Eurofighter Typhoon laden with six GBU-12s & two AIM-9 Sidewinders.
GBU-12 Paveway II is an American aerial laser-guided bomb, based on the Mk 82 500-pound general-purpose bomb.

A British Royal Air Force Tornado GR4 fighter aircraft flying over the skies of Iraq in 2006.

>>20371
I think it's mostly hated from the fact that when Tornado was going into service Americans and Soviets were flying much hotter aircraft and introducing even better ones on top of that.

Before the kinks were worked out, Tornados were flying with concrete ballast in the nose instead of a radar for FIVE YEARS after they entered service. Most of the targeting was done with systems in pods, and even the official antenna was third-generation twist cassegrain antenna instead of a regular solid-state PESA or AESA.

After all the initial kinks were worked out, Tornado barely outperformed the Su-24 which came ten years before. This is a huge reason why Russians even kept that piece of shit, they kept looking at Western Europe and not seeing a reason to upgrade.

Tornado should really be considered third generation. It does not have relaxed static stability, it uses obsolete control systems and is definitely not built for maneuverability, avionics are shit as I've already mentioned. The only reason it was considered "fourth" generation was to spare Euros feelings.

Euro pilots were stuck with this trash third gen piece of shit while they kept watching Americans and Soviets have all the fun, all the Euro pilots could do was deep inside get progressively more bitter as time went on. In fact they had no exciting fourth generation to play with until the F-16, and the early block F-16 fell short of the bees knees.

In reality it wasn't until Tornado F3 in 1986 that the Tornado was even as functional as a F-4 Phantom that first flew in 1958, almost a 30 year gap in technology. If you pause to think about it during the Cold War, Europe was further behind USA/USSR than modern day India or China are behind modern day USA/Russia, and you already know how butthurt Indians and Chinese can get. In fact this actual lag in European performance (especially the British butthurt at the Canadian F-5 Freedom Fighter) is why the major NATO countries in Europe held a competition between Mirage F1, F-16, F-17 and Viggen.

>>20393
Are those GBU-12s? They look like a bit like GBU-16s.

>>20396
>Are those GBU-12s? They look like a bit like GBU-16s.

GBU-16 is 12" in length with guidance fitted, AIM-9 is 9' 11". There'd be a noticeable difference in length between the missile and bomb if they were 16s.

GBU-16s next to AIM-9s on an aircraft carrier deck. Compare where the yellow nose plug on the AIM-9 is versus the red flag on the GBU-16. Noticeable length difference.

GBU-16 Paveway II laser-guided bomb based on the Mk 83 1000-pound general-purpose bomb are indeed much longer than the 500-pound Paveways.
- A U.S. Air Force McDonnell F-4E Phantom II assigned to the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing in flight at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada (USA), on 1 May 1980. It carries auxiliary fuel tanks on each wing and two AIM-9J Sidewinder missiles are mounted on the right wing, a GBU-16 Paveway II bomb is carried under the left wing. A Pave Spike airborne laser designator is mounted on the left side of the fuselage and six Mk 82 227 kg low-drag bombs on the centerline.

Raytheon's Paveway Laser Guided Bomb Page:
Converting Bombs Into Precision-Guided Weapons.
The Paveway™ family of laser guided bombs has revolutionized tactical air-to-ground warfare by converting "dumb" bombs into precision guided munitions. Paveway bombs have been put to the test in every major conflict and proved themselves, time and again, as the weapon of choice by the end-users. Paveways made up more than half the air-to-ground precision guided weapons used in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Newer versions of Paveway include GPS/INS guidance capabilities. This innovation combines the accuracy and flexibility of traditional laser-guided weapons with the all-weather capability of GPS guidance, resulting in a weapon that decreases the required sortie count and weapon inventory while simultaneously increasing the mission success rate.
http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/paveway/

- The U.S. Air Force drops a Paveway™ II laser-guided bomb from an F-35A at the Utah Test and Training Range. Paveway is the weapon of choice for more than 40 customers.

Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) - Paveway II
The Guided Bomb Unit-12 (GBU-12) utilizes a Mk82 500-pound general purpose warhead. The operator illuminates a target with a laser designator and then the munition guides to a spot of laser energy reflected from the target. The GBU-12 is a member of the Paveway II series of laser guided bombs (LGBs). These weapons are hybrids. At the core of each is a bomb: a 500-pound Mk 82 for the GBU-12, a 1,000-pound Mk 83 for the GBU-16 and a 2,000-pound Mk 84 for the GBU-10. A laser guidance kit is integrated with each bomb to add the requisite degree of precision. The kit consists of a computer control group at the front end of the weapon and an airfoil group at the back. When a target is illuminated by a laser - either airborne or ground-based - the guidance fins (canards) react to signals from the control group and steer the weapon to the target. Wings on the airfoil group add the lift and aerodynamic stability necessary for in-flight maneuvering.

As the Vietnam War progressed and experience with laser guided bombs increased, Air Force leaders discovered the need for a greater variety of LGBs to increase effectiveness against certain targets. A smaller bomb with greater maneuverability was also required to attack the many small and moving targets on the Ho Chi Minh trail. The Air Force adapted the 500 lb Mk-82 GP, later called the GBU-12, for this purpose and the M-117 LGB was phased out of production in 1968.

In the early 1970s, the initial PAVEWAY was replaced by the PAVEWAY II, which featured an enhanced but also simpler and cheaper seeker head and pop-out fins to improve the weapon's glide characteristics and make it easier to fit to an aircraft. The new LGBs based on the PAVEWAY II were given the designations GBU-12 (225 kilograms), GBU-16 (450 kilograms), and GBU-10 (900 kilograms). The PAVEWAY II required the launch aircraft to operate from medium altitude, leaving the aircraft vulnerable to ground defenses. http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-12.htm

The munition was used during Operation Desert Storm, and, according to the Air Force, hit 88 percent of its targets. During Desert Storm the GBU-12 was dropped by F-111Fs, F-15Es, and A-6s, mostly against fixed armor. It was the F-111F tank-busting weapon of choice. Of the 4,493 GBU-12s employed, over half were dropped by the F-111F. An aircraft using an unguided general-purpose (GP) 500-pound (lb) bomb (i.e., a Mk-82) to attack a dug-in tank has a low probability of success in comparison to a laser-guided 500 lb weapon (i.e., a GBU-12) because the accuracy of the latter is much better. Tank plinking, expending a single 500-pound GBU-12 worth $10,000 to destroy a $1.5 million T-72 tank, is not a bad return on tax dollars.

There are two generations of GBU-12 LGBs: Paveway I with fixed wings and Paveway II with folding wings. Paveway II models have the following improvements: detector optics and housing made of injection-molded plastic to reduce weight and cost; increased detector sensitivity; reduced thermal battery delay after release; increased maximum canard deflection; laser coding; folding wings for carriage, and increased detector field of view. (Paveway II's instantaneous field of view is thirty percent greater than that of the Paveway I's field of view).

On 05 January 2000 Raytheon Systems Company, Tucson, Ariz., was awarded a $43,537,250 firm-fixed-price contract to provide for 3,420 MXU 650/B Air Foil Groups, 2,245 MAU 169 H/B Guidance Control Sections, and associated data, in support of the GBU 12 Paveway II Laser Guided Bomb. There was one firm solicited and one proposal received. Expected contract completion date is April 1, 2000. Negotiation completion date was Dec. 29. 1999. Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah, is the contracting activity (F42630-00-C-0005).

The MQ-1 Predator can carry AGM-114 Hellfire missiles capable of piercing armor. The next generation MQ-9 Predator is designed to haul up to 3,000 pounds of external ordnance to include the GBU-12, GBU-38, AIM-9 missiles and small diameter bombs. The Predator's missions include ISR, close air support, interdiction, damage assessment, combat search and rescue (locating downed pilots), force protection (locating improvised explosive devices) and remote operations video enhanced receivers operations. The MQ-9 will provide a hunter-killer capability and will feature the ability to use synthetic aperture radar to hunt for targets. It will be able to cross-cue targeting data to the electro-optic/infrared sensor.

