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Russia Reports Two Tu-160M Bombers Added as Kremlin Pushes Long-Range Strike Capacity
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Russia’s Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the Russian Aerospace Forces had received two Tu-160M strategic missile carriers during a year-end Defense Ministry board meeting in Moscow on December 17, according to Army Recognition on December 18.
The outlet said that Russian state media did not specify whether the aircraft were newly built airframes or upgraded bombers delivered to the Tu-160M standard.
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The Tu-160M is a modernized version of the Soviet-designed Tu-160 heavy bomber, a supersonic platform intended primarily to launch long-range cruise missiles from standoff ranges.
It can carry 12 cruise missiles or 12 short-range nuclear missiles and has a non-stop range of about 12,000 km without refueling.
Russia planned to deliver 10 Tu-160M aircraft by 2027 under a contract signed in 2018, at a reported cost of about $163 million per aircraft.
Earlier, it was reported that Russia expanded the Kazan Aviation Plant—its key site for producing and upgrading Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 bombers—while sanctions and labor shortages continued to constrain output.
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