The Myasishchev M-4 'Bison' was the Soviet Union's first four-engine jet bomber to enter service, built with the intention of launching nuclear strikes against the continental United States. The M-4 was designed with massive swept wings and a unique bicycle landing gear (stabilized by wing-mounted outriggers) but it unfortunately was never able to fulfill its original requirement on account of it being underpowered thus forced to carry a reduced fuel load. As a result, the M-4 was redesigned and readapted for other roles, particularly for maritime patrol, reconnaissance, electronic counter-measures, and as a tanker (some of these were adapted with radar and a fixed inflight refuelling probe). M-4s were eventually used mostly by Soviet Naval Aviation and were operational even after the Cold War ended in their secondary roles. Interestingly, they were replaced as bombers by a turboprop design: the Tu-95.

The prototype M-4 first flew on 20 January 1953 and was first seen by the West during a May Day flyby over Moscow in 1954. The basic M-4 'Bison-A' was eventually replaced by the significantly improved M-6 'Bison-B' known by its military designation 3M, These included the 3MS bomber and the 3MS2 tanker. The final variants were the 3MD 'Bison-C' some of which had uprated engines and were known as the 3MN. Tanker versions were the M-4-2 based on the original M-2 as well as the 3MS-2 and 3MN-2 which were based on their respective bomber versions.