Russia's Tu-160 Missile Carrier Remains the World's Best Supersonic Aircraft – Tupolev CEO

The Tu-160 holds 46 official world records, including records for flight duration and range

Moscow, October 15. /TASS/. The Tupolev Tu-160 supersonic strategic missile carrier continues to rank as the best aircraft in its class, said Yuri Abrosimov, CEO of Tupolev (part of United Airlines, UAC, which is part of state-owned Rostec).

The UAC quoted him as saying, "The Tu-160 strategic missile carrier remains the best supersonic aircraft in the world and outperforms comparable aircraft systems used by the United States. The Tu-160 holds 46 official world records, including flight duration and range records."

According to Abrosimov, the modernized version of the aircraft, the Tu-160M, retains the exterior design of the original Tu-160, but "is built on a completely new technology, incorporating digital technologies, and 80 percent of its systems and equipment have been modernized."

He added: The aircraft's avionics equipment, including flight control systems, weapons and navigation systems, have been completely repaired and the engines have been modernized.

The program to resume production of the Tu-160M was initiated by the decision of President Vladimir Putin. According to the government contract between the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia and the Tupolev Design Bureau, the design documents of the Tu-160M ​​aircraft were completely digitized in a short period of time. In addition, the technology of vacuum welding of titanium components was restored, the production of airframe assembly was resumed, and a new consortium of leading industrial companies in metallurgy, aircraft construction, mechanical engineering, and tool engineering, most of which are part of the state-owned enterprise Rostec, was established.