“Backfire,” of course, is not the Russkies’ nickname for the warbird, but rather the NATO reporting name for the Tupolev Tu-22M (Туполев Ту-22М). The plane was developed in the 1960s by the Tupolev ...

A Russian air force Tupolev Tu-22M falls to the ground in flames. The Ukrainian government claimed it shot down one of the Russian air force Tupolev Tu-22M Backfire bombers on Friday, which, if ...

A surprise Ukrainian drone attack that targeted several Russian air bases hosting nuclear-capable strategic bombers was unprecedented in its scope and sophistication and for the first time reached as ...

LONDON—Russia’s Tupolev has rolled out an upgraded version of its Tu-22M ‘Backfire’ supersonic variable geometry strike aircraft. The upgraded aircraft, designated Tu-22M3M, features updated avionics, ...

Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine war, the U.S. military, weapons systems and emerging technology. She joined ...

The Tupolev Tu-22M ‘Backfire’ strategic bomber was designed in the mid-1960s to overcome the powerful air defenses around U.S. aircraft carriers and NATO military bases. To increase the survival odds ...