The construction of 50 new Tu-160M Blackjack strategic bombers was decided on by the Russian government last April. According to the Russian news agency Itar-Tass,
“…the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and the Minister of Defence have taken a decision on reviving production of the Tu-160M Blackjack aircraft”.
As the news agency noted, Russian Defense Minister, Sergey Shoigu, ordered the examination of resuming the production of Tu-160 Blackjack supersonic strategic bombers at the Kazan aviation plant in the Volga Republic of Tatarstan.
The Russian Air Force has only 15 Tu-160 Blackjack and one upgraded Tu-160M Blackjack available. The Tu-160 is a supersonic, variable-geometry heavy bomber, designed to strike strategic targets at a range of 12,300km with nuclear and conventional weapons.
The current programme of the Russian Air Force includes upgrading 16 of the existing Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers to the version Tu-160M Blackjack.
The programme will be conducted in two phases and will be completed by 2019. The first phase includes bolstering of the aircraft’s nuclear armament, giving it the capacity to carry 12 conventionally armed Raduga NPO Kh-555 (AS-15 ‘Kent’) long-range cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs.
The second phase of the modernization programme will include uprating the Kuznetsov NK-32 engines, and replacing the radar, as well as the electronic navigation and communication systems.
The new order of 50 Tu-160M Blackjack will dramatically increase the strategic bombing capabilities of the Russian Air Force. This will be an interim measure until the stealthy strategic bomber of the PAK DA programme, which is currently under development, is accepted by the Russian Air Force.
The first aircraft of the PAK DA programme is going to be delivered to the Russian Air Force in 2023 and enter service in 2025–30. This leaves a gap of 15 years with no new aircraft being added to the inventory of the Long Range Aviation Command (the branch of the Russian Air Force tasked with long-range bombardment of strategic targets with conventional and nuclear weapons). In order to cover this gap the Russian government decided to resume production of the Tu-160M Blackjack at the Kazan aviation plant.
According to the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Air Force, General Viktor Bondarev,
“The decision on reviving the production of Tu-160M will not hamper the creation of a new strategic bomber PAK DA. The reproduction of this model will be carried out simultaneously with the development of the new one”.