The Russian authorities will conduct a trial in connection with the incident with the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber at the Shaikovka airfield near Kaluga, which killed three soldiers. This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who oversees the military-industrial complex, RIA Novosti reports .
"We will still sort it out," he told reporters.
The incident with the Tu-22M3 at the Shaikovka airfield became known on Tuesday, March 23. Initially, it was reported that the plane crashed or made an emergency landing. Later, there was information that the emergency occurred on the ground — the bomber's catapults worked abnormally. Three soldiers were killed. One pilot survived: he managed to fasten his seat belt, while the others were still attached to the cockpit. There are no casualties among the local residents.
Hero of Russia, test pilot Anatoly Knyshov suggested that the cause of the abnormal operation of the catapult on the bomber could be sabotage. According to him, the ejection system "has been tested for decades" and is used only when the aircraft engine fails and the speed decreases sharply. In the case of the incident near Kaluga, there were no prerequisites for bringing the mechanism into action, since the Tu-22M3 was on the ground.
The Tu-22M3 is a modification of the Soviet supersonic Tu-22M bomber. The aircraft is designed to engage ground and sea targets from high, medium and low altitudes. It was adopted in 1989 and became the most popular long-range bomber. Tu-22M3 bombers participated in operations in Syria.
Artem Andreev
