page_title: Tupolev Tu-160
section_title: Operational history
hierarchical_section_title: Tupolev Tu-160 / Operational history
caption_attribution_description: Самолёт Ту-160 бортовой номер 02 «Василий Решетников» на авиабазе Энгельс
context_page_description: The Tupolev Tu-160 is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. It is the largest and heaviest Mach 2+ supersonic military aircraft ever built and next to the experimental XB-70 Valkyrie in overall length. It is the largest and heaviest combat aircraft, the fastest bomber now in use and the largest and heaviest variable-sweep wing airplane ever flown.
  Entering service in 1987, the Tu-160 was the last strategic bomber designed for the Soviet Union. As of 2016, the Russian Air Force's Long Range Aviation branch has at least 16 aircraft in service. The Tu-160 active fleet has been undergoing upgrades to electronics systems since the early 2000s. The Tu-160M modernization programme has begun with the first updated aircraft delivered in December 2014.
context_section_description: In April 1987, the Tu-160 entered operational service with the 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment located at Pryluky Air Base, Ukrainian SSR. The regiment previously operating Tu-16 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers became the first unit that received the Tu-160. Squadron deployments to Long Range Aviation began the same month, prior to the Tu-160's first public appearance in a parade in 1989. In 1989 and 1990, a total of 44 world speed flight records in its weight class were set. In January 1992, Boris Yeltsin decided to stop the Tu-160's serial production with 35 aircraft being built at the time. Russia has also unilaterally suspended flights of strategic aviation in remote regions of the world.
  A total of 19 Tu-160s were stationed inside the newly independent Ukraine during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 25 August 1991, the Ukrainian parliament decreed that the new nation would take control of all military units on its territory; a Defence Ministry was created that same day. By the mid-1990s, the Pryluky regiment had lost its value as a combat unit; 19 Tu-160s were effectively grounded due to a lack of technical support and spare parts. Ukraine considered the Tu-160s to be a bargaining chip in economic negotiations with Russia and of limited value from a military standpoint. Discussions over the Tu-160s were lengthy due to price disagreements. While Russian experts, who examined the aircraft at the Pryluky Air Base in 1993 and 1996, assessed their technical condition as good, the US$3 billion price proposed by Ukraine was considered by Russians as unacceptable. In April 1998, due to the stalled negotiations, Ukraine decided to commence scrapping the aircraft under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement. In November, the first Tu-160 was deconstructed at Pryluky.
  In April 1999, immediately after NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia, Russia resumed talks with Ukraine about strategic bombers, proposing to purchase eight Tu-160 and three Tu-95MS bombers manufactured in 1991 (those in the best technical condition), as well as 575 Kh-55SM cruise missiles. An agreement was reached and a US$285 million contract was signed, the value of which was deducted from Ukraine's debt for natural gas. On 20 October 1999, a group of Russian military experts went to Ukraine to prepare the aircraft for the flight to Engels-2 air base. The first two aircraft (a Tu-160 and a Tu-95MS) departed Pryluky on 5 November. During the following months, seven other Tu-160s flew to Engels-2, with the last two Tu-95MSs arriving on 21 February 2001.
  Along with the purchase of Ukrainian aircraft, Russia sought other ways of rebuilding the fleet at Engels-2. In June 1999, the Russian Defence Ministry and Kazan Aircraft Production Association signed a contract for a delivery of a single, almost complete bomber. The aircraft was the second aircraft in the eighth production batch and it arrived at Engels-2 on 10 September. It was commissioned into service on 5 May 2000 and named Aleksandr Molodchiy. The unit operating the fleet from Engels-2 was the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment which was formed up in early 1992 and received six aircraft by 1994. By the end of February 2001, the fleet stood at 15 with the addition of the eight aircraft from Ukraine and the new-build. In 2002, Russian Defence Ministry and KAPO reached an agreement on modernization of the 15 aircraft.
  The Russia's Air Force fleet was reduced to 14 due to the crash of the Mikhail Gromov during flight trials of a replacement engine on 18 September 2003.
  On 22 April 2006, then commander of the Long-Range Aviation Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov reported a pair of Tu-160 bombers flew undetected through a US-controlled sector during a military exercise in the Arctic.
  On 5 July 2006, a Tu-160 named Valentin Bliznyuk entered service with the Russian Air Force after completion of its overhaul, bringing the total number back to 15. Built in 1986, it previously served as a test aircraft at Tupolev Design Bureau. It was named after Valentin Bliznyuk, the chief designer of the Tu-160.
  On 1
caption: Tu-160 Vasily Reshetnikov at the Engels-2 air base
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 20D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop 7.0", "Image DateTime": "2007:08:20 15:48:52", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "212", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "994", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "1889", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/320", "EXIF FNumber": "14", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:08:19 08:59:48", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:08:19 08:59:48", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "272693/32768", "EXIF ApertureValue": "249519/32768", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "25", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "2500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "638", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "233600/59", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "233600/59", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}