The PAK DA stealth bomber is expected to replace both the Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers.
Russia may be fully embroiled in its ongoing Ukraine invasion, but the Kremlin still has its eyes set on fielding next-generation military equipment. As a competitor to the U.S. Air Force’s B-21 Raider and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force’s H-20 stealth bomber programs, the Russian Air Force’s PAK DA platform is expected to host some of the same emerging technologies. On paper, the Russian bomber promises to represent a stealthy “flying wing” type aircraft with a hefty ordnance load and long-range capacity. In reality, the Russian platform has continued to miss target dates surrounding its production progression. Like many other Russian-made military systems, the PAK DA may not be as formidable as the Kremlin would like to suggest.
What We Know About the PAK DA Bomber
The PAK DA next-generation bomber is under development by Tupolev within the Russian Aerospace Force’s Long-Range Aviation branch. Initially, the premier acknowledgment of the platform was made in the late 1990s, when the first requirements surrounding a new Russian bomber came to fruition. While Russian state-run media outlets originally indicated that the bomber would be heavily derived from the earlier supersonic Tupolev Tu-160, later comments published by the Kremlin implied that the PAK DA featured an entirely new design. However, when the stealth bomber does enter service down the line, it is expected to replace both the Tu-160 and the even older Tu-95 strategic bombers.
According to Russia’s former Deputy Prime Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov, the initial PAK DA prototype entered the production phase in summer 2021. The Russian official also claimed that this prototype would be ready by 2023, with full-scale production starting four years later. This ambitious timeline was considered murky at best when first publicized, and after the commencement of Russia’s Ukraine invasion in February 2022, the expected arrival date of the bomber was pushed back much further. Some images and artist renderings of the Russian platform have circulated in recent years; however, the true extent of the bomber’s detailed specs and capabilities remain classified. Many of the PAK DA’s obvious features, like its flying wing configuration and minimized radar cross-section, mirror the American-made B-2 Spirit bomber. In terms of range and weapons load, the Russian platform is expected to be able to travel up to 7,500 miles with the capacity of carrying 30 tons of weapons ranging from conventional and hypersonic to nuclear arms.
How Do the PAK DA’s Counterparts Compare?
The upcoming B-21 Raider and H-20 Xi’an stealth bombers will also host a variety of cutting-edge features. When the B-21 enters service with the U.S. Air Force, it will fulfill multiple roles including as a stealthy battle manager and an intelligence collector. China’s H-20 is also being developed to achieve full air superiority for the People’s Liberation Army Air Force. When it comes to range and ordnance load, the competition to produce the latest and greatest is in full swing.
About the Author: Maya Carlin
Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.
Image: BorisVetshev / Shutterstock.com
