The Tu-160M2 strategic bomber has been officially unveiled.

The first upgraded Tu-160M2 strategic bomber has just been completed at the Gorbunov Aircraft Assembly Plant in Kazan (KAZ).

In July of this year, according to sources from the Russian defense industrial complex, the first prototype of the upgraded Tu-160M2 long-range bomber was in the final stages of assembly.

Contrary to the initial plan of producing new aircraft, the first Tu-160M2 used a Soviet-era airframe, serial number 804, which had been stored since the early 1990s. This approach is considered to have significantly saved both time and costs.

The first Tu-160M2 long-range strategic bomber has rolled off the production line.

Although the Tu-160 assembly line was suspended in 1992, KAZ at that time still stored at least four airframes of this type in varying degrees of completion. Two of them were used in 2000 and 2008, while the other two airframes continued to be kept in storage.

Because the airframe design of the Tu-160 and its modernized variant, the Tu-160M2, are very similar, the existing KAZ airframes are still usable.

The airframe of the Tu-160M2 while still in the factory.

The Russian defense industrial complex informed the ITAR-TASS news agency that the Tu-160M2 will not undergo flight testing until February 2018.

Because Tu-160 production has been suspended for a long time, the assembly of its upgraded version essentially has to be done from scratch and go through many rigorous testing and evaluation steps.

According to plan, the first new mass-produced Tu-160M2 will appear in 2021, and the Russian Air Force may purchase an additional 30-50 aircraft of this type.

The Tu-160M2 incorporates many technologies that will be deployed on the future PAK DA strategic bomber system.

Currently, many electronic components intended for the Tu-160M2 aircraft are being tested on prototype PAK FA fifth-generation fighter jets.

The Russian Strategic Air Force is expected to use two main bomber aircraft: the Tu-160M2 and the new generation bomber aircraft from the PAK DA project currently under development.

The Tu-160M2 will possess superior capabilities compared to the Tu-160 currently in service, most notably its ability to deploy a wider variety of long-range precision weapons.

The resumption of Tu-160M2 production is considered an extraordinary effort by the Russian defense industry at such a difficult time, giving their strategic nuclear deterrent a new status and certainly causing headaches for the US and its NATO allies as they search for countermeasures.

According to Baodatviet