Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday traveled aboard a modernized Tu-160M ​​strategic bomber capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which is likely to be seen by the West as a warning about Moscow’s nuclear capabilities, Reuters writes.

Vladimir PutinPhoto: Mykhailo Klimentiev / AFP / Profimedia

Codenamed “Blackjacks” by NATO, the giant movable-wing aircraft is an upgraded version of a Cold War-era bomber that the former Soviet Union deployed in the event of a nuclear war to launch long-range weapons. big.

“Unique Event”

State television showed the giant plane taking off from the runway of the Kazan plant, which makes the modernized supersonic aircraft, and correspondent Pavlo Zarubin enthusiastically called it a “unique event.”

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the plane’s flight path was a military secret, and the Kremlin later said Putin’s flight lasted about 30 minutes.

“The head of state flew on a modernized Tu-160M ​​strategic missile carrier-bomber. The plane took off from the runway of the Kazan Aviation Plant named after SP Gorbunov, which was visited by Vladimir Putin the day before. The flight lasted about 30 minutes,” said the press release of the Kremlin, writes News.ro with reference to Reuters.

The Tu-160M, whose crew consists of four people, is capable of carrying 12 cruise missiles or 12 short-range nuclear missiles and can fly 12,000 km non-stop for refueling.

Putin, 71, flew an older version of the plane in 2005 during exercises.

According to the contract signed in 2018, 10 modernized Tu-160M ​​nuclear bombers are to be delivered to the Russian Air Force at a cost of 15 billion rubles ($163 million) each between 2024 and 2027.

Vladimir Putin, who is expected to easily win another six-year term next month, made the short flight at a time when relations between Moscow and the West are strained by Russia’s aggressive war in Ukraine and the death in prison of opposition politician Alexei Navalny. Some Russian and American diplomats say they can’t remember a time when relations between the world’s two major nuclear powers were worse, including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.

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