A Russian Tu-160 bomber flies past during the Belarus Independence Day military parade in Minsk, Belarus, July 3, 2019. (Xinhua/Wei Zhongjie

 Russia has finished assembling its first modernized Tu-160M strategic bomber and will test it soon, local media reported on Thursday.

The first deeply modernized Tu-160M strategic missile-carrying bomber was transferred from production workshops to the flight test station of the Kazan Aviation Enterprise for factory ground and flight tests on Thursday, TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies reported.

The upgraded Tu-160M includes new flight and navigation equipment, airborne communications system, an automated control system, a radar station, and an electronic warfare system.

On Monday, Interfax news agency reported that the first upgraded Tu-160M would be handed over to the Russian Defense Ministry at the end of 2021.