Bomber Bits

The Russian MoD (Russian link) reported on 8/27/07 that the Air Force is upgrading its Tu-22M3 bombers.

"The Russian Air Force is currently undertaking a deep modernization of the Tu-22M3 long-range bomber...

"Tu-22M3 long-range bombers are designed to employ missiles as well as conventional bombs. But precise bombing requires new targeting equipment. As such, the modernization of the targeting equipment, the missile employment equipment and a deep modernization of these aircraft is underway."

In a separate report (Russian link) on the same day, it was announced that Russian bombers do not carry any weapons during their patrols.

"Only training munitions are aboard our aircraft, allowing us to carry out all of the training objectives. We are conducting air patrols, not combat patrols."

Another quote from the same report:

"Only in the last few months, flight activity has increased 2.5-3 times. This has made it possible to reduce the time required to prepare flight commanders. The average commander age is 35-36 years old, the average flight time amounts to 80 hours per year - and this is considering the current year is not yet over."