Article Posted on : - Jun 10, 2010

Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers.

MOSCOW (BNS): Two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers Thursday carried out a record-breaking 23-hour patrol with a planned flight range of 18,000 kilometers, an Air Force spokesman said.

"This mission was the second maximum range flight ever conducted by this type of aircraft. A Tu-160 carried out a similar mission last year and stayed in the air for 21 hours," RIA Novosti quoting Lt. Col. Vladimir Drik said.

"The current mission set a record exceeding the duration of the previous flight by two hours, managing around 23 hours with a range of 18,000 kilometers," he said.

The bombers practiced instrumental flight and carried out two in-flight refuelings from Il-78 aerial tankers while flying along the Russian borders and over neutral waters in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.

The planes landed at their base in Engels in the Volga region at 10.00 Moscow time (08.00 GMT), according to the report.

The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theaters of operation.