Tupolev Tu-95

For intercontinental range Tupolev chose turboprops over jets: four NK-12 engines with contra-rotating propellers 5.6 metres in diameter burn fuel twice as economically as the turbojets of the time. A swept wing with propeller thrust is a unique combination never repeated in serial production. The Tu-95 became a symbol of the Cold War: in 1961 it dropped the most powerful thermonuclear bomb in history. The Tu-95MS cruise-missile carrier remains in service, and the naval Tu-142 patrolled all the oceans. The museum shows a full-size nose section and an engine nacelle with NK-12 propellers; the complete aircraft is represented by a scale model in the same hall.