Russia may use Engels to strike Ukraine from Tu-22M3 (photo)
The distance from this airport to the border with Ukraine is only 700 kilometers, and this distance is covered by the combat radius of this aircraft.
Satellite images have been released to the public, showing that the Russian Aerospace Forces have deployed Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, which can carry X-22/X-32 missiles, for the first time in the full-scale war against Ukraine, at the Engels air base, five aircraft of this type at once.
In addition, four Tu-95MS bombers and three Tu-160s are currently deployed at Engels, but this grouping has been at the airbase for a long time.
At the same time, in June 2023, the Russians also deployed two MiG-31s to this airport, but it is not known which modification – MiG-31K (i.e., the carrier of the Kinzhal airborne missile) or BM (fighter interceptor). The image was posted by OSINT analyst MT_Anderson on his Twitter account.
The first option that may come to mind here is that the Rashists relocated five Tu-22M3s to the Engels airfield as part of measures to ensure the survivability of their strategic aviation, i.e. to protect their scarce bombers from possible “cotton”. Moreover, as it turned out, only about 40 aircraft of this type remained in the Russian VKS, although “on paper” it was about 60 bombers.
However, it seems more realistic that the Russian Armed Forces plan to use the Engels airfield as another base for strikes on Ukraine with Tu-22M3 missile carriers.
Moreover, it is worth comparing the following two values: the distance from the base to Engels to the border with our country is approximately 700 km, while the declared combat radius for the Tu-22M3 with a 12-ton payload (i.e., two X-22 missiles) is about 1500 km at supersonic speed and up to 2400 km at subsonic speed with a mixed flight profile.
From the above, it follows that the combat radius of the Tu-22M3 may be quite sufficient for the Rashists to use Engels as another base for shelling our country.
