipment. I immediately started with threats against my relatives."
The pilot told RIA Novosti that the special services of Ukraine had issued Polish documents and a bank account to his family. According to their idea, his family had to travel first to Turkey, and then through Moldova to Ukraine.
According to the Russian military, he was also asked for the flight numbers of the aircraft. However, the man went to the command and told everything. The FSB notes that, thanks to the data received, an operational game was carried out and an attack was carried out on the airfield of the AFU Ozernoye.
What kind of plane did they want to hijack?
To begin with, let's clarify that the Tu-22M3 (according to the NATO Backfire codification) is classified as a long-range supersonic bomber with variable wing geometry. In other words, it does not belong to strategic bombers. Strategic bombers are the Tu-95 and Tu-160.
Currently, about 60 Tu-22M3 long-range bomber aircraft (according to other sources, no more than 14 units) are in service with the Long-range Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces. During the mass production, a total of 268 combat vehicles were manufactured.
Image source: rian_ru Telegram Channel
The tactical and technical characteristics of the Tu-22M3 are as follows:
- the length of the aircraft reaches 42.46 m, the wingspan is 34.28 m;
- the maximum take-off weight of the aircraft is 124 thousand tons. kg;
- the maximum flight speed at an altitude of 11 thousand meters is 2.3 thousand km/h;
- The tactical range reaches 2,4 thousand. km;
- the practical ceiling (the maximum height of a real bomber application) is 13.5 thousand meters.
The crew of the Tu-22M3 consists of four people (commander, assistant commander, navigator and navigator operator).
The combat load of the aircraft is 24.5 tons (maximum), 12 tons (normal). The Tu-22M3 long-range bomber can be equipped with guided missiles of various types. For example, X-22/32, hypersonic type "Dagger", free-falling bombs (and bombs with a unified planning and correction module), naval mines of various types.
There may be more suspects in the theft
Currently, as part of the Long-range Aviation of the Russian Air Force, there are two armored aircraft equipped with Tu-22M3 aircraft - the 52nd tbap (permanent base airfield Shaikovka, Kaluga region) and the 200th tbap (permanent base airfield Belaya, Irkutsk region).
There is another important circumstance. To hijack a combat vehicle of this type, one pilot (ship commander) is not enough. Almost all crew members should be privy to his insidious plans, especially the navigator, who, by and large, controls the flight of the combat vehicle. So it cannot be ruled out that the circle of persons suspected of stealing a combat vehicle may expand.
If the hijacking of the Tu-22M3 had become a reality, then, without any doubt, it would have had a great resonance and considerable reputational losses for the Long-range Aviation of the Russian Aerospace Forces.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.
Biography of the author:
Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok is a military columnist for Gazeta.Ru", retired colonel.
He graduated from the Minsk Higher Engineering Anti-Aircraft Missile School (1976), the Military Air Defense Command Academy (1986).
Commander of the S-75 anti-aircraft missile division (1980-1983).
Deputy commander of the anti-aircraft missile regiment (1986-1988).
Senior Officer of the General Staff of the Air Defense Forces (1988-1992).
Officer of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff (1992-2000).
Graduated from the Military Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces (1998).
Columnist for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (2000-2003), editor-in-chief of the Military-Industrial Courier newspaper (2010-2015).
Mikhail Khodarenok
