A heavily upgraded Tu-160M strategic missile-carrying bomber performed its debut flight with new engines, the press office of the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) announced on Tuesday.

"At the aerodrome of the Kazan Aircraft Factory, a subsidiary of the Tupolev Company (part of the UAC within the state tech corporation Rostec), a heavily upgraded Tu-160M missile-carrying bomber with new serial-produced NK-32-02 engines performed its debut flight. The aircraft was piloted by the crew under the supervision of Anri Naskidyants. The flight proceeded at an altitude of 6,000 meters and lasted 2 hours and 20 minutes," the UAC said in a statement.

During the flight, all the bomber’s renewed aircraft systems and avionics installed in the course of its upgrade were checked and the operation of the new NK-32-02 engines was evaluated.

"According to the crew’s data, the flight proceeded in the normal mode and all the systems and equipment operated without a hitch," the UAC said.