Moscow. June 15. INTERFAX-Italian, Danish and Swedish fighter jets took to the air due to the eight-hour flight of two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
"At certain stages of the route, Russian strategic missile carriers were accompanied by F-35 fighters of the Italian Air Force, F-16 of the Danish Air Force, Saab JAS 35 Gripen of the Swedish Air Force," the report says.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that the flight of the Tu-160 over the neutral waters of the Baltic was planned.
The Russian "strategists" were accompanied by Su-35S of the Russian Aerospace Forces and Su-27 of the Baltic Fleet Naval Aviation.
"The flight duration was about eight hours. Long-range aviation crews regularly fly over the neutral waters of the Arctic, the North Atlantic, the Black and Baltic Seas, and the Pacific Ocean. All flights of aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces are carried out in strict accordance with the international rules for the use of airspace," the Russian Defense Ministry said.
The Tu-160 aircraft, like the Tu-95MS, 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 a 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.
