Russia’s Bombers Now Have Supersonic Missiles – What is the Risk?

By Dave Majumdar

With new engines and avionics. The first of 30 modernized supersonic bombers will make its first flight next year if all goes as planned.

“The first heavily upgraded Tu-22M3 will take to the skies in 2018,” Tupolev chief executive officer Alexander Konyukhov told the Moscow-basedTASS news agency [4] on November 17. “Also in that year, the modernization of operational aircraft will begin in compliance with the new state armament program. The upgrade will be carried out within the timeframe defined by this program.”

The Tu-22M3 variant of the supersonic Backfire first became operational in 1983 during the Cold War. While the aircraft has been modernized, the planned upgrade would be the most comprehensive revamp of the long-serving bomber since its introduction into service.

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Along with an airframe life-extension, the Tu-22M3M upgrade incorporates thr new SVP-24-22 bombsights, a NV-45 radar and an improved cockpit among other new systems. The Russians are also planning to replace the Tu-22M3’s Kuznetsov NK-25 engines with new and more efficient NK-32-02 engines that were designed for the revamped Tupolev Tu-160M2 Blackjack.

“The Tu-22M3M will feature an absolutely new avionics system standardized with theTu-160M2 [6],” a Russian defense industry source told TASS. “This refers to the entire avionics, including the navigation and sighting complex.”

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