Tu-160M2 strategic bomber officially launched

The first upgraded Tu-160M2 strategic bomber has just been completed at the Gorbunov aircraft assembly plant in Kazan (KAZ).

In July this year, according to a source from the Russian Defense Industry Complex, the first prototype of the upgraded long-range bomber Tu-160M2 was in the final assembly stage.

Unlike the original plan to produce a new one, the first Tu-160M2 used a Soviet-made airframe with serial number 804, which had been stored since the early 1990s. This is estimated to save significant time and costs.

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

Although the Tu-160 assembly line was halted in 1992, KAZ still had at least four airframes in various stages of completion. Two of them were used in 2000 and 2008, while the remaining two remained in storage.

Since the airframe design of the Tu-160 and the modernized variant Tu-160M2 have many similarities, the KAZ airframes in storage can still be used.

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

The Russian Defense Industry Complex informed the ITAR-TASS news agency that the Tu-160M2 will not be able to conduct test flights until February 2018.

Because the Tu-160 production process has been suspended for a long time, the assembly work of its upgraded version must basically be done from scratch and go through many strict testing and evaluation steps.

According to plans, the first mass-produced new Tu-160M2 will appear in 2021 and the Russian Air Force may purchase another 30-50 of these aircraft.

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

Currently, many electronic components expected to be equipped on the Tu-160M2 aircraft are being tested on prototypes of the 5th generation fighter PAK FA.

The Russian strategic air force is expected to use two main bomber lines: the Tu-160M2 and the new generation bomber of the PAK DA project under development.

The Tu-160M2 will possess superior power compared to the Tu-160 currently in service, most notably its ability to deploy more precise long-range weapons.

The resumption of Tu-160M2 production is considered an extraordinary effort by the Russian defense industry at a difficult time like this, bringing a new position to their strategic nuclear deterrent force and will certainly cause the US and its NATO allies to have a headache in finding countermeasures.

According to Baodatviet