Key Points and Summary – Russia’s PAK DA “Flatback” is billed as a sixth-generation successor to the Tu-95 and Tu-160, a stealthy flying-wing bomber built for stand-off conventional and nuclear strikes.
-But after years of shifting timelines, scarce public detail, and engine and funding hurdles, the program still looks stuck at mockups and prototypes.
PAK DA Bomber from Russia. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
PAK DA Bomber Russian Air Force. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Sanctions, supply-chain constraints, and the costs of the Ukraine war raise questions about whether Russia can field the microelectronics and cash needed for a networked stealth bomber.
-Even optimistic targets—first flight in 2025–26 and production in the early 2030s—may slip again. For now, it’s more concept art than a deployable aircraft.
-Bonus – We have included photos from a recent visit to a B-2A Spirit stealth bomber on display at the U.S. Air Force Museum. Ironic, as Russia is trying to build a stealth bomber, the U.S. Air Force already has one in a museum.
Russia’s PAK DA “Flatback” Bomber: Why It Still Hasn’t Flown
As is well known to anyone who pays attention to military aviation news, the United States of America, the People’s Republic of China, and the Russian Federation are the only three countries currently fielding operational 5th-generation stealth fighters.
It should come as no surprise, then, that this same trio of global powers is also trying to one-up each other in the realm of 6th Generation warbirds.
Not just fighter planes, but futuristic strategic stealth bombers as well.
America’s Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider already made its maiden flight on 10 November 2023, thus scoring some major bragging rights. China is currently developing the Xi’an H-20.
And then, there’s Russia’s PAK DA, which, like the aforementioned Su-75 fighter, may very well end up never getting off the ground, either figuratively or literally.
In fact, this plane looks like it is going nowhere pretty fast.
PAK DA Premise and Prospectus
The PAK DA, codenamed Poslannik (“Envoy”) by the Russians and bestowed by NATO with the reporting name “Flatback,” is being designed by Tupolev (which was previously the standalone Tupolev Design Bureau during the Soviet era but is now a subsidiary of United Aircraft Corporation [UAC]) as the 6th Generation successor to that firm’s Cold War-vintage Tu-95 “Bear” and Tu-160 “Blackjack” bombers. (The turboprop-driven “Bear” and the supersonic jet-powered “Blackjack” made their respective operational debuts in 1956 and April 1987.)
On 3 September 2009, Tupolev was awarded a three-year research and development (R&D) contract by the Russian Ministry of Defence.Construction of the prototype reportedly began at the Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO) facility circa 2014; one full-scale mockup of the PAK DA and perhaps several smaller models for wind tunnel testing have reportedly been built thus far. However, to be frank, information on this new bomber is scarce, to say the least.
As is true of the B-21 (and the B-2 Spirit that preceded it) and, evidently, the H-20, the “Envoy” has been designed as a flying wing with no vertical stabilizers to minimize its radar cross-section.
The warbird’s forte will be low observability, stand-off attack capability (with both conventional and nuclear payloads), and network-centric warfare.
Presumed Technical Specifications and Vital Stats
Though exact figures remain speculative due to the secretive nature of the PAK DA program, the War Wings Daily website furnishes us with the following educated guesswork:
Wingspan: Over 170 feet (52 meters)
Powerplant: 2 x Kuznetsov NK-32-02 derivative engines
Speed: Below Mach 1
Combat Range: Over 9,300 miles (15,000 km)
Armament: Internal bay payload capacity of 30 tons, including cruise missiles
PAK DA “Problemy” (Problems)
The PAK DA “Flatback” was initially supposed to make its maiden flight in 2019, but funding reallocations and changes in engine development schedules put the kibosh on that plan.
Current projections indicate a maiden flight in prototype form in 2025 or 2026, with serial production expected to commence between 2030 and 2032.
However, even those revised forecasts may be overly optimistic.
