Stupid Soviets. If they develop a manned bomber they’ll be waaaaay behind the curve - a total waste of money.
They need to develop a stealth UCAV to do the job, instead.
The Russians are never stupid, they can build a flying pig farm and sell it to AQ with grins and giggles of ecstasy from them.
UCAV. . .for a nuke-capable aircraft?
The strength of the manned bomber is signaling, to give warning, and who wants to launch a UCAV with a nuke. . .not me. Assured recall? Not hardly. Able to operate if damaged and still able to recall or retarget—not abort—if hit or lost com?
Unmanned is fine for some missions, like ISR, but so far we have been operating unmanned in a permissive environment, not hostile airspace, and this is giving people a false sense of accomplishment in the field of unmanned systems. Fact is, we have a long way to go.
If we get there, unmanned nuke aircraft, then we will have arrived where unmanned airliners flying you and the family to visit grandma is no big deal.