OLENEGORSK (Murmansk region), August 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President and Supreme Commander of the country's armed forces Vladimir Putin watched a new long-range cruise missile be tested and guided the Tu-160 strategic bomber Tuesday.
The tests were carried out during the flight of a group of Tu-160 planes, with Putin on board the Pavel Taran.
"It was not just an ordinary flight. We tested a new missile," Putin told journalists after arriving here on the Kola Peninsula.
Russia Minister of Defense Sergei Ivanov said earlier that the four cruise missiles launched by the bombers hit the targets on the Pemboi shooting range outside Vorkuta (the northeast of European Russia).
Putin said the flight was not risky.
"Although the plane has not been formally adopted by the Air Forces, it is already in service. Besides, considering my post, I need to know and feel personally how it works. I enjoyed watching the pilots working. They were accurate, well-coordinated and highly professional - the way it must be in the Air Forces," he said
President Putin added that the crew commander had let him guide the aircraft. "It was a pleasant feeling, like flying in a dream," he said.
The president's flight on board the plane lasted for five hours after departing from Chkalovsky airport outside Moscow.
The president passed preflight preparation, medical examination and was instructed on safety measures and the ejection system before the flight.
The Pavel Taran performed at the 2003 Zhukovsky air show. Its wingspan is 54 meters, or half a soccer field.
The Tu-160 multimode strategic missile bomber was designed to hit land and sea targets from low and medium altitudes at subsonic speed and from high altitudes at supersonic speed, using strategic cruise missiles, short-range guided missiles and air bombs.
Its design is close to that of the American B-1B strategic bomber, but the Tu-160 has higher capabilities in terms of its take-off mass, mission load and performance.
The aircraft's weaponry is comprised of long, medium and short-range cruise missiles, air bombs and mines and located in two weapons bays. It weighs 22.5 metric tons.