The Enhanced-GBU-12 [EGBU-12] is a dual-mode guided bomb designed to effectively operate in all-weather conditions. Enhanced Paveway II features a GPS-aided Inertial Navigation System as well as a laser guidance system to offer one precision guided weapon for all situations. The resulting dual-mode capability offers true all-weather operational flexibility not found in other weapons systems being produced: GPS guidance for poor weather conditions and precise laser guidance when required for mobile targets of opportunity. Combat proven by the RAF during Operation Southern Watch, Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Enhanced PavewayT II DMLGB combines the strengths of both laser guidance and GPS/INS guidance to create a low-cost, all-weather, precision strike weapon. The result provides the warfighter with the option for autonomous GPS-aided guidance in addition to laser terminal guidance. All-Weather

The addition of the GPS/INS system to the PavewayT II LGB weapon provides increased delivery accuracy, better in-flight wind corrections, increased low-level performance, and expanded delivery envelopes. The unique dual-mode capability of the Enhanced PavewayT II DMLGB offers considerable operational flexibility not currently available with any other weapon outside the PavewayT II family of weapons. Specifically, GPS guidance can be used for all-weather attacks of known targets; and laser guidance provides an option for improved accuracy, man-in-the-loop, moving targets, and targets of opportunity when GPS is denied. Enhanced PavewayT II DMLGB is currently fielded in the RAF inventory and has already proven itself in combat as the weapon of choice for the RAF in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On 07 June 2006 two F-16Cs dropped two precision-guided 500-pound bombs - a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb and a GBU-38 Joint Direct Attack Munition - destroying the terrorist safe house where Al Zarqawi and other terrorists were meeting.

- A U.S. Air Force General Dynamics F-16C Block 30K Fighting Falcon aircraft assigned to the 160th Fighter Squadron, 187th Fighter Wing, Alabama Air National Guard, releases a GBU-24A/B 907 kg laser guided bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range during exercise "Combat Hammer", an air-to-ground weapons systems evaluation program (WSEP), hosted by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron located at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida (USA), on 30 July 2002.

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Fighter Squadron flies loaded up with a GBU-12 and a GBU-28 during a Combat Hammer mission at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Combat Hammer is an air-to-ground Weapons System Evaluation Program maintained by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron. Combat Hammer marked the first of three weeks of evaluation at Hill AFB by the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. Combat Archer, an air-to-air evaluation, is the second week, followed by a combined air and ground WSEP in the final week. The WSEP program is used to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of combat air force weapon systems. The evaluations are accomplished during tactical deliveries of fighter, bomber and unmanned aerial system precision guided munitions, on realistic targets with air-to-air and surface-to-air defenses. For many of the aircrew participating in WSEP, it is the first time employing live weapons. This provides a level of combat experience many units face during combat.

A 4th Fighter Wing F-15E Strike Eagle soars over the Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., range during a Combat Hammer mission Feb. 3. Combat Hammer is an Air-to-Ground Weapons System Evaluation Program controlled by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron. The F-15s from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., participated in the week-long evaluation dropping GPS and laser-guided weapons. The WSEP was the first evaluation of Small Diameter Bombs at Eglin and first evaluation of Laser Joint Direct Attack Munitions in a Combat Hammer. The WSEP program, run by the 53d Weapons Evaluation Group, is used to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of combat air force weapon systems. The evaluations are accomplished during tactical deliveries of fighter, bomber and unmanned aerial system precision guided munitions, on realistic targets with air-to-air and surface-to-air defenses. For many of the aircrew participating in WSEP, it is the first time employing live weapons. This provides a level of combat experience many units face during combat. http://www.eglin.af.mil/photos/media_search.asp?q=F-15E&page=5

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 391st Fighter Squadron drops a Guided Bomb Unit-28 during a Combat Hammer mission at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Combat Hammer is an Air-to-Ground Weapons System Evaluation Program maintained by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron. Combat Hammer marked the first of three weeks of evaluation at Hill AFB by the 53rd Weapons Evaluation Group. Combat Archer, an air-to-air evaluation, is the second week, followed by a combined air and ground WSEP in the final week. The WSEP program is used to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of combat air force weapon systems. The evaluations are accomplished during tactical deliveries of fighter, bomber and unmanned aerial system precision guided munitions, on realistic targets with air-to-air and surface-to-air defenses. For many of the aircrew participating in WSEP, it is the first time employing live weapons. This provides a level of combat experience many units face during combat.

The Guided Bomb Unit 28 (GBU-28) is a 5,000-pound (2,268 kg) laser-guided "bunker busting" bomb nicknamed "Deep Throat" (and unofficially nicknamed "The Saddamizer" by a design team worker, alluding to its initial purpose of bombing a bunker believed to be then-occupied by Saddam Hussein during Operation Desert Storm) produced originally by the Watervliet Arsenal, Watervliet, New York. It was designed, manufactured, and deployed in less than three weeks due to an urgent need during Operation Desert Storm to penetrate hardened Iraqi command centers located deep underground. Only two of the weapons were dropped in Desert Storm, both by F-111Fs.

