Tupolev Tu-95LAL

The Tupolev Tu-95LAL, from the Russian for flying atomic laboratory, was a Soviet experimental aircraft that flew from 1961 to 1965, a Tu-95 bomber modified to test whether a nuclear reactor could power an aircraft, comparable to the American Convair NB-36H. Under a 1955 directive the Tupolev and Myasishchev bureaus led research into nuclear aircraft, and Tupolev proposed a quick flying testbed with a small reactor in a Tu-95M. The VVRL-100 reactor sat in the bomb bay under aerodynamic fairings, and over 40 research flights, mostly with the reactor shut down, examined radiation shielding. The reactor never powered the aircraft, and cost and the rise of ballistic missiles curtailed the programme, ending plans for the Tu-119 follow-on.