As military technology expert Maya Carlin reports, “While Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Maturov has said ‘there is no talk of using foreign parts in a project of this type,’ it remains to be seen whether Western Sanctions due to the ongoing war in Ukraine will have an impact on the development of the new bomber…’Clearly, Russia wants the PAK DA. However, I have no idea how they could afford it. Further, I would also add they don’t have the microchips needed to make this work or technology due to sanctions related to the Ukraine war. For now, the PAK DA, I would argue, is just a dream,” explained a former aviation expert who is retired from a major U.S. defense contractor.’”
In 2 Words: Flying Nowhere
With US President Donald J. Trump threatening Russia with 100% secondary tariffs if Vladimir Putin continues to be recalcitrant about agreeing to a peace deal with Ukraine, and the US Senator Lindsey Graham warning of a “500% tariff ‘sledgehammer’” against Russia’s BRICS trading partners China and India for the same reason, that could spell an additional cash crunch that would put an even bigger damper on the financial viability of the PAK DA program.
Vremya pocaget (“Time will tell”).
Forget the PAK DA: The Air Force Has a B-2 Bomber in Their Museum (Our Photo Essay)
Really Close Up of B-2 Bomber in Dayton, Ohio Museum. Image Credit: National Security Journal Image.
B-2 Bomber Really Close Up National Security Journal Photo
B-2 Spirit Stealth Bomber July 2025. Image Credit: National Security Journal.
B-2 Bomber at USAF Museum National Security Journal Image. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author: Christian D. Orr, Defense Expert
Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor. He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU).
doyle-3
July 27, 2025 at 1:19 pm
Forget flying wing bombers.
The first flying wing bomber was the horten 229 which took to the skies way back in 1945.
So to leapfrog the super duper B-21, Russia needs to cooperate with china to build spacebombers.
Manned and unmanned spacebombers. Fleets of them.
To……forestall the coming of ww3.
Everett
July 28, 2025 at 4:59 pm
Lol I have two words to describe this aircraft, more junk.
Carey Johnson
July 28, 2025 at 5:21 pm
Ameican meat
Warren
July 28, 2025 at 6:53 pm
Really Brother recalcitrant??? I know what it means but how many “real” people would know the definition of that word , c’mon man!
D. Raymer
July 29, 2025 at 1:04 am
I find your first paragraph misleading. Yes, Only three nations the United States, China, and Russia, have domestically developed and deployed operational fifth-generation stealth fighters.
However, several other countries, including the United Kingdom, field such aircraft through deep industrial partnerships or international procurement. The UK, for instance, not only operates the F-35 but manufactures roughly 15% of its components, making it a strategic co-builder as well as an operator.
Fake Bomber
July 29, 2025 at 2:58 am
I would suggest “completely imaginary” as two words to sum up any Russian future-tech.
Corruption alone is going to mean that billions of rubles just end up in the pockets of defense oligarchs.
If they’re willing to send soldiers to the front with literal cardboard in their plate-carriers and selling the actual armour plates, you can bet that they’ll be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of defense R&D contracts that don’t even have to produce results before they squirrel the funds away into their own Swiss accounts and flee the country.
justin campbell
July 29, 2025 at 8:05 am
My God, Hubris is a powerful drug!
Leroy Fake
July 30, 2025 at 1:34 pm
Bring it on Comrad.
Don
July 30, 2025 at 7:31 pm
Just two words? Really?
Ernie Summers
August 2, 2025 at 8:59 pm
Really JUNK!
Robert Robinson
August 4, 2025 at 8:54 am
Really i find it very dangerous to not take Russian technology especially when it comes to what theyre best at which is actually not only when speaking on a national scale but international. Russia may have difficulties procuring funds for many of their projects but it doesnt mean they dont have the know how. Remember Russia is one of the only countries with members of its government who still salivate and would be more than happy to find or force other private investors from their speed dial list of fellow millionaire oligarchs to donate money to such things if need be. Russia also has spent over half a century learning how to make American sanctions and tariffs not mean a thing to their economy. They have over a quarter of the world’s population dying to buy energy off them in just two countries to the south no matter what we do to prevent them from developing high tech equipment. The technology they already have is dangerous very dangerous and we have found no means of preventing it from being destructive in war these things are merely their sideprojects meant to divert gaze from their true weapons and its working.