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Russian Air Force to Receive First Modernized Tu-160 Bomber in 2021

© Sputnik / Anton Denisov / Go to the mediabankTU-160 strategic missile bomber performing at the military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.
TU-160 strategic missile bomber performing at the military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War. - Sputnik International
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The production of Tu-160 strategic bombers is going to be renewed; the new modernized versions are slated to enter service in 2021

Russian supersonic Tu-160 strategic bomber seen at an airfield near Kazan, about 700 kilometers (450 miles) east of Moscow, file photo - Sputnik International
Russia
Russia's Modernized Tu-160 Bomber: New Missiles, State-of-the-Art Engine
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The Russian Air and Space Forces will receive approximately 1,000 new airplanes and helicopters by 2020, Air and Space Forces Commander Col.-Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Wednesday.

According to Russia's $325-billion rearmament program, fourth-generation aircraft are being replaced with new models, increasing by 2020 the amount of upgraded military equipment to 70 percent.

“From 1992 through 2012, the Air Force received practically nothing except for a few units of equipment and not very modern at that. Starting from 2012, we have received more than 300 airplanes and helicopters and by 2020, this number will be close to 1,000 completely new airplanes and helicopters, plus there will be modernized planes and helicopters,” Col.-Gen. Bondarev said during a live interview on Russia’s Rossiya-24 television channel.

Bondarev added that Russian Air and Space Forces expect to receive the first modernized Tu-160 Blackjack supersonic strategic bomber in 2021. The Tu-160 bomber has variable-sweep wings, designed to engage targets around the globe with nuclear and conventional weapons.

In 2013, the Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with the Tupolev design bureau and Kazan Aircraft Plant worth 3.4 billion rubles ($66 million) to upgrade three Tu-160 bombers.

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