Putin Completes 30-Minute Flight Aboard Strategic Missile Carrier Tu-160M
12:34 GMT 22.02.2024 (Updated: 05:11 GMT 23.02.2024)
© Sputnik / Anton Denisov
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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.
Putin's flight on the Tu-160M strategic missile carrier has ended, it lasted 30 minutes. pic.twitter.com/pHAD7QDzuv
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 22, 2024
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived at the runway of the Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant to fly on the upgraded Tu-160M strategic missile carrier.
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) February 22, 2024
The day before, Putin inspected a similar aircraft in the factory workshop and climbed into the cockpit at the helm.… pic.twitter.com/ftvFPc58RA
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.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sits in the cockpit of a Tu-160M strategic missile carrier
© Sputnik / Kristina Kormilitsyna
/ 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.
23 December 2023, 12:18 GMT
