Posted on 11/15/2017 6:00:55 AM PST by C19fan
Russia Is Improving the Biggest Bomber Ever
New mission systems and engines
Russia Is Improving the Biggest Bomber Ever WIB AIR November 14, 2017 Dave Majumdar Russia75 Tu-1603 Early next year in February, the first of Russia’s new production Tupolev Tu-160M2 Blackjack supersonic strategic bombers will take to the air.
The new bomber is essentially a prototype of a next generation variant of the venerable Blackjack, the first generation of which was built during the 1980s in the last days of the Soviet Union.
(Excerpt) Read more at warisboring.com ...
“Ivan calls the bombers the White Swam. “
Swam where?
From the article, they don’t even try for stealth. The task of the bomber is to get close to the target, while staying outside target’s air defenses, and launch high-speed cruise missiles.
Everything a knock-off of American technology.
It certainly looks like they continued the B-1A project even after carter cancelled it.
Depending on how “largest” is defined, the Convair B-36’s fully loaded weight was 225 tons. However, its four bomb bays could carry up to 86,000 pounds while the TU-160 is rated at 88,000 pounds. The Tu-160M/M2 is better compared to the the B-1A/B Lancer. Bottomline: another ‘bar bet’ topic for which the Guinness book of records should be consulted. ;)
That’s a high-tech steam punk cockpit they got there...
Thanks for the ping.
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