The TU-160 is a Soviet Era heavy strategic nuclear bomber that debuted in the 1980s during the period that preceded the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. There was limited production of this plane due to the collapse. Sixteen of these aircraft are still in operation today. They were modified to carry long-range cruise missiles in 2005. The TU-160 and the TU-95MS strategic bomber and missile carrier are the aerial third of Russia’s nuclear triad. The TU-160s most recent deployment was in Syria to help the Syrian president defeat rebels and jihadis.
A new version of the TU-160 designated as the TU-160M2 is now in production and will make its first flight in February of 2018. The introduction of a new version of this bomber marks another leap in Russia’s military power. The new bomber will be equipped with new mission system, Kuznetsov NK-32 afterburning turbofans and new NK-32 02 engines which are more efficient.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin reported Thursday to President Vladimir Putin himself, telling the Russian leader that "We plan that the aircraft will be built already in 2019. Serial deliveries should begin in 2023 while we plan to carry out the first flight of the Tu-160M2, which has been rolled out of the workshop today, in February next year.” Putin responded that "Everything is fine, just perfect. I congratulate the aircraft builders and I think we will deliver good news to the defense.”
The state-run Tass Russian News Agency reported that a defense ministry source has stated that the new TU-160 with the factory number 804 would be the first TU-160 to be outfitted with the factory upgrades mentioned above.
Russia have been spending a great deal of money to upgrade its military in the past few years. The military was in a state of disintegration after the collapse of the Soviet Union but Putin has rebuilt it into a powerful warfighting power. This modernization and expansion of the Russian military is of great concern to other countries including the United States, especially since the use of the Russian military in Georgia in 2008 and the seizure of the Crimea from the Ukraine in 2014.
Following the annexation of the Crimea by Russia in 2014, NATO has taken a more aggressive stance towards Russia. NATO and Russia are locked in a new arms race that rivals the Cold War. NATO and Russia have been holding almost constant military exercises near the border between Russia and Easter Europe. Both accuse the other of causing the rise in tensions in the area. One analyst believes that if NATO continues to deploy weapons to the Balkan states, the situation could escalate into an all-out war. Russia has publicly announced that it would consider using tactical nuclear weapons in Easter Europe if it were losing a conventional war to NATO.
The United States is also very concerned about the modernization and expansion of the Russian military and is undertaking a similar modernization and expansion of its own military.
TU-160:
