On August 27, 2021, during the visit The Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation S. K. Shoigu and the President of the Republic of Tatarstan R. N. Minnikhanov of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S. P. Gorbunov (KAZ, a branch of PJSC Tupolev) for the first time publicly demonstrated the first sample of the modernized Tu-160M2 strategic bomber under construction at the enterprise.
Construction of the first sample of the modernized Tu-160M2 strategic bomber in the workshop of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S. P. Gorbunov (KAZ, a branch of PJSC Tupolev). Kazan, 27.08.2021 (c) press service of the President of Tatarstan
Recall that on January 25, 2018, the Russian Ministry of Defense, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed a contract worth 160 billion rubles with PJSC Tupolev in Kazan for the construction of ten new Tu-160M2 bombers until 2027. Earlier it was reported that the first flight of the first of them was planned for 2021 with the start of deliveries in 2023, however, judging by the condition of the first aircraft in the KAZ workshop, it is unlikely to be lifted into the air before the end of 2022.
Construction of the first sample of the modernized Tu-160M2 strategic bomber in the workshop of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S. P. Gorbunov (KAZ, a branch of PJSC Tupolev). Kazan, 27.08.2021 (c) press service of the President of Tatarstan