Russia has begun modernizing its Tu-160M strategic bombers, according to satellite imagery
Russia continues to showcase its Tu-160 strategic bombers as a symbol of its nuclear might, but the actual state of this fleet has turned out to be far more modest. Of the 18 modernized aircraft, only seven are regularly used for combat strikes against Ukraine.
This is reported by Defence Blog, citing the analytical resource AviVector, which analyzes open-source data.
According to analysts, Tu-160 combat sorties are usually launched from the Ukrainka airbase in the Russian Far East or from the Engels-2 airbase in the Saratov region.
The Engels-2 base is the main hub for preparing missile strikes against Ukraine. At the same time, this facility has repeatedly been targeted by Ukrainian drones since 2022.
Another seven to nine aircraft are constantly in the hangars of the Kazan Aviation Production Association, where they are being modernized or essentially rebuilt from scratch.
As the publication notes, the modernization of Russian strategic bombers is progressing very slowly. A recently released photo confirmed the completion of the upgrade of the Tu-160 aircraft with tail number 8-04 “Deinekin” to the Tu-160M version. Work on it lasted nearly five years.
Currently, the existence of six modernized Tu-160Ms and three new Tu-160M2s has been confirmed.
Russia announced the resumption of serial production of the Tu-160 as early as the mid-2010s. To this end, a new production facility has been under construction in Kazan since 2020, which, according to analysts, only began operations in early 2026.
The pace of the new production remains unknown.
Analysts note that the Russian strategic aviation fleet is simultaneously engaged in combat, undergoing modernization, and attempting to establish new production—all at a single facility.
As a result, Russia can effectively deploy only seven Tu-160s in combat operations at any given time.
Earlier reports also suggested that Russia may be developing a ground-based variant of the Kh-101 cruise missile, which Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers regularly use to attack Ukrainian territory.
At the same time, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the development of comprehensive solutions to counter Russian guided aerial bombs and neutralize enemy aircraft. During a meeting of the General Staff, the issue of creating Ukrainian equivalents of these types of weapons and developing domestic long-range capabilities was discussed in detail.
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