MOSCOW, August 30. /TASS/. A Tu-22M3 missile bomber has been transferred to the Russian Defense Ministry after repair, the press service of the Tupolev aerospace and defense company said in a statement on Friday.
"Tupolev, which is part of the United Aircraft Corporation, reports about the transfer of another Tu-22M3 to the Russian Aerospace Force’s long-range aviation after major overhaul," says the report.
"After being transferred to the customer, the aircraft flew to its base," the report says.
The company added that the bomber had been repaired at the Kazan Aviation Factory, and "all land and flight tests were successfully carried out onboard the plane" at the factory's flight-test base.
The long-range supersonic Tu-22M3 bomber (Backfire-C by NATO classification) is designed to strike at ground and sea targets with missiles and bombs, including antiship Kh-22 (AS-4 Kitchen) missiles. The aircraft has a variable sweep wing. The maximum takeoff weight is 124 tons, the length is 42.46 meters. The wing span at 20 degrees is 34.28 meters and at 65 degrees, 27.7 meters. The maximum speed is 2,000 km/h, the tactical range is 2,200 km, and the practical ceiling is 14,000 meters.