Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu has arrived in Kazan on a working visit. At the Borisoglebskoye Airfield of the Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant (KAZ) the minister was welcomed by Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov.
The Head of the Russian military agency inspected the fulfilment of the State defence order by the Kazan Aviation Plant. He reviewed the programme for the upgrade of strategic (Tu-160) and long-range (Tu-22M3) aviation and the construction of new aircraft.
Accompanied by President Minnikhanov, Minister Shoigu inspected the Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bomber and boarded the aircraft. Today, the enterprise is working to upgrade the airplane. The first flight of the upgraded Tu-160M took place in February 2020 and the flight of the Tu-160M with new engines took place in October of the same year. In March 2021, the missile carrier was handed over to the flight base of Tupolev to prepare for the next stage of flights, preliminary tests.
Then, the Tatarstan President and the Russian Defence Minister watched the flight of the deeply upgraded Tu-22M3M. Earlier, the long-range bomber successfully completed the first stage of preliminary tests.
Sergey Shoigu also inspected an exhibition of advanced unmanned aerial vehicles.