Abstract
There is little evidence that Russia is developing a long-range bomber force. The present force of long-range Russian bombers, consisting of some 100 TU-95 Bears and 40 Mya-4 Bisons is small and has not expanded since the mid-1950s. While the Russians have developed and already deployed their new twinengine, sweep-wing bomber, designated “Backfire” by NATO, reports indicate that this aircraft has a less than intercontinental range. Against this force, the USA maintains seven manned interceptor squadrons equipped with F-106 aircraft in the active Air Force and sixteen Air National Guard squadrons equipped with F-101s, F-102s, and F-106s. Assuming an average of twenty-five aircraft per squadron gives a total number of 675 interceptors in a 4:1 ratio of U.S. interceptors to Russian bombers. In addition, the USA maintains twenty-one Nike-Hercules missile batteries in the active Army and twenty-seven Nike-Hercules batteries in the National Guard. It should be noted however that whether Backfire is a tactical or strategic bomber remains a live issue in the present ongoing SALT negotiations.
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References
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Constant, J.N. (1981). Bomber Defense. In: Fundamentals of Strategic Weapons. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-0649-6_6
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