text: tupolev tu - 142 the tupolev tu - 142 ( russian : - 142 ; nato reporting name : bear f / j ) is a 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 and indian naval air arm . 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 stillborn tu - 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 1 , 800 kilometres ( 1 , 000 nm ) . the navy test - fired rocket boosters to perfect the design , culminating in the first underwater launch of a ballistic missile by uss george washington on 20 july 1960 . polaris became operational on 15 november 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 - ( , or asw ) , a development of the tu - 95 equipped with sonobuoys , anti - submarine mines and torpedoes . it was to carry a 9 , 000 kg ( 19 , 841 lb ) payload with a maximum loiter time of 10 . 5 hours . the design was dropped , however , because it lacked a powerful radar , thermal imaging ( infrared ) system and magnetic anomaly detector ( mad ) . on 28 february 1963 , 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 - . the ventral and dorsal gun turrets were removed , as was the large dielectric radome housing the 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 ) 360 ° radar . a complex navigation system was integrated with the weapons targeting system . structural differences included an airfoil change to the wing , expanding its area to 295 m2 ( 3 , 172 ft2 ) . 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 six - wheel units ; the main undercarriage fairings were also modified . the first tu - 142 ( construction number 4200 ) was built at the kuibyshev aviation plant in samara . it performed its first flight on 18 june 1968 , with test pilot i. k. at the controls , taking off from zhukovsky airfield southeast of moscow . early testing indicated that the fuselage needed to be lengthened by at least 1 . 5 m ( 4 . 9 ft ) to accommodate new combat equipment . therefore , the second prototype ( c / n ) joined the flight - test programme on 3 september with a 1 . 7 - metre ( 5 . 6 ft ) front fuselage stretch , a modification found on all subsequent tu - 142s . the third and final development tu - 142 entered flight test on 31 october , 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 . improved variants during early operations , the tu - 142 revealed several shortcomings . the aircraft 's rough - field capability was found to be of limited use , so the two six - wheel bogies used on the first 12 of 36 aircraft were replaced with four - wheel reinforced bogies from the tu - 114 airliner ; consequently , the wheel - wells in the engine nacelle were made slimmer . these changes , along with the deletion of the thermal imaging system and parts of the electronic countermeasure ( ecm ) equipment , reduced the empty weight by 4 , 000 kg ( 8 , 818 lb ) . the modified aircraft also introduced a crew rest area for long - duration missions , and was assigned the codename ( " bear f " mod 1 ) ; from 1968 to 1972 the kuibyshev plant produced a total of 18 tu - 142s . in the early 1970s , production of tu - 142s was switched to the taganrog machinery plant near the black sea . it has been speculated that the change to the idle plant was to give employment to the workers there . the move required many improvements to the plant and the surrounding area , including the establishment of new assembly shops , the installation of new machinery and tooling , the re - training of the workforce , and the building of a new airfield . preparation took place until 1975 , when production of the first tu - 142 began . the tu - 142s built by taganrog incorporated the changes found on the last of the kuibyshev aircraft . differences included a 30 - centimetre ( 12 in ) stretch to the front fuselage and a redesigned cockpit . additional changes included new two - axle main undercarriage bogies . this version was given the factory designation tu - 142m , which was not adopted by the soviet navy ; nato codenamed it " bear - f " mod 2 . as the 1970s progressed , silencing technology in submarines rendered acoustic - band sonobuoys and trigger devices ineffective . during 1961 and 1962 , the soviet union conducted research and development into an explosive sound system ( ess ) – used to locate deep - diving submarines – under the name udar ( blow ) . in 1965 , work had started on systems using ess to be integrated with the berkut radar . the programme was postponed when one of the aircraft intended to carry it , the ilyushin il - 38 , was found to be incompatible . the developments instead resulted in the udar - 75 , which was featured in a new search and targeting system ( sts ) of the taganrog - built tu - . a new target acquisition system dubbed korshun - k , the cornerstone of which was the korshun ( kite ) radar , was installed on all subsequent tu - 142s . this system was used for detecting surfaced and submerged submarines , communicating with other asw aircraft and ground bases , and performing navigational and tactical tasks . the first three tu - were the first aircraft to be equipped with this system , and thus were redesignated tu - 142mk ( " bear f " mod . 