When talking about US strategic aviation, the first association is the veteran Boeing B-52 Stratofortress. This is logical, since this aircraft still forms its backbone and is the only one of the three American "strategists" who will serve on a par with the B-21 (they want to write off the B-1B and B-2 in the foreseeable future).
In the case of the Russian Air Force, the power of strategic aviation is embodied in the Tu-160, which has recently been modified to a new version. However, is this true? The 160s are in service with only seventeen, and the plans to get 50 modernized machines of this type are just a journalistic myth.
However, it is worth making a clarification. The military department really wants to have a new-built Tu-160M2 machine, but not fifty, but only ten units with the first flight of the first such machine in 2021. And if we assume that the ambitious plans to resume production of the Tu-160 from scratch will generally be implemented. Recall that all the machines of this type that took off before this type were: a) either modernized combatant Tu-160, or b) machines built from the Soviet reserve. There are no new Tu-160s in the full sense of the word yet.
As for the promising stealth bomber PAK DA, this issue is extremely complex and uncertain. Due to the technical complexity and high cost of the complex, as well as the complete lack of Russian experience in creating such machines, it can be considered a great success if the PAK DA prototype takes off by the end of 2020. Or if it ever takes off.
Thus, we can confidently state one important fact: the Tu-95 was, is, and in the foreseeable future will be the main strategic bomber of the Russian Air Force. Recall, according to various sources, there are 50 such machines in the Air Force. Now it is the world's fastest turboprop production aircraft - a missile carrier and one of the elements of the nuclear triad, although not the most important against the background of intercontinental ballistic missiles and ballistic missiles of submarines.
We will do it, but not right away
The importance of the Tu-95 and the fact that it cannot be replaced in the foreseeable future is well understood in the Kremlin. Appropriate steps are now being taken to improve the fleet of these aircraft. Recall that on March 30, 2020, the Tupolev company announced the completion of work on a minor modernization of the first batch of Tu-95MS. At the same time, it became known that in parallel with this, work was completed on the creation of the first deeply modernized Tu-95MSM and the development of updated systems of the combat vehicle began. Earlier it became known that the updated aircraft should receive engines and propellers with improved characteristics, a new complex of avionics and a weapons control system "with an expanded range of weapons used."
What exactly do you mean? In 2016, experts from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies bmpd noted that, as part of the complete modernization of the Tu-95MSM, the Obzor-MS radar should be replaced with a new Novella-NV1.021 radar. It is also planned to install a new display system SOI-021, an upgraded onboard defense complex "Meteor-NM2", and in addition, the machine should receive upgraded Kuznetsov NK-12MPM turboprop engines with the installation of new AV-60T propellers.
It should be said that within the early stage of modernization, combatant Tu-95MS have already received quite good opportunities for the use of modern high-precision weapons. At least if we talk about the nomenclature: here the plane is not inferior to the Tu-160M. Recall that the outer holders of the upgraded Tu-95MS can be hung up to eight modern X-101 cruise missiles with a maximum flight range of about 5,000 kilometers and a warhead weighing up to 400 kilograms. The nuclear version of the rocket has the designation X-102, the product, according to various sources, carries a warhead with a capacity of 250 kilotons to one megaton.
As for the Tu-95MSM, its armament will be similar to that of the Tu-95MS, however, it is likely to be expanded. Earlier, Pyotr Butovsky in the article "Russian bombers to be armed with new Kh-50 theater-level cruise missile" in Jane's Missiles & Rockets magazine drew attention to the X-50 medium-range missile. According to the expert, the Tu-95MSM strategic bomber will be able to carry up to fourteen such missiles, including six on the internal sling - that is, even more than the Tu-160, which, as follows from the text of the article, will be able to carry up to twelve of such missiles in the internal compartments.
According to the given data, the Kh-50 cruise missile will be able to hit targets at a range of up to 1,500 kilometers. It is approximately 6 meters long and weighs over 1,500 kilograms. The cruising speed is 700 kilometers per hour, the maximum is over 950.
The economy should be …
Returning to the first thesis, it is worth noting that the Tu-95MS, which made its first flight back in 1979, is rarely criticized, despite its conceptual obsolescence. This is not surprising, since there is an example of the aforementioned American B-52 before your eyes. “The stake on the modernization of the Tu-95MS looks like a justified step both from a military and from an economic point of view. This is especially noticeable on the example of the ultra-expensive "invisible" B-2 Spirit. The American plane was unable to use nuclear missiles. Our "Bear" will remain a universal aircraft and will receive more formidable missile weapons, "- noted earlier military observer Dmitry Drozdenko.
Despite the overly harsh assessment of B-2, one can generally agree with the opinion of the expert. Nowadays, a strategic bomber is primarily a platform for launching missiles or dropping high-precision bombs, which the Americans are demonstrating to us by their example. Moreover, the missile range can exceed several thousand kilometers, which allows the aircraft to operate without entering the enemy air defense zone. Consequently, the requirements of stealth in relation to the "strategist" are not as ultimatum as in the case of fighters, who risk feeling on their own skin enemy missiles of the "air-to-air" or "surface-to-air" class.
A more serious problem for the Tu-95MSM may be the lack of funds for the modernization itself, which may limit the aircraft's ability to search for and defeat ground targets. We can see the "economical" modernization on the example of the Tu-160, from which, in all likelihood, the optical-television sighting system was dismantled. At least, such a conclusion can be drawn when analyzing new photographs.
Tu-95MSM is not specifically threatened, however, it is probably not worth waiting for the expansion of capabilities to the level of the same B-52H, which is now equipped with a suspended sighting container of the Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod type. The economic situation is not conducive to "bold" endeavors. At least for now.
