In order to seize strategic air supremacy, countries attach great importance to the research and development of bombers and other blockbusters, so as to create a powerful air combat system. In the process of developing bombers, range is an important performance indicator and has become a technical field that countries focus on. Once upon a time, in order to win the escalation of military confrontation, the United States and the Soviet Union invested huge sums of money in nuclear-powered bombers. If such a bomber really appears, the global strategic balance will be completely shattered.
From the point of view of tactical role, nuclear bombers have powerful long-range strike performance, because the distance of the aircraft tends to infinite possibilities, which is incomparable with ordinary bombers. Based on this, the Chinese side can use this bomber to implement strategic deterrence against the adversary, so that it will not dare to start a war easily.
For this reason, the United States did not hesitate to spend $1 billion in the development of this bomber as early as the beginning of the Cold War. During this period, they underwent a technical upgrade based on the B-36H in an attempt to equip it with a nuclear reactor system. However, the above plan did not come to fruition, but this shocked the Soviets into a cold sweat. In response to the ambitions of the Americans, the Soviet Union was not far behind and accelerated the development of nuclear bombers.
In this way, in 1955, the Soviet Union introduced the Tu-95LAL nuclear bomber, which was renamed the Tu-119 six years later. The bomber is nuclear-powered and capable of long-range strike missions over long distances. Because of its swallow-like exterior, the Soviets often referred to it as "never tired swallow".
When this bomber was put into flight, it terrified the outside world, after all, it had nuclear fuel on it. If the United States dares to do something against the Tu-119, a world war will break out. From this point of view, the Tu-119 has an impressive strategic deterrent. Building on the completion of the first take-off mission, the Soviets continued to conduct experiments, during which they tried to improve the power system, resulting in the introduction of the NK-14A nuclear-powered turboprop engine.
Even so, this bomber is still frightening, after all, there is the possibility of nuclear radiation, and the requirements for critical technologies are extremely demanding. Precisely because of the inability to overcome the relevant technology, the Soviet Union did not put the Tu-95LAL project into service in the end. During this period, due to the discontinuation of similar projects by competitors, the Soviet side finally decided to terminate the implementation of the Tu-119 project.