RT quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying he would turn on the green light for the modernized Tu-160M aircraft to be put into use after test flights of this nuclear strategic bomb squadron on February 22.
The 30-minute flight from Kazan follows a February 21 inspection at the Gorbunov Aviation Plant, which is responsible for modernizing aircraft developed by the Tupolev Design Department in the 1970s. According to the Kremlin, the Tu-160 flight route is kept secret.
In many aspects, it is truly a new machine. Even an ordinary person may find driving smoother. It is very reliable, as well as its weapons. This is a new aircraft, President Putin said after the test flight.
The Russian president described the modernized Tu-160M as the real technology of the next generation and said he would direct the Ministry of Defense to put the aircraft into use in the air force.
The nuclear-powered Tu-160M has been significantly modernized, with 80% of systems and machinery replaced. The renovation really turned the Tu-160M into a new aircraft, only keeping the frame of the iconic bomber, which was put into operation since the late 1980s.
The plane is designed primarily to carry cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, but can also be equipped with many types of conventional shells.
Mr. Putin proposed to name the newest aircraft after Mintimer Shaimiev, the first president of the Federal Republic of Tatarstan.
