500 konstruerades, före ukrainabosättningen fanns 50 kvar
https://www.reddit.com/r/aviation/comments/1wtgyl7/russian_nuclearcapable_bomber_plane_crashes/
en kommentar om vilken roll de har:
Like the B-52, sub-sonic bombers are not designed to be stealthy. Since they are adequate for their role, there is zero need to replace them if they can be maintained.
they're basically almost exclusively flying missile cruisers anymore. the B52, B1B and russia's strategic fleet all are the only aircraft capable of carrying more than a couple cruise missiles at a time which lets you launch salvos of the things as opposed to fighters which may only be able to loft one weapon at a time