Everything We Know About Russia’s New Tupolev PAK-DA Stealth Bomber

By Dave Majudmar,The National Interest

The Trump Administration lists the Tupolev PAK-DA stealth bomber as a developmental system that the United States might faceoff against in the future in its Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). However, the PAK-DA is a long-term project rather than something the United States needs to worry about today.

Russia is currently working on restarting the Tupolev Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bomber line. Eventually, in the medium term, the modernized Tu-160M2 [3]—the first prototype of which flew earlier this year—will form the backbone of the Russian bomber force once the new build Blackjacks enter service in numbers.

However, the Russians have not given up on building the Tupolev PAK-DA stealth bomber. The PAK-DA will be a long-term program to recapitalize the Russian bomber fleet once older Soviet-era designs start to age out.

“PAK-DA still exist, but it is a very long term project,” Vasily Kashin, a senior fellow at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics told The National Interest.

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