Russia’s New PAK DA Stealth Bomber Armed with Nuclear-Tipped Cruise Missiles?

By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization

(Washington DC) Russia’s PAK DA bomber is under development. Little is known for sure about the aircraft, but its potential attributes are impressive. The bomber might have the ability to fire nuclear-tipped, air-launched cruise missiles, take off fully loaded at 30 tons, fire hypersonic weapons, and introduce definitive new stealth technologies.

PAK DA Bomber

The platform seems specifically intended to match the U.S.’ B-21, which is airborne. The PAK DA is slated to emerge in prototype form as early as this year. Full production is slated for as soon as 2027, although the particular configuration, technological composition, and planned fleet size remain somewhat unknown.

Many of the details about the PAK DA are likely unavailable, undecided, or simply too difficult to discern, although Russia’s TASS news agency has made several key statements regarding the new bomber.

“The PAK DA is expected to deploy Kh-102 nuclear-tipped stealthy cruise missiles, and a number of newer hypersonic designs including derivatives of the Kh-47M2.” a TASS report from 2021 says.

While this might sound ominous, an ability to fire nuclear-capable cruise missiles is by no means surprising. Indeed, the B-21 is slated to carry the nuclear-capable Long Range Stand-Off cruise missile.

PAK DA Bomber, B-2 and B-21

A significant difference between the PAK DA and the B-2 and B-21, if Russian media claims are correct, is the large discrepancy in max take-off weight. The PAK DA’s reported take-off weight of 30 tons is twice the 15-ton max weight of the B-21. What might this mean? Not a whole lot, apart from the fact that a PAK DA might be able to drop more ordnance on a single mission when compared with the B-21.

While a larger, heavier bomber able to carry more munitions can extend mission dwell time, the weight can also be a burden on its stealth effectiveness, and the plane might be more vulnerable to air defenses and air threats. The PAK DA’s larger payload was suggested as far back as 2013 in Russia’s RIA newspaper, which reported that the PAK DA will fire conventional, nuclear, and hypersonic weapons.