Tu-160M / Viacheslav Grushnikov
07/30/2021 00:00:00
Moscow. July 30. INTERFAX - The first deeply modernized strategic bomber Tu-160M "White Swan" is completing preliminary tests, production of the second such aircraft is nearing completion, said the head of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) Yuri Slyusar.
Tupolev is deeply modernizing combatant Tu-160s. The first aircraft of this series - Tu-160M - made its first flight at the end of last year, successfully passed factory tests, and is now completing preliminary tests in Zhukovsky, "Slyusar said in an interview with the Russian Defense Ministry newspaper Krasnaya Zvezda.
" At the Kazan Aviation Plant work is nearing completion on the manufacture of the second such aircraft, which will immediately join the tests, "said the head of the UAC.
He noted that after that the aircraft will be presented for state tests, "where they will be evaluated by specialists from the Ministry of Defense, including in conditions that best meet the combat situation," and then the modernized "strategists" will go to combat units of Long-Range Aviation.
In addition to deep modernization, the Tupolev is working on assembling a completely new Tu-160M built from scratch, added Slyusar.
Earlier, the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Sergei Shoigu at a meeting of the annual board of the military department set the task to start state tests of the Tu-160M in 2021.
As Interfax reported, in May 2015, the President of the Russian Federation made a decision to resume production of the Tu-160 "White Swan" strategic missile-carrying bombers, which are the air component of the nuclear triad.
Aircraft in a new look - Tu-160M - after a 10-year break will be built again at the Kazan aircraft plant (Tupolev's branch, part of the United Aircraft Corporation). The contract for the supply of the first batch of 10 vehicles with a total value of 150 billion rubles was signed on January 25, 2018. In addition, it is planned that all 16 "strategists" in service with the Russian Defense Ministry will undergo deep modernization in the form of the Tu-160M.
It was noted that outwardly the new aircraft will not differ from the basic Tu-160, but at the same time its combat capabilities will significantly increase, including by expanding the range of weapons. In addition, a new series of NK-32 engines is being made for this aircraft, which will increase the flight range by 1 thousand km.
Tupolev reported that new flight and navigation equipment, an onboard communications complex, a control system, a radar station and an electronic countermeasures complex are being installed on the Tu-160M.
Tu-160 is a supersonic strategic missile carrier-bomber with variable sweep wing, developed at the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1970s-1980s. It is designed to destroy the most important targets deep behind enemy lines with nuclear and conventional weapons. It is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles on board, all weapons are located inside the fuselage. In Russia, the Tu-160 for its grace is called the "White Swan", according to the NATO codification - Blackjack ("Blackjack").
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