Russian supersonic bombers set world record for longest non-stop flight - Aerospace Forces

MOSCOW. KAZINFORM - Russian Tu-160 supersonic bombers (NATO reporting name of Blackjack) broke the world record for longest non-stop flight for this type of aircraft, Lieutenant-General Sergey Kobylash, the Russian Aerospace Forces’ Long-Range Aviation Commander, told reporters on Saturday, TASS reports.

«Two crews of the Long-Range Aviation have set a new record for distance and duration on Tu-160 supersonic strategic missile-carrying bombers. The pilots of the Russian Aerospace Forces were in the air for more than 25 hours, covering a distance of more than 20,000 kilometers,» Kobylash said adding that «nobody has flown this type of aircraft longer.»

The previous record was set in 2010 by Tu-160 bombers that had been in the air for 24 hours 24 minutes.

According to the Defense Ministry, the two Tu-160 flew over the neutral waters of the central part of the Arctic and Pacific Oceans as well as the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, Chukchi, and Barents Seas. The missile-carrying bombers took off and landed at Engels airfield. The crew commanders were Major-General Oleg Pchela and Lieutenant Colonel Sergei Volkovitsky.