Russia may have to cancel plans for it’s new PAK DA strategic bomber (aka Stealth Bomber) as a Russian senior official has announced a new delay in production.
According to National Interest [1]:
Speaking at the Samara-based Kuznetsov Plant of the United Engine Corporation, a Russian defense company, Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov told reporters that production of the PAK DA has been delayed in order to resume producing Tupolev Tu-160M2 bomber.
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“According to the plans, serial production of the [Tu-160] aircraft new version [the Tu-160M2] is to be implemented starting from 2023,” Borisov said [2].
When asked whether this would shift the timeframe of the PAK DA strategic bomber, Borisov confirmed that it would. “The PAK DA project will be somewhat shifted beyond [2023, when it is currently to begin entering service], otherwise there is no sense in it,” Borisov said.
As The National Interest previously noted [3], back in May Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russia had decided to resume production of the Soviet-era Tu-160 nuclear bomber, which NATO refers to as Blackjack.
Russia later revealed that the decision to restart production of the Blackjack bomber was made directly by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The supreme commander [president of Russia] and the Russian defense minister have taken a decision on reviving production of the Tu-160M aircraft,” Col. Gen. Viktor Bondarev, the commander-in-chief of Russia’s Air Force, said in late May [4].
The decision to restart production on the Tu-160 was made in part because of production delays in the PAK DA.
Sources:
[1] http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-buzz/russias-stealthy-new-nuclear-bomber-big-trouble-13390
[3] http://nationalinterest.org/feature/russias-supersonic-tu-160-bomber-back-should-america-worry-12787
