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In this gorgeous photo of a landing Tu-154, one can clearly see that the lateral engines are equipped with thrust reversers, but the center engine is not.

Why?

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    $\begingroup$ This aircraft is not the only one with only part of its engine fitted with reverses. See Why doesn't the A380 use its outboard thrust reversers? $\endgroup$
    – Manu H
    May 18, 2020 at 19:57
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    $\begingroup$ Note that on the other hand, the falcon 7X seems to have a reverse on its center engine but I fail to see reverse deployment on the 2 other engines on landing videos $\endgroup$
    – Manu H
    May 18, 2020 at 20:04
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    $\begingroup$ @ManuH: The Yak-40 is another trijet with a reverser on the center engine but not the side ones. $\endgroup$
    – Vikki
    May 18, 2020 at 21:59

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Several I guess:

  • There is no way to store them on the middle one in a way not increasing drag during flight.

  • In any possible configuration they would blow hot exhaust always against some body part, thus making it rather inefficient.

But maybe most important:

  • Two reversed engines already produce more than enough breaking power, no need to spend money on another. In fact, even one would be good for all purpose, but asymmetric force isn't a good idea either :))
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    $\begingroup$ In contradiction to your first two points, the 727 (the Tu-154's U.S. equivalent) does have a reverser on the center engine. $\endgroup$
    – Vikki
    May 29, 2019 at 3:57
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    $\begingroup$ Just because another similar model didn't face a design challenge doesn't mean the Tu-154 didn't face said issue. $\endgroup$
    – zymhan
    May 18, 2020 at 16:53
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It wouldn't be logical, as clamshell reversers wouldn't fit very well, and bucket reversers would require a modified fuselage. Plus they'd add extra weight. That's why almost no fighter aircraft with one engine has thrust reversers. (Although the Northrop F-20 Tigershark could be modified to have a thrust reverser, and there was a North American F-100 Super Sabre which was retrofitted with a functional thrust reverser. If you want to learn more about it, search for the NF-100F. There were 3, but only 1 had a Rohr thrust reverser.)

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