The Enhanced GBU-28 augments the laser-guidance with Inertial navigation and GPS guidance systems. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GBU-28

These bombs were first made by chopping up old 8-inch howitzer barrels, fitting end caps on them and then filled with explosives.

The initial batch of GBU-28s was built from modified 8 inch/203 mm artillery barrels (principally from deactivated M110 howitzers), but later examples are purpose-built with the BLU-113 bomb body made by National Forge of Irvine, Pennsylvania. They weigh 4,700 pounds (2132 kg) and contain 630 pounds (286 kg) of high explosive.

- A US Air Force (USAF) F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft from the 492nd Fighter Squadron, 48th Fighter Wing, Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath, United Kingdom (UK) releases a GBU-28 "Bunker Buster" 5,000-pound Laser-Guided Bomb over the Utah Test and Training Range during a weapons evaluation test.

Yeah, they cut up the barrels of these 8-inch (203mm) guns and turned them into bunker-busting bombs. Better than just parking them out somewhere to rust as these big guns are no longer fielded nor ammo manufactured.
- US 203mm M110 A2 self-propelled howitzer.

US GBU-28 5000-lb laser-guided bunker busting bomb.

An Air Force F-16C Fighting Falcon from the 78th Fighter Squadron, Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., releases a GBU-31 1,000 pound Joint Direct Attack Munition over Eglin's land range during a test mission in 2003.

The military likes the JDAM GPS-guided bomb as it's a relatively cheap package to strap on existing dumb bombs and it reportedly works better in bad weather conditions that interfere with lasers (rain, sand storms, etc.).

- An F-16 from the 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron releases a GBU-31during a Combat Hammer mission during a two-week large-scale evaluation at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Combat Hammer is also known as a Weapons System Evaluation Program for air-to-ground weapons. Almost every fighter in the Air Force inventory participated in the evaluation, which also included bombers and unmanned aircraft systems. The 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron executes the 'Hammer' missions by evaluating the entire weapons process from loading to flight to the target.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Al Weimorts, the creator of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, left, and Joseph Fellenz, lead model maker look over the prototype before it was painted and tested.

A Massive Ordnance Air Blast- or more commonly known as the Mother of All Bombs -(MOAB) weapon is prepared for testing at the Eglin Air Force Armament Center on March 11, 2003. The MOAB is a precision-guided munition weighing 21,500 pounds and will be dropped from a C-130 Hercules aircraft for the test. It will be the largest non-nuclear conventional weapon in existence. The MOAB is an Air Force Research Laboratory technology project that began in fiscal year 2002 and was scheduled to be completed in 2003.

  MOAB - Mother of All Bombs GBU-43/B https://youtu.be/i9H50tHiHjs
Published on Mar 18, 2015
The GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB, aka Mother of All Bombs, most powerful non-nuclear bomb made so far) deliver a hell of a punch & blast radius of up to one mile(on each side)

>88 percent of its targets
That's pretty dismal, the analog bombsight on the Su-24 has an 50% hit rate within 3m radius. This thing is unjammable, works at night or in bad weather, and it doesn't explode with the bomb.
http://thesaker.is/technology-sitrep-how-russian-engineering-made-the-current-operation-in-syria-possible/
A pair of $500 bombs > $10,000 Paveway, and the guy on the ground isn't going to care about the sliver of accuracy difference between them because there is a 100m lethal radius anyway.

Paveway is a piece of shit and it should be phased out in favor of GPS guided bombs. Or maybe replace the shitty laser guidance system with even a cheap radar, for all-weather capability.

>>20426
1) That was 88% strike accuracy back in 1991. Things have much improved since then, both in laser guidance and laser tracking.

2) The GBU series have been upgraded for simultaneous laser and GPS guidance. Read up on it a bit before you complain about shit you don't know about.

http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/paveway/

>>20426
The F-4 had an analog bomb sight, I think that's the last bomb sight we used. Since then it's all radar and computers.
For example the synthetic aperture radar on the B-1 Lancer which has 10-160ft resolution and can probably drop a dumb bomb at the lower end of that.

>>20427
In his defense that isn't in service with USA, and his suggestion to add GPS and milimeter wave radar (on SDB) is exactly what the military did.

