Tu-134
ICAO T134A 1960s Soviet twinjet with a glazed bomber nose, used to train bomber crews. Live Tu-134 positions.
Flying right now
Live · 30s
No Tu-134 is transmitting ADS-B at the moment.
Military aircraft are not obliged to broadcast, so this happens regularly. The count refreshes every thirty seconds.
Airframe
- Manufacturer
- Tupolev
- Role
- Government transport and crew training
- Class
- L2J — Landplane, 2 jet engines
- Crew
- 3 to 4
- First flight
- 29 July 1963
- In service
- 1967
Operators airborne
Nothing of this type is up right now.
About the Tu-134
The Tu-134 is a small Soviet airliner with an unusual feature: many carry a fully glazed navigator's nose, inherited from the Tu-16 bomber the design descends from. It gives the aircraft a distinctly military look even in airline colours.
That lineage found a use. The Tu-134UBL variant was built specifically to train Tu-22M and Tu-160 bomber crews, with a lengthened radar nose replicating the bomber's, and Russia has operated them for exactly that.
Almost all remaining airframes are Russian state or military, and very few fly. Expect this page to be empty.
Callsign prefixes
- RFF
- Russian Federation Air Force
How to recognise it
- —A small twinjet with rear-mounted engines and a T-tail.
- —Many have a fully glazed nose beneath the cockpit — no Western airliner has this.
- —Trainer versions carry a long pointed radar nose instead.
Common questions
+ Why does the Tu-134 have a glass nose?
It descends from the Tu-16 bomber and retained the navigator's glazed station. Not all airframes have it, but it is a common and distinctive feature.
+ What is the Tu-134UBL?
A crew trainer for the Tu-22M and Tu-160 bomber force, fitted with a lengthened nose replicating the bomber's radar installation.
+ Is it still flying?
Only a handful, almost all Russian military or state aircraft. Commercial operation ended years ago.