(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW - March 15, 2009:Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has proposed to Russia using a Venezuelan island for temporary hosting of Russian long-range aviation, a top-ranking Russian Air Force official said Saturday.
"There is such a proposal on the part of the Venezuelan president. Chavez proposed to us a whole island with an airfield that we can use for temporary basing of strategic bombers," said Maj.-Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, the chief of the long-range aviation staff. 
The Tupolev Tu-160 is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber designed by the Soviet Union.Some experts say that it is superior in configuration to the B-1 Lancer and significantly faster at altitude with a greater combat range and payload capacity.
Entered service in 1987 with the 184 Guards Bomber Regiment, based at Priluki, Ukraine, the Tu-160 was the last strategic bomber designed by the Soviet Union but remains in production, with at least 16 currently in service with the Russian Air Force.
Pilots of the Tu-160 call it the “White Swan”, due to its maneuverability and antiflash white finish.
Although several civil and military transport aircraft are bigger, the Tu-160 has the greatest total thrust, and the heaviest takeoff weight of any combat aircraft, and the highest top speed as well as one of the largest payloads of any current heavy bomber.
"If there is the relevant political decision, the island ... could be used by the Russian Air Force," Zhikharev told journalists.
He said the temporary basing opportunity could be used for air patrol missions.
In September 2008 two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack multi-mission strategic bombers arrived in Venezuela after a 13-hour flight over the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. There were no nuclear weapons on board the aircraft. After that, they carried out a patrol mission over the Caribbean.
The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theaters of operation.
The Tupolev Tu-160 is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber designed by the Soviet Union.Some experts say that it is superior in configuration to the B-1 Lancer and significantly faster at altitude with a greater combat range and payload capacity.
Entered service in 1987 with the 184 Guards Bomber Regiment, based at Priluki, Ukraine, the Tu-160 was the last strategic bomber designed by the Soviet Union but remains in production, with at least 16 currently in service with the Russian Air Force.
Pilots of the Tu-160 call it the “White Swan”, due to its maneuverability and antiflash white finish.
Although several civil and military transport aircraft are bigger, the Tu-160 has the greatest total thrust, and the heaviest takeoff weight of any combat aircraft, and the highest top speed as well as one of the largest payloads of any current heavy bomber.
"If there is the relevant political decision, the island ... could be used by the Russian Air Force," Zhikharev told journalists.
He said the temporary basing opportunity could be used for air patrol missions.
In September 2008 two Russian Tu-160 Blackjack multi-mission strategic bombers arrived in Venezuela after a 13-hour flight over the Arctic and Atlantic oceans. There were no nuclear weapons on board the aircraft. After that, they carried out a patrol mission over the Caribbean.
The Tu-160 Blackjack is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets with nuclear and conventional weapons deep in continental theaters of operation.
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