During Putin's visit to Tatarstan, he visited the Kazan Aviation Plant, located in the capital Kazan. In order to welcome Putin's arrival, the Kazan Aviation Plant rarely placed four Tu-160 strategic bombers side by side in the building, creating a very convincing atmosphere of a great power.
The four Tu-160M strategic bombers were parked side by side with their wings fully spread during the demonstration. Putin's visit to the Kazan Aviation Plant and the display of the four newly painted Tu-160M strategic bombers at the same time achieved excellent propaganda results, as if the wings of a great power are about to fly over Kyiv. So, what else can we see from this, aside from the sheer size?
The leadership of the United Aviation Manufacturing Corporation of Russia accompanied Putin on a tour of the workshops of the Kazan Aviation Plant. Putin has a soft spot for Tu-160 aircraft. During this visit, he was particularly interested in entering the cockpit of a Tu-160M.
It is reported that about 20 years ago, Putin flew a Tu-160 strategic bomber in a military exercise of Russia's Northern Military District, made a long-distance flight and completed a series of tasks, and this flight even included launching cruise missiles and conducting in-flight refueling and other exercise subjects.
Now, after a lapse of 19 years, he has once again stepped into the modern cockpit of the Tu-160M, which will undoubtedly strengthen his resolve in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Of the 4 Tu-160Ms on display this time, 2 were built from the ground up. Based on the red markings on the noses of the 06 and 07 aircraft, it can be assumed that these two aircraft are the old Tu-160 produced in the 90s of the last century.
Among them, the No. 06 is the first aircraft of the eighth batch of production models, which was produced in 1994 and was named "Ilya Muromets" after entering service; The 07 was the second in the same batch, produced in 1999 and named "Alexander Moloch".
Judging from the scene**, both 06 and 07 aircraft have been upgraded to the latest Tu-160M standard, and their self-defense equipment and avionics equipment have been updated.
Aircraft No. 22 and No. 23 are newly manufactured Tu-160M models. Previously, the Russian Aerospace Forces also had Tu-22 and Tu-23 No. 260, but they belonged to different versions.
The No. 22 aircraft belonged to the fourth batch of production No. 5, which was transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force, and later returned to Russia, where it was reassigned to the Russian Aerospace Forces after modernization and retained its original name, "Igor Sikorsky". The Tu-22M-160M, which was exhibited at the Kazan Aviation Plant this time, was made from the ground up.
And the old Tu-23-160 has already been scrapped by Ukraine. Unit 23 belonged to the first unit of the fifth batch of Tu-160 production, which eventually remained in Ukraine.
Later, Ukraine publicly scrapped the Tu-160 and Tu-22 on television, including the No. 23 machine. The No. 23 Tu-160M on display this time is also newly manufactured.
According to Putin's proposal, one of them will be named "Mintimel Shaimyev" in honor of the first chief executive in the history of Tatarstan.
The Tu-160M upgrade project showed obvious features. The four Tu-160Ms on display at the Kazan Aviation Plant have been completely painted in the classic "Big White Goose" livery, and their equipment muzzles are clearly displayed.
It can be clearly seen from the ** that these 4 Tu-160Ms have significantly improved in terms of self-defense equipment and avionics. Under the nose, the Tu-160M is equipped with a set of four-way missile proximity warning system sensors to improve its security perception capabilities.
In the middle of these sensors there is a probe with a red protective cover, which is actually a directional infrared countermeasure device (DIRCM), the main function of which is to interfere with infrared-guided missiles from the air and from the ground by firing lasers or pulses. The Il-76MD-90A, Su-57 and Ka-52 aircraft of the Russian army are also equipped with this equipment.
The delivery of these four strategic bombers will significantly increase the long-range bombing capabilities of the Russian army, as only 16 Tu-160 bombers are currently in service, according to open data.
Due to a shortage of upstream components, the modernized version of this model has been slow to progress, with very limited deliveries, usually only one or two per year.
However, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the Russian aviation industry seems to have accelerated its pace, this time paying 4 aircraft at a time, and plans to mass-produce the model from 24 onwards. The speed at which this ramp-up is astonishing.