>>20428
>In his defense that isn't in service with USA, and his suggestion to add GPS and milimeter wave radar (on SDB) is exactly what the military did.

Yes it is. The EGBU-10 and EGBU-24 and 28s aren't in service with the US, but the 12 and 16 most certainly are. The Navy uses Lockheed-Martin contracted versions, which to my knowledge include a different method of GPS/laser tracking than the Raytheon but it's still giving both Naval and Air Force versions improved tracking and error probability.

We don't need the larger versions because it's cheaper now to fit JDAM systems to the big bombs, and we have things like the JDAM-39 SDB on the small end of of the spectrum, again all with laser, GPS and inertial gudiance.

And the GPS guidance was added back before OEF/OIF kicked off, like 1999 or 2000. So, his method of thinking is just about 20 years too late to actually be anything new in GBU guidance.

  >>20429
Nah man, all of the Paveways, JDAMs and even unguided munitions are getting replaced with SDBs. This is to increase carriage when the every supersonic airplane in American arsenal is either one of 200 F-22 or one of 2000 F-35. The future is SDB.
Boeing is even taking a page from the kebab removers book and fitting SDBs to rocket launcher systems.

Kebab removers idea which seemed insane.

>>20426
>page has "select 9/11 truth links" section and "stop the empire's war on Russia" header

But anyways, of course as seen by actual bomb footage from Syria, actual accuracy outside of manicured test-ranges under perfect conditions where the pilots know exactly where the target is, is more around 30-40 meters, or about the same as CCIP/CCRP or the F-111's bombing computer.

>>20429
>>20430

During Desert Storm the USAF dropped close to 250,000 unguided bombs and 14,000 or so guided bombs. During OIF they dropped 20,000 or so guided bombs and around 9,000 unguided bombs. And most of the unguided bombs were used in show-of-force attacks by B-52s during the opening stages, they'd scare the pants off some Republican Guard division on the way into Iraq and then hit the rest of their targets with JDAMs.

>>20426
3 meters of accuracy but still unable to stay out of Turkish airspace.

>>20433
Doesn't matter if they're selling those coat hanger wire prisms for food preservation in other articles, the page quotes primary sources (a general and manufacturers certs) and is legit. Accuracy is 3-5m and the Su-24M bombing comuter seems to be very different from the various CCIP/CCRP capabilities.

CCIP uses radar to range the target, does some basic inertial calculation internally, then puts a crosshair on the pilots helmet at where it believes the bomb will strike. The pilot must manually guide the crosshair onto the target, where a huge portion of inaccuracy could just be man-to-stick error. CCRP is where the pilot inserts a GPS coordinate and the computer will calculate a release point given proper topographic maps are loaded, but the pilot still has to manually release the bomb where even a milisecond matters.

The system on the Su-24M combines qualities of both of these, although it is a bit closer to CCRP. On top of what CCRP has, SVP-24 adds datalinking to other aircraft, ground stations, weather reports and so on which would improve accuracy somewhat. Finally instead of making it manual like CCIP/CCRP the Su-24M system automates the process eliminating as much as possible of the pilot error that probably accounts for ten times larger F-111 CEPs.

I would rate it as a MUCH improved variant of the CCIP/CCRP and I really wish the F-22 or F-35 have this added, it would allow for a low-emissions strike capability even in completely shitty conditions.

>>20434
>turkey gives missiles to turkmen in syra
>complains when jets who have to avoid missiles stray 0.001 inch for 1 second into their airspace

>>20433
Ad Hominem fallacy.

>>20428
Being able to resolve 10 feet with radar doesn't mean the bomb will drop in those 10 feet. There are more factors than being able to see the target.

>>20427
>Things have much improved since then, both in laser guidance and laser tracking.
No they haven't, there is no laser invented yet which can penetrate a dust cloud or work well in conditions with any sort of precipitation. GPS has become the mainstay for a reason.

>The GBU series have been upgraded for simultaneous laser and GPS guidance.
Which is exactly what I wanted, thanks for proving my point.

>Read up on it a bit before you complain about shit you don't know about.
Can I complain about the way your mom gives blowjobs? I know a lot about that.

>>20444
>Which is exactly what I wanted, thanks for proving my point.

It didn't prove your point. You said,
>Paveway is a piece of shit and it should be phased out in favor of GPS guided bombs. Or maybe replace the shitty laser guidance system with even a cheap radar, for all-weather capability.

