Moscow. May 18. INTERFAX-Two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers patrolled the neutral waters of the Barents Sea on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"The duration of the flight was more than 7 hours," the report says.
"All flights of aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict accordance with international rules for the use of airspace," the military department said.
The military reported that over the Barents Sea, the Tu-160 was accompanied by long-range MiG-31 interceptors of the Northern Fleet of the Russian Federation.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Russian Defense Ministry reported a five-hour patrol of the Black Sea by a pair of Tu-95MS strategic bombers.
The Tu-160 and Tu-95MS aircraft are the air component of the Russian nuclear triad. They are designed to solve strike tasks to defeat the most important targets in remote areas and in the deep rear of continental theaters of war.
The Tu-160 is a supersonic strategic missile bomber with variable wing sweep, developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1970s and 1980s. It is designed to destroy the most important objects in the deep rear of the enemy with nuclear and conventional weapons. The aircraft is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles on board, all weapons are placed inside the fuselage. In Russia, the Tu-160 is called the "White Swan" for its grace, according to the NATO codification-Blackjack ("Blackjack").
The Tu-95MS (according to the NATO codification: Bear - "Bear") was launched into mass production in 1981 as a modification of the Tu-95 strategic bomber, which was in service with the Russian Air Force since 1957. Crew - seven people. The maximum mass of the combat load is 20 tons.
