Five Tu-160 strategic bombers and nine Tu-22M3 aircraft will be returned to the Russian air forces after being upgraded, Interfax-AVN reports with reference to Commander-in-Chief of the Russian air forces, Colonel General Viktor Bondarev.

“Today I must admit that Kazan Aviation Plant named after S.P. Gorbunov (KAPO) has reached the projected output and all the overhauled aircraft will be delivered to us on time. Moreover, two Tu-22M3 will be handed over to the air forces ahead of schedule in September (instead of October). We will take delivery of a total of five upgraded Tu-160 jets and nine Tu-22M3s,” Bondarev said. 

He also noted that KAPO is able to upgrade the aircraft by efforts of Russian enterprises without using a lot of foreign-produced components. “We are cooperating with Russian enterprises and we hope that soon all the components will be manufactured in Russia. Today we have no problems related to phasing out imports in the segment of strategic bombers,” the Commander-in-Chief noted.