The Russians have landed the world’s biggest military aircraft in South Africa, the Tupolev Tu-160 “Blackjack” bomber, in a rare display of cooperation between the defense forces of the two countries.
The two bombers, which are capable of launching nuclear missiles, are the first to ever land in Africa and will be escorted by fighter jets from the South African Air Force when they touch down at the Waterkloof air base in Tshwane, the South African National Defence Force said in a statement. The bombers will arrive at around 4 p.m. and a number of other Russian military aircraft will also land at the site. The bombers had initially been scheduled to land earlier.
“The military-to-military relations between the two countries are not solely built on struggle politics but rather on fostering mutually beneficial partnerships based on common interests,” the SANDF said. Russia’s defense ministry put out a similar statement.
The arrival of the bombers in Africa’s most industrialized nation coincides with Russian President Vladimir Putin hosting an Africa summit this week, the first such event to be organized by Russia. The nation is competing with China and the U.S. for influence in Africa.
It sort of reminds me of a California Condor. Big, powerful, and intimidating. It would be sort of scary seeing that on short final in New Orleans lol.
Someones playing the chess board. I can see more U.S. envoys in the future for sure maybe even an F-35 contract to seal deals. Might be a good strategic move if we end up losing Turkey due to their peaking vesting in other assets.
The 2 aircraft are completely different, they are designed for different roles. The B-1B is optimized for low altitude penetration, while the TU-160 is intended for nuclear strike capability. The TU-160 is thus larger and heavier to fit this role of carrying nuclear strike cruise missiles, as well as being faster with a top speed of 2.05. I don’t get where you guys get this perception that everything that is in somewhat similar aerodynamic design is a copy of the other. Might as well run off and start calling the Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8 and Convair 880 copies of each other. They are fundamentally different aircraft…
