Cold War Bombers

The United States nuclear deterrence strategy during the Cold War was called a Triad because it made use of 3 military components. These were land-based ballistic missiles, strategic missile submarines, and strategic long range bombers. During the late Cold War (1978-1991) the United States had deployed 2 long range bombers to use against the Soviet Union, these were the B-1 Lancer, and the B-52 Stratofortress. During this time the United States was also developing a stealth bomber which became known in 1987 and was known as the B-2 Spirit. 

The mainstay of the Soviet Strategic bomber force was the Tu-95 Bear, and the Blackfire. Later during the early 1980s the Soviet Union developed a new bomber called the Blackjack, which was basically a Soviet version of the B-1. Although the Soviet Union was though to be capable of developing a stealth bomber, when the Cold War ended in 1991 it was found the the Soviet Union wasn't even close to coming up with the technology.

This Interesting, and well put together diagram from the 1985 book "Advanced Technology Warfare" does a great job of comparing the types of bombers used by the Soviet Union, and United States during the 1980s part of the Cold War. However this book was written before the B-2 stealth bomber was uncovered and is therefore not included. The illustrations are wonderful although it would be nice if it had more technical specifications listed.

This is one of my favorite aviation diagrams on the internet. It goes above and beyond in showing off the technical specifications of the Soviet Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber. Note that because of this diagrams complexity one can learn how Russian bombers have a smaller library of ordnance to equip their bombers with.

This Diagram includes the F-111 as a Long-Range Strategic bomber which many would disagree with because the F-111 was designed very specifically for a tactical role. This diagram is great because it shows the max speed of these aircraft which can be very useful for deciding how to intercept them.