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They appear to have built two Tu-160Ms, over a number of years, at least one of which uses an unfinished frame from the Soviet era. To what extent they can actu
by rsynnott 1y ago
They appear to have built two Tu-160Ms, over a number of years, at least one of which uses an unfinished frame from the Soviet era. To what extent they can actually build them (vs relying on unused parts from decades ago) is unclear, but at any rate they don’t seem to be able to do it fast enough to meaningfully maintain their stock of strategic bombers.
- thisislife2 1y agoThe plant seems to have successfully upgraded two old models to the M1 or M2 variants and delivered two new bombers (built with old airframes). But yes, it appears that it can currently manufacture only 3 bombers a year. So I don't see how it can deliver 50 bombers by 2030 that the Russians have apparently ordered (though one wonders if Russia really needs 50 bombers to maintain strategic parity when there are so many other delivery systems?). Sanctions have definitely hampered the industry too. But overall, the Russians do seem have to revived their aviation industry base in the last 2 decades or so, which they certainly are treating as a priority. All this may also explain why the Russians are suddenly willing to offer the Indians, the Su-57, with some technology transfer including the full source code of the fighter jet - https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-offers-india-unprecedented-control-su57-transfer-full-source-code https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/russia-offers-indi... - (which is quite unprecedented). If India accepts it, such an order (and partnership with India) would be a major boost for the Russian defence aviation industry and revitalise it.