Actuality September,6, 2007

It got about from unnamed sources of the military-industrial complex that Russian aircraft builders negotiate with one of the western companies about the construction of altitude planes M-55 to provide communication lines.

The name of the company-customer and presumable scope of supply are not given. This contract execution demands continuation of the planes’ production at the Smolensk aircraft plant.

The plane M-55 has been developed at the end of the 80th in interests of Department of Defence of Russia as the altitude strategic scout. There has been constructed four machines of this type in all, two of which have been lost in accidents. One of the remained machines has been converted into the plane of ecological monitoring of the Earth, having received its own name М-55 “Geophysics”.

The ceiling of М-55 exceeds 21 kilometer, the disposable load is 1500 kgs (3307 pound). The plane’s course speed is 740 kilometers, the flying range at a big height is 5000 kilometers. American strategic scout U-2/TR-1 is the analogue to M-55.