The first flight of the heavily revised Russian Tupolev Tu-22M3M bomber took place on December 28 at Kazan airfield and lasted 37 minutes. The Russian aviation holding OAK presented the new version in mid-August; according to previous plans, 30 Tu-22s (NATO designation “Backfire”) are to be brought up to date. During the modernization, the aircraft are completely dismantled.
You will receive new avionics, navigation and EloKa systems, and around 80 percent of the equipment will be renewed. In order to increase the range, air refueling was also activated again. The new equipment enables better interaction with the Tu-160 bomber. Russia currently still operates 70 T-22s, which were introduced in the 1970s and are now in urgent need of modernization.
Peter Preylowski
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