The new Tu-160M2 strategic bomber received a ticket to the sky
On January 12, the first Tu-160M2 strategic bomber built in the post-Soviet period took off. The flight took place at an altitude of 600 meters and lasted half an hour.
Test pilots of PJSC "Tupolev" tested the controllability and stability of the new strategist in the air. According to the press service of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, according to the program of the state contract between the department and the Tupolev company, the design documentation for the Tu-160M aircraft was fully digitized in a short time, the technology of vacuum welding of titanium products was restored, the production of airframe assemblies was resumed, a new cooperation was formed from advanced industrial enterprises in the field of metallurgy, aircraft construction, mechanical engineering and instrumentation.
The implementation of this program required not only the renewal of production facilities, but also the creation of a fundamentally new digital environment for working on the project. A number of aircraft design bureaus participated in the preparation of digital documentation. The new car has 80 percent updated and upgraded systems and equipment. The implementation of the modernization and reproduction program of the Tu-160 strategic missile carriers required a significant upgrade of the production base. At the Kazan Aviation Plant, 40 percent of the equipment of the workshops was completely updated or modernized, a significant part of the company's employees received additional training to work in new conditions.
The event is remarkable for the fact that earlier the KAI upgraded aircraft from combat aviation units, one strategist was built from the Soviet reserve. And now – the first strategic bomber of the post-Soviet period.
If you look at the new Tu-160M2, it is practically no different from its older counterparts. However, according to media reports, its "filling" resembles the Su-57.
The new "White Swan" can fly more than 12 thousand kilometers without refueling, the latest NK-32-02M2 serial engines are in the nacelles, which were rolled in the sky over the Kazan airfield in November 2020. By the way, all combat Tu-160s are planned to be re-equipped with engines of this series until 2030.
According to the open press, back in 2015, specialists of the Radioelectronic Technologies concern developed a "glass cabin" for the updated Tu-160, in which almost all instrument panels are made on multifunctional indicators. One such indicator replaces several dozen mechanical analogues.
If we talk about weapons systems, it is worth noting that with the previous parameters of the compartments, according to media reports, two drum launchers for 12 cruise missiles are installed in them, along with the "regular" X-101 and X-102, medium and long-range missiles will enter the arsenal of the White Swan.
Ivan Dragomirov
The newspaper "Military-Industrial Courier", published in issue No. 2 (915) for January 18, 2022
