Russia receives second Tu-214PU-SBUS special-purpose aircraft.

The Russian Ministry of Defense yesterday received the second and final Tu-214PU-SBUS special-purpose aircraft-control point, the PJSC United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) unveiled on its Twitter account. 

A second Tu-214PU-SBUS aircraft entered service with the Russian Ministry of Defense
(Credit: UAC)

The first Tu-214PU-SBUS started operational service on March 26, 2018. "The main purpose of the modified Tu-214PU-SBUS is to provide additional communication capabilities to users," said UAC. The two aircraft are equipped with an onboard communication unit SBUS-214.

In November 2015, PJSC Tupolev signed a contract with UAC for the construction of two Tu-214PU-SBUS aircrafts. The final customer was an then an "unnamed state customer", which, as it became known at the time, was the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation. The contract was worth to 5.665 billion rubles (US$89 million).

As of today, 30 Tu-214 aircraft have been built at the Kazan Aviation Plant, while the total number of Tu-204/Tu-214 vehicles built in the USSR and Russia since 1989, together with prototypes, reaches 84 units.