A Soviet long-range supersonic missile-carrying bomber with variable sweep wings, the Tu-22M3, crashed in the Irkutsk region. The cause of the accident, according to preliminary data, was a technical malfunction, the Russian Ministry of Defense said.
The search and rescue team that arrived at the scene is evacuating the crew members to the home airfield. The plane crashed in a deserted area. There is no destruction on the ground.
The crew of four ejected, one pilot died as a result of landing. According to the ministry, the plane crashed during a scheduled flight.
The deeply modernized Tu-22M3M missile-carrying bomber was created in 2018 as part of a large-scale program to modernize long-range and strategic aviation complexes.
The missile carrier's armament includes the Kinzhal hypersonic missile system, a twin-barreled GSh-23L 23 mm caliber cannon, free-fall naval mines, or various types of aerial bombs. The missiles are located in the fuselage compartment and on pylons under the fixed part of the wing.
Earlier, www1.ru reported that the silent Eleron-7 reconnaissance drone with a high-definition camera has been delivered to the military
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