Oh, there are ways for Tu-22s to deploy such weapons from safe distance.

That's called 'supersonic toss'. The jet approaches at Mach 1+, and an altitude of about 15,000 or more metres. Then tosses the bomb from…

Oh, there are ways for Tu-22s to deploy such weapons from safe distance.

That's called 'supersonic toss'. The jet approaches at Mach 1+, and an altitude of about 15,000 or more metres. Then tosses the bomb from 40+ kilometre range, during an Immelman.

Iraqi Tu-22-crews (mind: Tu-22-crews; Iraq never got Tu-22M or such) were flying such manoeuvres while targeting Kurdish Peshmergas in northern Iraq of late 1974 - and that while fresh from conversion training, and never suffered a single loss to Iranian MIM-23 HAWKs protecting the Kurds. They did that again in 1986, when targeting IRGC-troops on the Faw Peninsula, and again despite Irnain MIM-23 HAWKs. Not one was shot down during such an operation.

....and their Soviet advisors were all calling them 'crazy idiots'...