Russia Could Deploy Unmanned Bomber After 2040

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Russian Air Force Approves New Bomber Design – Commander

MOSCOW, April 11 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Air Force has approved the conceptual design and specification of its future PAK-DA strategic bomber, paving the way for development of components for the aircraft, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said Thursday.

"The development of the aircraft is going as planned. The outline of its design and characteristics has been approved and all relevant documents have been signed allowing the industry to start the development of systems for this plane," Bondarev said at a meeting with Russian lawmakers.

The PAK-DA (meaning future long-range aircraft) project has been in the works for several years but was given the formal go-ahead by the Russian leadership last year. It is due to replace Russia's aging fleet of 63 Tupolev Tu-95MS Bear and 13 Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers in the next decade.

According to recent reports in the Russian media, citing defense ministry sources, the Tupolev design bureau has won the PAK-DA development tender with its concept for a subsonic aircraft with a "flying wing" shape which provides superior "stealth capabilities."

The Defense Ministry insisted that the PAK-DA should be equipped with advanced electronic warfare systems and armed with new nuclear-capable long-range cruise missiles in addition to a veriety of high-precision conventional weapons.

The new bomber is expected to go in production by 2020 and will be built at a new aircraft assembly line at Russia's Kazan plant (KAPO), according to defense ministry officials. The same plant previously built the Tu-95MS and Tu-160.

http://en.ria.ru/military_news/20130411/180586959.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

New Russian bomber taking shape

March 11, 2013The Voice of Russia

The development of the Russian Perspective Aviation Complex of Long-Range Aviation (PAK DA) which is to replace Tupolev-95MC and Tupolev-22M3 planes, except the latest Tupolev-160, in the 2020s-2030s is being discussed in the press again.

New airborne command posts for Russian armed forces

In October 2012, the Russian Ministry of Defense and United Aircraft Corporation signed a 140-billion-ruble ($4.6 billion) contract to deliver 39 aircraft to the country's armed forces.

According to some reports, the Russian Air Force have already chosen the shape of the new plane. It is to be a small inconspicuous long-distance subsonic plane. The media report that the development of the new plane is being carried out by the Tupolev Design Bureau.

Some information published by the media raises experts' doubts. First of all, many experts do not believe that the Tupolev Design Bureau is capable of independently developing such a large-scale project. In this connection it is believed that one of the participants in the project, if not the chief developer, will be the Sukhoi Design Bureau. It has enough experience in designing heavy planes, though it has never designed long-distance bombers.

It is believed that the PAK DA project could be based on the results obtained while making the T-50 fifth-generation fighter.

It is not the ultimate truth either that the speed of the new plane would not exceed the speed of the sound. One should take it into consideration that the prospective bomber is not only to replace the strategic Tupolev-95 but also Tupolev-22M long-distance bombers one of whose tasks is fighting against the enemy's Navy. In this case supersonic speeds are essential.

Russia has inherited the USSR's huge experience in the development and operation of the Air Force long-distance supersonic aircraft and naval missile-carrying supersonic aircraft. A platform for long-distance flights at maximum supersonic speeds could also be useful for reconnaissance and targeting in the Russian Navy. The Navy always stakes on the fire power of rocket launchers and submarines. For these vessels an outside firing pointer is of paramount importance.

Hard to say how much this reasoning coincides with the train of thought of the Russian Defence Ministry or the United Aircraft-Building Corporation. However, it is not too long to wait now, as the new aircraft is to rise into the sky before the end of this decade.

http://rbth.asia/news/2013/03/11/new_russian_bomber_taking_shape_45013.html

[jurrien visser (JuVi op Twitter)]

Russia Could Deploy Unmanned Bomber After 2040

MOSCOW, August 2 (RIA Novosti)

Russia could deploy a "sixth-generation" pilotless strategic bomber aircraft after 2040, Long-Range Aviation Commander Lt . Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev said on Thursday.

"That could be around 2040-2050," Zhikharev said.

Russia's Tupolev design bureau is currently developing a new-generation strategic bomber aircraft, PAK DA, due to be in service around 2025. The new aircraft will replace the existing fleet of Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3 bombers.

The future development of Russia's long-range aviation in Russia has been the subject of some debate in recent months.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said in June he was in favor of development of the PAK DA bomber project for the air force, just hours after saying the project was unnecessary, in apparent contravention of  President Putin's call a week before for domestic aerospace industry to develop just such an aircraft.

Rogozin, who has special responsibility for the military-industrial complex, had previously insisted Russia had no need to develop a new long-range bomber to replace its existing fleet.

"These aircraft will not get anywhere. Not ours, not theirs," Rogozin said in an interview with Izvestia in June.

"I'm ready to insist on my point of view," Rogozin said later in June on his Twitter blog. "With modern air defense systems, these targets will be destroyed on the way," he said.

In May, Rogozin called on Russia's defense industry to develop hypersonic air-breathing weapons as a future strike system. He cited American development work in the X-51, Falcon, HiFire and HyFly programs as examples of what he described as the perspective threat posed by U.S. hypersonic development work.

At present only Russia and the United States operate intercontinental range bombers. Most other nuclear-capable nations rely solely on intercontinental ballistic missiles based on submarines or in land-based silos, or cruise missiles.

Russia's strategic air forces operate a total of 63 Tu-95MS and 13 Tu-160 bombers.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120802/174929681.html