The pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces were in the air for more than 25 hours, covering a distance of more than 20,000 kilometers
Russian Tu-160 supersonic bombers (NATO reporting name of Blackjack) broke the world record for longest non-stop flight for this type of aircraft, Lieutenant-General Sergey Kobylash, the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Long-Range Aviation Commander, TASS reports.
"Two crews of the Long-Range Aviation have set a new record for distance and duration on Tu-160 supersonic strategic missile-carrying bombers. The pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces were in the air for more than 25 hours, covering a distance of more than 20,000 kilometers," Kobylash said adding that "nobody has flown this type of aircraft longer."
The previous record was set in 2010 by Tu-160 bombers that had been in the air for 24 hours 24 minutes.
According to the Defense Ministry, the two Tu-160 flew over the neutral waters of the central part of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Barents Seas. The missile-carrying bombers took off and landed at Engels airfield. The crew commanders were Major-General Oleg Pchela and Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Volkovitsky.
The ministry added that the Tu-160 bombers were refueled in the mid-air three times from six IL-78 tankers.
"The Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bombers were accompanied by Su-35S fighter jets along with foreign aircraft along certain sections of their route," the defense ministry said.
The Russian bombers’ flight was conducted in strict compliance with international airspace rules.
Photo: Ladislav Karpov/TASS, archive.
