In article ,
Mike Marron writes:
"TJ" wrote:

That's because the ASW variant is the TU-142. Under treaty specs the US
agreed that the variant was not a bomber and isn't accountable. Even the
TU-95RT was limited to it's primary mission and not classed as a bomber.

Thanks for the explanation. What does "...isn't accountable" mean?

It means that it doesn't get counted as a bomber or strategic missile
launcher when totting up the numbers for (them) SALT and (now) START
compliance. Of course, that business as always a bit dodgy.
For examples, Tu-22Ms (Backfires) with the AAR probe were considered
as Strategic Bombers, but the same T-22M with the probe unbolted &
sitting in the back of the hangar wasn't. Or the Minuteman III ICBM
was considered to cary 5 warheads instead of 3, because somebody'd
made a short range launch of one carrying 5 instrument packages.

It's all very lawyerly.

--
Pete Stickney
A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many
bad measures. -- Daniel Webster