The press service of Russian, the Northern Fleet, said that Tu-142 Bear anti-submarine aircraft would continue its flights to the North Pole and Atlantic in 2022. "The crews of long-range anti-submarine aircraft Tu-142 of the Air Force and Air Defence Association of the Northern Fleet will continue the practice of long-term flights in the operationally important areas of the Atlantic and the Arctic Ocean," RIA Novosti reported.
Russia started its patrol flights in 2021, indicating that they had started in response to threats from the US Navy. Earlier it was reported that the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Navy, Admiral Nikolai Evmenov, said that in 2022 the Russian Navy would operate in all regions of the World Ocean.
It is known that the Tu-142 submarine-hunting patrol plane is a modified variant of the Tu-95 strategic bomber, which flew a first-time in December 1972.
Tu-142 powered with four NK-12MP twin-turbochargers reaching a speed of 925 km / h, combat radius 6,500 km, flying ceiling. 12,000 m.
The Tu-142 can perform long-distance ocean exploration missions, search and rescue operations, and track enemy nuclear submarines. In terms of weapons, the Tu-42 owns a 23 mm cannon, carries 400 sonar buoys, FAB-250 bombs, PLAB-50 and PLAB-250 anti-submarine bombs, torpedoes, torpedoes, air-to-sea missiles.