3 ) . it was the first tu - 142 to feature a mad , its mms - 106 ladoga system being mounted in an aft - facing fairing atop the vertical stabiliser . the first of three tu - 142mks that underwent stage a of the trials programme made its first flight on 4 november 1975 ; despite the dismal performance figures , a production go - ahead was given . stage b , conducted during april – october 1978 , found that the aircraft 's avionics were extremely unreliable ; like stage a , these problems were apparently ignored when a directive issued on 19 november 1980 cleared the tu - 142mk for operational service . technological upgrades even as the tu - 142mk entered service , its korshun - k sts was already becoming obsolete . work began on yet another improved tu - 142 , resulting in the tu - 142mz ( " bear f " mod . 4 ) with the korshun - kn - n sts . this consisted of - ( ammonia / jade ) asw avionics , which included the sonar system . as well as the rgb - 1a and rgb - 2 buoys of the berkut , the tu - 142mz was compatible with the rgb - 16 and rgb - 26 buoys . when working with the asw avionics , these buoys provided 50 % greater coverage . the kuznetsov nk - were replaced by the more - powerful nk - 12mp engines , and for the first time , the tu - 142 had an independent engine - starting capability with the addition of the ta - 12 auxiliary power unit . this variant was distinguished from earlier " bear fs " by the chin fairings housing several antennas . the flight test programme started in 1985 with the maiden flight of a converted tu - 142m fitted with the advanced avionics ; state acceptance trials began within two years . test results proved excellent , as the aircraft successfully tracked nuclear - powered submarines of the northern and pacific fleets . the aircraft became operational with russian naval aviation ( av - mp ) in 1993 . the last tu - 142mz rolled off the taganrog production line the following year , bringing an end to a 26 - year production run during which 100 tu - 142s were produced . a communications variant designated tu - 142mr ( " bear j " ) was the last production version of the tu - 142 . it was tasked with long - range communications duties with soviet ballistic missile submarines , a role similar to that of the boeing e - 6 mercury . the tu - 142mr differed from the asw tu - 142s in having less - sophisticated avionics , but had a long trailing wire radio aerial to relay messages to submerged soviet submarines in times of nuclear war . this was amongst the many distinctive features of the tu - 142mr that allows it to communicate with satellites , airborne and ground - based command posts , and submarines . the aircraft replaced the ilyushin il - 80 in the airborne command and control role . tu - 142s are currently operated by the 76th naval aviation regiment from . other developments of the tu - 142 include the one - off tu - maritime reconnaissance variant , and the unbuilt tu - missile - carrying variant . operational history to prepare for tu - 142 operations , on 22 june 1960 the soviet navy began selecting personnel for conversion training . the first group began its three - month training period on 4 march 1970 at the seaside town of nikolayev ( since renamed mykolaiv ) . meanwhile , the first tu - 142s were delivered to the northern fleet at ab , where they were initially tasked with tracking and monitoring nuclear - powered submarines as part of the type 's operational trials . throughout the test programme , effort focused on the verification of the asw avionics , notably the berkut - 95 radar , as the airframe itself was not a major concern . the tu - 142 reached initial operational capability in december 1972 after a successful flight - test programme . prior to that , in december 1971 , the second group selected for tu - 142 operations started its own conversion training . deliveries of the aircraft at first proceeded slowly ; as more tu - 142s were produced , the type was allocated to the pacific fleet . throughout its operational history , the tu - 142 demonstrated significant capabilities . on 19 – 22 august 1974 , four tu - 142s shadowed a foreign submarine in the barents sea ; one of the aircraft was reported to have maintained continuous contact for 2 hours and 55 minutes . in 1975 , a tu - 142 managed to trail a soviet submarine for 3 hours and 16 minutes . on 10 october 1977 , a group of five tu - 142s tracked a us submarine in the philippine sea ; one of the tu - 142s reportedly trailed the submarine for 4 hours and 5 minutes . soviet tu - 142s , besides operating domestically , were sent to friendly overseas bases in angola , cuba , ethiopia , vietnam , and yemen . in the early 1990s , with the dissolution of the soviet union , the soviet fleet of tu - 142s was handed to the russian navy , although the ukrainian air force gained a few tu - 142s that had been left in its territory . ukrainian tu - 142s were later dismantled as a result of the bilateral start i treaty signed between the united states and the soviet union in 1991 , which came into effect in late 1994 . besides the tu - 142 's military applications , a one - off tu - 142mp was used to test a new asw suite . another