Two Russian Tu-160 Strategic Bombers Set A New World Record For Range And Duration Of Non-Stop Flight

Russia’s Tu-160 strategic bomber. © Sputnik / Vladimir Astapkovich

RT: 25 hours & 20,000km! Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers set new WORLD RECORD for range & duration of non-stop flight

A pair of Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers have spent more than 25 hours in the air and covered over 20,000km, setting a new world record for non-stop flight range, and duration, for this type of aircraft, it has been revealed.

The Defense Ministry, in Moscow, made the announcement on Saturday with Sergey Kobylash, the commander of Russia’s long-range aviation service, saying that “nobody has flown this type of aircraft longer.”

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WNU Editor: It is an impressive feat that was accomplished by having an escort of six Il-78 tanker planes. On a side note. According to American experts there is one draw-back for this bomber .... Fastest, Largest, Heaviest Bomber Ever Built – Russian Tu-160 Has One ‘Chink In Its Armour’ – US Experts (Eurasian Times).

Russia's Tu-160 Bomber Has A New Lease On Life

National Interest: Russia's Tu-160: The Biggest, Fastest and Heaviest Bomber Ever to Fly

Fastest bomber ever built. The largest bomber ever built. Heaviest bomber ever built. All of these monikers refer to the Tupelov Tu-160 “White Swan” (NATO reporting name “Blackjack”), a legacy Soviet airframe that has of late gotten a new lease on life.

The Tu-160 is outwardly somewhat similar to the American Rockwell B-1 Lancer which spurred its development. Both have variable-sweep wings, both are supersonic. However, that is where the similarities end.

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WNU Editor: Like the U.S. Air Force's B-52, Russia's Tu-160 is going to be around for a while.

Russian Bombers Could Be Deployed To Cuba

Tu-160

From The Washington Post:

MOSCOW, July 21 -- Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons could be deployed to Cuba in response to U.S. plans to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, a Russian newspaper reported Monday, citing an unnamed senior Russian air force official.

The report in Izvestia, which could not be confirmed, prompted memories of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war after Nikita Khrushchev put nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island. The weapons were eventually withdrawn in an apparent Soviet climb-down, but President John F. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report Monday, but did not deny it. Izvestia is often a forum for strategic leaks by Kremlin and other officials.

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More News On Russian Bombers Being Stationed In Cuba

Russian military scoffs at Cuba refuelling report -- Reuters
Russia To Station Bombers In Cuba -- RTT News
Russian military "considering stationing bombers on Cuba" -- M & C
Putin to Meet Bush in Beijing After Missile Warning (Update1) -- Bloomberg
Russia's bombers fancy Cuba -- KP.RU(Russia)

My Comment: This is an intriguing story, but it is all bluff. The Russian military may be able to fly a plane or two to Cuba ..... but to keep a fleet of bombers there, service them, maintain them, keep soldiers there to protect the base .... they do not have the resources nor manpower to do this.

If Russia was able to do this, the U.S. government, the Pentagon, Congress, pundits .... everything will be crawling out of the woodwork condemning this move by Russia. But all I hear is chirping from the crickets.