Is, present tense.

They fucking upgraded it 20 years ago, meaning all your perception of the failings on the Paveway missiles has been outdated since GPS was added in 1999.

Again, complaining about shit you knew nothing about. They didn't add GPS capability in the few days since you posted>>20426
Paveway has had GPS capabilities for almost 2 goddamn decades, and for the entire Afghan/Iraq campaigns.

They didn't do it because you wanted it, they did it far before you even fucking figured out they needed it.

Convair RB-36H Peacemaker The largest bomber ever built. It could carry 72,000 pounds of conventional and/or nuclear bombs.

Convair RB-36H Peacemaker with an MK-17 Thermonuclear bomb.
US Mark 17, a 21-ton, 25-foot long hydrogen bomb, 10 to 15 megatons, 1954-55.

>>20547
>The largest bomber ever built.
Largest piston engined bomber, yes.

The largest bomber (and combat aircraft) ever is the Tu-160 White Swan, NATO codename Blackjack.
177 ft 6 inches long, which is 15 ft 5 inches longer than the B-36. B-36 still has the advantage in wingspan, and height due to it's tail, but only by 3 feet on the tailplane.

B36 had a loaded combat weight of 262,500lbs, and 72,000lb payload.

Tu-160 combat loaded weight 589,950lbs, payload of 88,185lbs.

MiG-31s, Il-76 tanker, and Tu-160.

>>20549
Yes, The B-36 was the largest mass-produced piston engine aircraft ever made. It had the longest wingspan of any combat aircraft ever built, at 230 ft (70.1 m). The B-36 was the first bomber capable of delivering any of the nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal from inside its four bomb bays without aircraft modifications. With a range of 10,000 mi (16,000 km) and a maximum payload of 87,200 lb (39,600 kg), the B-36 was the world's first manned bomber with an unrefueled intercontinental range. The B-36 was the primary nuclear weapons delivery vehicle of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) until it was replaced by the jet powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress (which first became operational in 1955). The B-36 set the standard for range and payload for subsequent U.S. intercontinental bombers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convair_B-36_Peacemaker

- The huge new XB-36 alongside the first superbomber, the Boeing B-29 Superfortress in 1948. The wings of the 'Peacemaker' were 7 feet (2.1 m) thick at the root.

Tupolev Tu-160 Beliy Lebed (or White Swan, NATO reporting name: Blackjack)
In response to the American development of the swept-wing supersonic B-1 bomber, the Soviet Union pushed for the development of their own high-speed modern strategic bomber during the 1960s and 1970s. Entering service in the late-1980s, the Tu-160 ‘Blackjack’ shared many features of the B-1 ‘Lancer’ but it was much bigger. The Russian bomber has a 189 foot wingspan when the wings are not swept back and is 177 feet long. Currently, the Blackjack is the world’s largest combat aircraft. Cargo planes aside, the Tu-160 also sports the heaviest take-off weight of any military plane – maximum takeoff weight is a staggering 300 tons. This beast can fly at twice the speed of sound and carry up to 44 tons of bombs and cruise missiles. There are currently 16 in service with the Russian forces although recent reports indicate production could be switched back on. http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/the-biggest/top-10-largest-military-planes-ever-built/?view=all

A Tu-160 (escorted by a Su-30SM) launching a Kh-101 cruise missile against targets in Syria, November 2015.

Kh-101/102 (Izdeliye 111) - developed as a very stealthy replacement for the Kh-55SM in the late 1990s, the Kh-101 has a conventional warhead and the Kh-102 is nuclear. This missile weighs some 2,200 - 2,400 kg, the weight of warhead is 400–450 kg. According to reports, the Kh-101 has a maximum range of 2000–3000 km and a variable flight profile at altitudes ranging from 30 – 70 m to 6000 m, a cruising speed of 190–200 m/s and a maximum speed of 250–270 m/s. The missile is equipped with an electro-optical system for correcting the flight trajectory and with a TV guidance system for terminal guidance. The missiles are expected to be accurate within 10–20 m CEP. They are expected to be in service in those numbers by 2023. The new missile complex has been successfully tested and in recent years put into series production to equip modernized Tu-160 and Tu-95MSM bombers. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kh-55

Another big Russian swing-wing strategic bomber is the Tu-22 (NATO designation Backfire) bomber.

Back to little fighters.