tu - 142 was converted to replace the tu - for the testing of turbojet engines . designated tu - 142ll , the asw equipment and armament were removed to allow an engine test bed to be carried under the belly . some of the engines installed were the nk - 25 for the tu - , - 51a for the tu - , and the nk - 32 for the tu - 160 . the first tu - 142mk was converted for an airborne laboratory role , setting several altitude - in - horizontal and time - to - altitude records in its class . in 1981 the indian navy began considering a long - range maritime reconnaissance and anti - submarine warfare aircraft for its naval air arm . the soviet union initially offered to refurbish some of its own tu - 142s for india , rather than construct new aircraft . the indian navy was at first hesitant about the large tu - 142 , which was heavy and thus would require runways to be reinforced and lengthened at potential operating bases . consequently , the service requested three ilyushin il - 38s – then being phased out of service with the soviet navy – be refurbished for indian operations . this request fell through , and so in december 1984 an agreement to purchase eight tu - 142s was signed . for the twelve - month period stating from may 1987 , the indian navy sent 40 pilots and observers , 16 technical officers and 128 sailors to riga for training . on 30 march 1988 , the first three tu - 142s arrived at the indian naval air station of ins hansa , goa , after a flight from simferopol ( air base ) in the crimean peninsula . on 13 april two more aircraft arrived , prior to the commissioning of inas 312 , the operator of indian tu - 142s ; by the end of october the fleet of eight tu - 142s was delivered . in may 1992 , the squadron was relocated to its current operating base at ins on the indian east coast . the tu - 142s are expected to be replaced by twelve smaller boeing p - . variants tu - 142 a lengthened tu - 95 with much defensive armament removed , and instead incorporating asw systems . twelve aircraft initially had six - wheel main undercarriage bogies . six later aircraft had four - wheel bogies . built by kuibyshev aviation plant . tu - 142m a 30 - centimetre ( 12 in ) stretch to front fuselage , redesigned cockpit and two - axle main undercarriage bogies . built by taganrog . tu - 142mk greatly improved variant with new korshun radar , avionics and asw equipment . 43 tu - 142mks were constructed by taganrog . tu - 142mk - e eight downgraded tu - 142mks purchased by the indian naval air arm . e stands for " export " . tu - 142mz the last production variant of the " bear f " , with new nk - 12mp engines and a new avionics suite . can be distinguished from other tu - 142s by its chin fairings . built by taganrog . tu - 142mz - k proposed commercial cargo variant of the tu - 142mz ( the k standing for " " ) , with asw avionics removed . also designated tu - 142mz - c. tu - 142mp modified single tu - 142m used as avionics testbed . tu - 142mr modified tu - 142mks built as submarine communications relay aircraft . has distinctive external fairings and components . nato codename " bear j " . tu - 142ll two converted earlier tu - 142s used for testing of turbofan engines . asw equipment was removed . operators india the indian naval air arm had 8 tu - in service as of december 2010 , based at ins , arakkonam , tamil nadu . russia the russian naval aviation had 15 tu - 142s in service as of december 2010 . former soviet union the soviet naval aviation 's tu - 142s were distributed between the russian naval aviation and ukrainian air force following the collapse of the soviet union . ukraine the ukrainian air force inherited an unknown number of tu - 142s following the collapse of the soviet union . these were dismantled in accordance with the start i agreement . notable accidents on 7 november 2009 , eleven crew were killed when their tu - 142 crashed over the strait of tartary near japan during a training flight . flights of aircraft belonging to the pacific fleet were suspended pending an investigation into the crash . there was no indication that the crew made use of emergency equipment , although a lifeboat on board the plane was fitted with a device that transmits a signal in the event of an accident . chief of the general staff nikolay makarov believed an engine failure could have caused the crash . a memorial service was held for the crew on 16 december 2009 . a search for the bodies of the eleven crew members was suspended several times due to ice floes and bad weather . specifications ( tu - 142mz ) data from donald and lake general characteristics crew : 11 – 13 length : 53 . 08 m ( 162 ft 5 in ) wingspan : 50 . 00 m ( 167 ft 8 in ) height : 12 . 12 m ( 39 ft 9 in ) wing area : 311 . 10 m ² ( 3 , 348 . 76 ft ² ) empty weight : 90 , 000 kg ( 198 , 000 lb ) max. takeoff weight : 185 , 000 kg ( 407 , 848 lb ) powerplant : 4 × kuznetsov nk - 12mp turboprops , 11 , 033 kw ( 14 , 795 shp ) each performance maximum speed : 925 km / h ( 500 kt , 575 mph ) cruise speed : 711 km / h ( 384 kt , 442 mph ) combat radius : 6 , 500 km ( 3 , 454 nmi , 3 , 977 mi ) service ceiling : 12 , 000 m ( 39 , 000 ft )