Citat:Exploring inside the Soviet strategic bomber Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack on display in Poltava Air Base, the Poltava, Ukraine. The craft is due to be transfered to the National Aviation Museum in Zhulyany, Kiev in the future.
Citat:The work, which is geared at replacing all of the aircraft's Soviet-era equipment with modern systems, is being carried out in two phases. The first phase, now completed, involved bolstering the aircraft's nuclear armament with the capacity to carry 12 conventionally armed Raduga NPO Kh-555 (AS-15 'Kent') long-range cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs. The first such upgraded aircraft was delivered back to the air force in April 2008.
The second phase is focused on replacing the radar, as well as the electronic navigation and communication systems. The first flight of a Tu-160 fitted with these new systems took place out of the Kazan Aircraft Plant (KAPO) east of Moscow in November 2014. The aircraft's engines are also to be upgraded under this effort at a later date.
According to the TASS news agency, Boris Naishuler, director of the Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Production Association's design centre, said on 26 May that the modernisation programme to the 16 bombers in the air force's inventory is now expected to be completed in 2019, rather than 2020 as previously stated.
