Key Points – Russia’s Tu-160 “White Swan” supersonic bomber, a late Soviet-era design, has re-entered production as the modernized Tu-160M, serving as a crucial stopgap due to significant delays in the next-generation PAK DA stealth bomber program.
-The Tu-160M features substantial internal upgrades, including new engines for improved range and efficiency, updated avionics, and modern radar systems, despite its outward similarity to older models.
-The revival of this Cold War platform, with its long range and high payload capacity, underscores Russia’s need for a capable strategic bomber as the Ukraine war strains resources and the PAK DA’s future remains uncertain.
Tu-160M: The Soviet-era Tu-160 Lives on—Thanks to Modernization
Problems with Russia’s next-generation stealth bomber means that the White Swan got a new and unexpected lease on life as one of Moscow’s stop-gap bombers.
The Tu-160 debuted with the Soviet Air Force in the latter part of the 1980s and took the nickname “White Swan.” It was the last strategic bomber built by and for the Soviet Union. Thanks to its swing-wing design, the Tu-160 boasted a significant range and very high top speed.
Though that jet bomber is very much a product of the Cold War, the platform has re-entered production relatively recently thanks to a raft of deep updates that make the White Swan updated and, the Kremlin hopes, combat-ready for the modern era.
Outwardly, the updated Tu-160M is similar to its older predecessors. But that exterior hides significant internal changes. Thanks to updated avionics, radar, and modern replacement jet engines, the Tu-160M is a fundamentally different platform. Those engine upgrades are especially useful to Russia, given that country’s vast open spaces and the distances that separate towns and borders.
Green Light and Production is On
The Tu-160 fell victim to the decidedly abrupt end to Cold War hostilities and the subsequent drawdowns of the Warsaw Pact and NATO country defense budgets following the collapse of the Soviet Union. When restarting the Tu-160 production lines, the jet bombers had to be carefully studied, as a dearth of institutional knowledge about the aircraft hindered their renewed production.
“The program for upgrading the Tu-160 was launched under the president’s personal decision,” a press release from Tass, one of Russia’s state-controlled news agencies, once explained.
“Under the government contract concluded between the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Tupolev design bureau, the design documentation for the Tu-160M aircraft was fully digitized within a short period of time, the technique of vacuum welding of titanium products restored, and the production of airframe units was resumed. Rostec’s leading industrial enterprises in the field of metallurgy, aircraft design, engineering and instrument making revitalized their cooperation.”
But why, one might ask, would Russia resurrect an adequate, though older, Soviet bomber design? Why not build a more modernized bomber from the ground up? Well, the reality was Russia had. Moscow’s first stealthy bomber, the PAK DA, is still theoretically in development but is years behind its planned rollout.
Outwardly not so different from the American B-2 and B-21 Raider bombers, the PAK DA also promises to be a stealthy strategic bomber with elements of the flying wing design. It could perhaps replace a number of legacy bombers in much the same fashion as the B-21 Raider, which will slowly but firmly supplant and, indeed, replace the B-1B Lancer and B-2 Spirit bombers.
A Slow—but Stealthy—Option
Though not a stealthy jet by any stretch of the imagination, the Tu-160 is thought to have a relatively small radar cross-section for a platform of its size thanks to some attention paid to stealth coatings and internally stored weapons—but these, given the Tu-160’s initial design as a penetrating bomber capable of dropping both nuclear and conventional weapons, were necessary considerations.
However, for a truly fifth-generation stealth aircraft, an entirely different bomber would be necessary: Russia’s PAK DA.
Presumably, Russia’s aspirations for its stealth bombers overlap with those of the United States, such as the Spirit mentioned above and Raider bombers. Like those stealthy jets, Russia would like its own PAK DA to operate unnoticed through even the most heavily defended airspace and manage to fire or drop a wide variety of munitions. Though the PAK DA may be more concerned with Russia’s near-abroad or potential future application in Europe or Asia, that bomber may lack the range of the B-2 and B-21 globetrotters.
Though former projections place the PAK DA’s entry into Russian service in the middle of this decade, that date has been pushed back by five years, if not longer. Thanks to Russia’s ongoing prosecution of the war in Ukraine and the redirection of significant parts of the Russian economy to support that—the war footing of the economy, the prioritization of supporting land warfare over sea and air, to name a few reasons—have placed a damper on the stealthy bomber program.
Tu-160M: What Now?
Given the increasing reliance that Russia seems to be poaching on the Tu-160M updated White Swan jet bomber, it would appear to be a safe bet that this bomber will be one of Moscow’s workhorses for many years yet to come—particularly if the newer generation of stealthy bomber aircraft remain delayed or over-budget.
The PAK DA’s ultimate future is unclear, but with a tighter focus on prosecuting the war in Ukraine rather than investing in pricey bombers, it is not particularly bright.
About the Author: Caleb Larson
Caleb Larson is an American multiformat journalist based in Berlin, Germany. His work covers the intersection of conflict and society, focusing on American foreign policy and European security. He has reported from Germany, Russia, and the United States. Most recently, he covered the war in Ukraine, reporting extensively on the war’s shifting battle lines from Donbas and writing on the war’s civilian and humanitarian toll. Previously, he worked as a Defense Reporter for POLITICO Europe. You can follow his latest work on X.
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