From peterwezeman@hotmail.com@21:1/5 to All on Thu Dec 23 18:57:58 2021
According to the Wikipedia article on the Progress D-27 prop-fan engines
used on the Antonov An-70 transport, these same engines are under
consideration for retrofit to the fleet of Tupolev Tu-95 bombers.
Estimating from published figures, compared to the Kuznetsov NK-12
turboprop (a 1950s design) presently used in the Tu-95, the D-27 prop-fan
would have 15 percent lower fuel consumption at cruise and weigh
some 3,000 pounds less for each of the four engine-propeller units.
The propeller diameter on the D-27 is two feet less than for the NK-12
so there would be no problem with prop clearance.
I am interested in any information about the current status of
this re-engining proposal. As you probably know, we have been
talking about new engines for the B-52 bombers for decades.