Russian Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying aircraft will now be armed with new X-BD cruise missiles. The flight range of such a missile exceeds 6 500 kilometers, reported the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Prior to this, the Tu-160s were armed with Kh-101 cruise missiles with a maximum flight range of approximately 5 500 kilometers. But Russia is constantly working to improve the weapons of its strategic aviation, and now the missile carriers have received even longer-range missiles.
Notably, what Tu-160 aircraft with new missiles showed to the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Kim Jong-un, during his visit to Russia. The head of North Korea visited the Knevichi airfield in Vladivostok, where Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu showed him new missiles for the Tu-160.
At that moment, when Kim Jong-un and Shoigu looked at the missile launch drum, the commander of long-range aviation of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash, told them, that the missile's flight range is more than 6,5 thousands of kilometers. The general said, that all planes, which were shown to Kim Jong-un, are part of long-range aviation combat units.
The Tu-160 strategic missile carriers were developed and created back in Soviet times, then they were modernized and improved. The aircraft took part in the military campaign in Syria, special military operation in Ukraine. used photos:Russian Ministry of Defense
