Dave Majumdar
Like the original Tu-160—which is capable of speeds of greater the Mach 2.0—the new Blackjack is designed primarily as a cruise missile carrier that would launch its nuclear payload from standoff ranges.
New production versions of Russia’s Tu-160M2 Blackjack supersonic strategic bomber are scheduled to enter production in 2022. The Russian Air Force is expected to order between 30 and 50 of the new version of the venerable Soviet-era cruise missile carrier. The original Tu-160 was the Soviet Union’s last strategic bomber program before its 1991 collapse.
http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-new-tu-160-will-carry-nuclear-cruise-missiles-should-22997
