An aircraft factory in Kazan is expected to become the birthplace of a new generation of Russian Tu-160 long-range supersonic bomber aircraft known throughout the world as the White Swan.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin has confirmed that the assembly of the new supersonic heavy strategic bombers will be taking place at an aircraft factory in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan.

According to Rogozin, the manufacturing process itself will be handled by the Kazan Aircraft Production Association, as the plant has already managed to master all the required production techniques like electron beam welding of titanium.

Earlier Yuri Slyusar, chief of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), announced that the UAC plans to manufacture up to 50 upgraded Tu-160M2 strategic bombers from 2022.

The Tu-160 is a supersonic variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber, the largest and heaviest Mach 2+ supersonic aircraft ever built and probably the fastest bomber aircraft currently in use. The warplane, dubbed ‘White Swan’ by Russian pilots and referred to as ‘Blackjack’ by NATO forces, is capable of engaging ground targets around the globe with both conventional and nuclear weapons.