Article Posted on : - Jan 20, 2010

A file photo of Tu-95MS at Engels Air Force Base.

MOSCOW (BNS): Russia successfully tested its two strategic bombers ‘Tu-95MS’ routine patrol flight over the Arctic Ocean, a media report said.

"Two turboprop Tu-95 MS bombers, which took off from Engels Airbase, have successfully completed air patrol tasks," RIA Novosti quoted Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik as saying.

The patrol lasted for 14 hours in the sky. Six NATO aircraft - four F-16 fighters from the Norwegian Air Force and two Tornado fighters from Royal Air Force shadowed the bombers performance, as reported.

Russia resumed strategic bomber patrol flights over the Pacific, Atlantic, and Arctic oceans in August 2007, following an order from then-president Vladimir Putin, it said.