Special USSR Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack 30x20-inch Relic Display

Special one-of-a-kind 30x20-inch wall-hanging relic display pairing this rare and interesting Tu-160 well-marked titanium access hatch and cockpit warning light with Ron Cole's original artwork of this aircraft.  The Mach 2+ ‘Blackjack’ strategic bomber entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1987, shortly before the dissolution of the USSR. Built in limited numbers, the Tu-160 established 78 world records recognized by the FAI - 44 of which it still holds. Often believed to be a copy of the Rockwell B-1, the Tu-160 is actually more comparable to the experimental XB-70 Mach 2+ aircraft - larger and faster than the B-1. The fragment, at right, was salvaged from a ‘Blackjack’ in post-USSR Ukrainian Air Force service that was broken up in accordance with the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act. Only 28 Tu-160s entered service, and many have been destroyed since production ended with the fall of the Soviet Union. When Ukraine gained its independence, most of the Soviet Tu-