Russian strategic missile bombers will increase their range by 1,000 km. Yesterday, October 4, the press-service of JSC "United aircraft Corporation" announced the first flight of the Tu-160M with the new engines NK-32-02.
"At the airport KAZ them. After S. P. Gorbunov was the first flight of glubokoeshelonirovannoj missile-bomber Tu-160 with serial new engines NK-32-02. The plane was piloted by a crew under the supervision of Henri Accidence. The flight took place at an altitude of 6000 meters and lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes», - reported in the press service of "UAC".
Tu-160M with NK-32-02 engines
Image source: uacrussia.ru
During the flight, the necessary checks were carried out on the updated all-aircraft systems and avionics installed as part of a deep modernization of the aircraft, as well as the performance of the new NK-32 02 series engine, developed and manufactured by the United engine Corporation (part of the rostec state Corporation). According to the crew, the flight took place in normal mode, the systems and equipment worked without comments.
According to the BMPD blog, the NK-32-02 engine is an upgraded version of the standard NK-32 engine for the Tu-160, developed and manufactured by Samara PJSC Kuznetsov. NC-32-02 is for the replacement of engines NK-32 for the modernized version of the Tu-160M combatant Tu-160 bombers (it is planned to upgrade 15 planes), and must be installed on the Tu-160M2 new production (a total of 10 contracted aircraft). It is officially stated that the NK-32 engine of the 02 series has significantly improved characteristics compared to the NK-32, which will allow the Tu-160M/M2 aircraft to increase the flight range by 1000 km.
The Tu-160 supersonic strategic bombers with variable wing sweep entered service with the Soviet long-Range aviation in 1987. The aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of 275 tons can reach speeds of up to 2200 km / h and can carry up to 45 tons of ammunition. The Russian army is armed with 16 Tu-160 bombers, which are gradually being upgraded to the Tu-160M version. In addition to replacing engines and avionics, the Tu-160M will receive an expanded range of weapons — in particular, the aircraft will be able to use advanced strategic cruise missiles X-101/X-102.