NEWS

The Russian Ministry of Defence and the aviation enterprise of PAO Tupolev have signed a state contract, which provides for the delivery of upgraded Tu-160M strategic missile carrying aircraft ​​for defence needs.

The signing took place with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who visited the Kazan Aviation Plant. The signatories to the document were Deputy Defence Minister Yury Borisov and head of the United Aircraft Corporation Yury Slyusar.

“We also need to think about the civilian version of such aircraft. With a vast territory like ours, I am confident that this will be in demand. Of course, in this respect, more work will be needed, but seeing it to completion is absolutely feasible. So, everyone will have something to do. Not just something, but interesting and necessary things”, Vladimir Putin said.

According to the Russian President, a contract for 10 aircraft have been signed; each jet will cost more than RUB 15 billion. “The overall contract will total RUB 160 billion. This means the factory will be operating at full capacity through 2027”.

Tu-160 is a multi-mode supersonic strategic missile carrier, the world’s largest variable-sweep wing aircraft, one of the most powerful combat vehicles in the world.

On January 25 in Kazan, Russian President Vladimir Putin saw the demonstration flight of the new Tu-160 strategic missile carrying aircraft.

In 2015, it was decided to relaunch the production of Tu-160 at the Kazan Aviation Plant (Branch of PAO Tupolev), which is part of the Strategic and Special Aviation Division at UAC.

The demonstration flight was at an altitude of 300 metres and lasted about seven minutes. Pilots carried out a number of manoeuvres to check the stability and controllability of the aircraft in the air.

Production of the Tu-160 aircraft at the Kazan Aviation Plant commenced in 1984 and was suspended in the early 90's. In 2015, the Defence Ministry announced the relaunch of the strategic bomber production, modified as Tu-160M2.

The Tu-160 airframe was built from Soviet-era parts with the aims of restoring the final assembly technology, testing some new technology solutions, and finishing new improved engines.

The serial production of the missile carriers should begin in 2023. The Russian Defence Ministry plans to buy at least 50 such strategic bombers. The plane was transferred to the Flight Test Station in November last year. In March this year, the aircraft will be delivered to the Aerospace Force of the Russian Federation.

Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov visited the Simonov Experimental Design Bureau as part of his working visit to Kazan. He was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade of Tatarstan Albert Karimov.

The Simonov Experimental Design Bureau was originally founded as the Design Bureau of Sports Aviation. It was created under the leadership of Mikhail Simonov, who was later appointed the Designer General at the Sukhoi Design Bureau, becoming the creator of the Su-27 fighter family. Since the 1960s, the design bureau has been working on unmanned aerial vehicles. The company has developed air targets based on manned MiG-19, MiG-21, Mig-23, L-29, and La-17MM targets.

Within the visit, enterprise management guided a tour of the bureau that included a demonstration of the results of activities under the current government contracts. Denis Manturov visited the programmable control stand, where digital technologies for testing UAV equipment were demonstrated in the performance of various missions. Then the guests moved to the assembly section to see the samples of equipment. In addition, the Russian Minister of Industry and Trade visited the Engineering Centre for Propulsion Systems.