Tupolev Tu-22M

The Tupolev Tu-22M (Russian: Туполев Ту-22М; NATO reporting name: Backfire) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing, long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s. The bomber was reported as being designated Tu-26 by Western intelligence at one time. During the Cold War, the Tu-22M was operated by the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) in a missile carrier strategic bombing role, and by the Soviet Naval Aviation (Aviatsiya Voyenno-Morskogo Flota, AVMF) in a long-range maritime anti-shipping role.

The Tu-22M was first used for conventional bombing by the Soviet Union in the Soviet–Afghan War. Russia has flown the Tu-22M on bombing missions in the First Chechen War, Russo-Georgian War, intervention in the Syrian civil war, and Russo-Ukrainian war. On 1 June 2025, Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb drone attack destroyed four Tu-22Ms at Belaya air base.

The aircraft has been forward-deployed to the Turkmen SSR, Syria, and Iran. Soviet and Russian Tu-22Ms have typically patrolled, carried out simulated attacks in, and been intercepted over the Baltic Sea, and occasionally the North Pacific.

Under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program, the 60 Tu-22Ms inherited by the Ukrainian Air Force were dismantled by 2006.

In 2024, the Russian Air Force had 57 aircraft in service, according to the 2024 Military Balance report by International Institute for Strategic Studies. However, Ukraine's Main Directorate of Intelligence estimated that Russia had only 27 aircraft in operable condition in 2023.