Rare video shows Russian Air Force Tu-160 Blackjack bombers activity in the Arctic

June 21, 2015 Military Aviation
David Cenciotti

Interesting footage from aboard Russian Tu-160s bombers over the Arctic.

The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber.

The Russian Air Force operates a dozen of Tupolevs of this type; only 5 examples are combat capable, one of those has been modernized since it entered active service.

The following video shows some interesting scenes of the Blackjacks operating in the Arctic region: takeoff, formation flying at low and high altitude, and some really cool cockpit footage.

In 2013 two Tu-160s deployed to Venezuela and Nicaragua after a 13-hour flight across the Pacific. On their 15-hour return flight to Engels airbase, in Russia, that included aerial refueling by Il-78 tankers over the Norwegian Sea, the two Blackjacks entered Colombian airspace and were intercepted and escorted by Colombian Air Force Kfir fighter planes for 5 minutes.

H/T Lasse Holmstrom for the heads up

 

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About David Cenciotti
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David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.

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7 Comments

    • They can actually deploy 1. Just one alone, with the right weapons load, could level entire cities let alone countries.

  3. All of them are combat capable, not just 5. Not sure where this information was taken from…

    The takeoff footage is very obviously Engels airbase, nowhere near the Arctic. Most of the footage with the ground visible also clearly shows towns and land plots, which is also not in the Arctic.

  4. Many russian military planes are not operational due to budgetary constraints.

  5. Youtube account terminated. I guess the US govt is still hot to downlplay Russian success in Syria. Nice to know we get propaganda the same as other nations ;’)

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