Putin Completes 30-Minute Flight Aboard Strategic Missile Carrier Tu-160M
20240222
KAZAN, Russia (Sputnik) - Russian President Vladimir Putin has completed the flight on a modernized Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber as part of the crew. The flight took about 30 minutes, with the pre-flight preparation taking about another 45 minutes.
"Good [experience], that's not the point. The point is that we are getting new equipment, the equipment is excellent, it is truly of a new generation ... of course, it can be accepted into the armed forces," Putin told reporters after the flight.
Russian President Vladimir Putin took a flight on a modernized Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber as part of the crew. The Tu-160M plane 'Ilya Muromets' took off from the runway of the Kazan Aviation Plant.
The day before, Putin inspected a similar aircraft in the factory workshop and climbed into the cockpit at the controls.
The Tu-160M supersonic aircraft can carry nuclear weapons and is an element of the so-called nuclear triad of the Russian Federation.
What is known about the supersonic jet? The Tu-160M model aircraft:
- has modernized engines, upgraded avionics and on-board equipment, and new weapons control systems;
- is equipped with an electronic warfare system;
- is capable of carrying long-range cruise missiles such as the non-nuclear Kh-555 and Kh-101, as well as the nuclear Kh-102;
- can reach speeds of up to 1,242 miles per hour (2,000 km per hour);
- can effectively counter enemy interceptors and defeat sophisticated air defenses;
- completed its maiden flight in Kazan on January 12, 2022.
© Sputnik
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