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

[vostok]

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

Russian Tu-160 supersonic bomber
© Ladislav Karpov/TASS, archive


MOSCOW, September 19. /TASS/. 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.

"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.


The ministry added that the Tu-160 bombers were refueled in the mid-air three times from six IL-78 tankers.

"The Tu-160 strategic missile-carrying bombers were accompanied by Su-35S fighter jets along with foreign aircraft along certain sections of their route," the defense ministry said.

The Russian bombers’ flight was conducted in strict compliance with international airspace rules.

https://tass.com/defense/1202725

 

[Gomig-21]

Interesting. So it broke the previous record set by the same aircraft by less than 1 hour? Pretty wild.

I wonder if there is a bathroom in that aircraft? There was always a rumor that there is a toilet in the Su-34 bomber and it was circulating for many years since it first came out because of the unique, side by side seating of what appeared to be a fighter/bomber that was also designed to fly super long distances without stopping and drop its bombs and return. No one would ever confirm if it had a toilet but the rumors were always there since the "hump" of the cabin space behind the pilot seats also looked like it had enough head room to accommodate a crapper! lol. But I think eventually it came out that there wasn't a toilet.

Which brings me to this one, I guess. It would make sense if they had a little toilet cramped in somewhere for the pilots to relieve themselves in case they need to when they're stuck in that thing for 25 hours!

It certainly is a beautiful aircraft much like its almost identical sister in law, the B1B bomber.
I have no idea what those cities or locations they mentioned are, but it would be nice if at some point they showed the entire flight path this thing took.