Moscow. August 22. INTERFAX - The start of flight tests of the first Tu-160M "White Swan" built from scratch is planned for 2022, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov said in an interview with Interfax.
"Serial production of the new Tu-160 has already been launched at the plant in Kazan. We expect that the first such machine will be tested next year, " Manturov said.
He recalled that the plant is also undergoing a deep modernization of combat aircraft in the form of the Tu-160M.
"These vehicles are already being tested and will soon be transferred for the next stage of testing by specialists of the Ministry of Defense, including in conditions that best meet the real situation. After that, the upgraded aircraft will be transferred to the combat units of Long - range Aviation," Manturov said.
Earlier, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu at a meeting of the annual board of the military department set the task to start state tests of the Tu-160M in 2021.
As Interfax reported, in May 2015, the President of the Russian Federation decided to resume production of strategic missile carriers-Tu-160 "White Swan" bombers, which are the air component of the nuclear triad.
After a 10 - year break, the aircraft in the new look-the Tu - 160M-will be built again at the Kazan Aircraft Factory (a branch of Tupolev, part of the UAC). The contract for the supply of the first batch of 10 cars with a total value of 150 billion rubles was signed on January 25, 2018. In addition, it is planned that all 16 "strategists" in service with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation will undergo a deep modernization in the form of the Tu-160M.
It was noted that the new aircraft will not differ externally from the basic Tu-160, but at the same time its combat capabilities will significantly increase, including by expanding the range of weapons. In addition, a new series of NK-32 engines is being made for this machine, which will increase the flight range by 1 thousand km.
Tupolev reported that new flight and navigation equipment, an on-board communication complex, a control system, a radar station and an electronic countermeasures complex are being installed on the Tu-160M.
The Tu-160 is a supersonic strategic missile carrier-bomber with a variable wing sweep, developed at 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. It 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").