by Kris Osborn, Warrior

As Russian weapons developers await the uncertain arrival of its PAK DA stealth bomber designed to rival the US B-21, the country’s military is surging with extensive “bridge” upgrades to its Tu-160 “M” long-range bomber. The While emerging in the 80s as a very non-stealthy bombing platform, the Russian Tu-160 could be seen as somewhat analogous to the US B-52 because it has both been substantially upgraded for continued service life and also intended for more permissive environments due to its size and vulnerability to fighter jets and advanced air defenses. 

Nonetheless, Russia’s Tu-160M upgraded bomber variant has been given a new navigation system as well as next-generation autopilot technologies. Much like the US B-52, upgrades to the Tu-160M “BlackJack”  are indeed extensive as they also include work on a Tu-160M2 variant which includes an upgraded NK-32 engine, jamming equipment, digital cockpit and NVI 70 radar.

Russian “BlackJack” Bomber

The Blackjack is also armed with as many as six Kh-55SM ground-attack cruise missiles, each capable of carrying a nuclear or conventional warhead, according to an interesting essay from Kyle Mizokami in Popular Mechanics.

As described in his essay, the warheads can either be a 200-kiloton thermonuclear warhead or a conventional high-explosive fragmentation warhead. Russia’s Rostec plans to produce roughly two new Tu-160Ms per year to reach 10 aircraft prior to 2027. 

Unlike the Vietnam-era classic B-52, the Tupolev Tu-160 first entered service in the Soviet era during the 1980s. Russia’s Tupolev looks a little more like the large, elongated B1-B bomber able to carry a massive payload, bringing the max take-off weight up to 300 tons.

Russia seeks to maintain an active and capable bomber fleet, yet the Tu-160M bomber suffers many of the same challenges likely to be encountered by the B1-B and B-52. Simply put, Russia’s legacy bomber does not have the stealth required for today’s environment. The Tu-160M’s fuselage does bear some resemblance to the B-1B bomber with its narrow, elongated nose and rounded front section.  

Tu-160 vs US B-52

While the “M” does suffer from lack of stealth, the US experience has shown that decades-old airframes can remain relevant and viable for decades beyond their intended service life  with some maintenance and structural support. This has been the case with the US B-52 bomber which may fly for close to 100 years. The 1950s and 1960s-era B-52 has become an almost entirely different aircraft due to massive upgrades. Over the course of recent decades, the B-52 has received a new engine, digital cockpit, reworked  internal weapons bay, communications technology and new weapons systems. The US Air Force’s modern B-52J operates with a massively larger bomb-capacity and, moving forward, may likely launch drones, hypersonic missiles and even lasers. 

These kinds of innovations could also potentially be integrated into the Tu-160M, adaptations which could make the bomber quite relevant in the context of a modern, great power warfare engagement.  Should longer-range sensors and weapons be capable of targeting air defenses and enemy ground targets at much greater stand-off distances, the Tu-160Ms attack reach could compensate for its lack of stealth. 

Hypersonic Tu-160M

There is also the question of hypersonic weapons, which Russia is known to operate. The integration of air-launched hypersonic weapons and long-range anti-ship cruise missiles could enable the Tu-160M to hold previously unreachable targets at great risk.  Configuring the Tu-160M2 for hypersonics is entirely realistic, if not already underway, as Russia intends to arm the bomber with the Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic missile.

 The Kinzhal is quite significant, as it was used with success in Ukraine in 2022 to attack weapons storage facilities and ammunition depots. However, while the Kinzhal is cited to be capable of reaching speeds of Mach 10, it is not considered “fully” hypersonic because it follows a standard ballistic missile trajectory and does not maneuver in flight the way a hypersonic weapon traveling at this speed is typically able to do. This air-launched ballistic missile trajectory is likely a main reason why Ukraine was able to successfully destroy a Kinzhal using a Patriot missile air-defense weapon. 

Kris Osborn is the President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a highly qualified expert in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University