Russia's long range aviation

Russian long range aviation from pre-World War I heavy military bomber to world's largest combat aircraft in photo gallery by TASS

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Sikorsky Ilya Muromets (S-22 and S-23) is a class of Russian pre-World War I large commercial airliners and heavy military bombers used during World War I by the Russian Empire. Aircraft series was named after a hero from Russian mythology

Tupolev Tu-4 is a four-engine bomber that served the Soviet Air Force from the late 1940s to mid-1960s. It was a reverse-engineered copy of the US-made Boeing B-29. Photo: A line of soviet TU-4s

A Tu-4A was the first Soviet aircraft to drop a nuclear weapon. Photo: Tu-4 in Central Air Force Museum, at Monino airfield, 40 km east of Moscow

Tupolev Tu-16 is a twin-engined jet strategic bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has flown for more than 50 years. Photo: Tu-16 bombers seen during the aerial refueling

In 1954–1962 a total of 1507 aircraft was constructed in three plants in the Soviet Union

Tu-95 is a large, four-engine strategic bomber and missile platform

Tu-95 entered service with the Soviet Union in 1956. Photo: Tu-95MS strategic bombers fly over Moscow's Kremlin during rehearsal of the May 9 Victory Day military parade in Red Square.

Tu-95 was an icon of the Cold War as it performed a maritime surveillance and targeting mission for other aircrafts, surface ships and submarines

Photo: A Russian Air Force pilot during a training flight on a Tupolev Tu-95MS strategic bomber

Tupolev Tu-22 became the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. It entered service in the 1960s

Tu-160 is a supersonic heavy strategic bomber. Photo: Tu-160 Nikolai Kuznetsov strategic bomber seen at the MAKS-2009 air show

Tu-160 entered service in 1987. It was given the nickname White Swan among Russian airmen. Photo: Tu-160 supersonic bomber flying over the Engels Air Force Base

Tu-160 is the world's largest combat aircraft and largest supersonic aircraft built. Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin in the cockpit of a strategic Tu-160 bomber

Russia’s long range aviation marks it's 101st birthday on December 23. It is the branch of Russian Air Force tasked with bombardment of strategic targets with nuclear weapons. On November 17, Russia involved strategic aircraft in strikes against the Islamic State terrorist organization in Syria. Tu-22 bombers hit IS targets in Raqqah and Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers fired air-launched cruise missiles at terrorist targets in the provinces of Aleppo and Idlib. Russian long range aviation from pre-World War I heavy military bomber to world's largest combat aircraft in photo gallery by TASS.