MOSCOW, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- Russia's chief long-range jet bomber has flown for the first time since the entire fleet was grounded after a crash last year, the BBC reported Saturday.
Russian Channel One TV news showed two of the swing-wing aircraft, the largest bomber in the world, taking off from Engels Air Force Base in Saratov region on Friday.
Codenamed "Blackjack" by NATO, the supersonic Tupolev Tu-160 was designed during the Cold War to strike distant targets deep behind enemy lines with nuclear or conventional weapons.
Unlike most other Russian military aircraft, the Blackjack has not been sold abroad to other air forces.
In 1999-2000, Ukraine handed Russia its entire fleet of some eight Blackjacks, inherited after the break-up of the former Soviet Union as part of a debt repayment deal.
The long-range bombers are expected to take part in joint Russian-U.S. exercises over the North Atlantic in 2004.
During the period the fleet was grounded the planes received extensive equipment and flight systems upgrades, Russian officials said.
