Russia spent five years modernizing the Tu-160, but has deployed only a third of them, according to analysts
The first photo of the Russian Tu-160 "Dynekhin" strategic bomber has appeared online following a five-year modernization program. At the same time, analysts note that only about a third of the fleet of these aircraft is actually being deployed on combat missions against Ukraine.
This is reported by Defence Blog.
Russian military blogger Ilya Tumanov published a photo of the Tu-160 with tail number 8-04, which, following modernization, received the “M” designation and the nickname “Deinekin.”
According to open sources, this aircraft has been undergoing repairs and modernization at the Kazan Aviation Production Association since approximately 2020.
Thus, the number of modernized Tu-160Ms has increased to six, with three more aircraft being rebuilt into the Tu-160M2 version.
The analytical resource AviVector reports that the Russian Federation has 18 Tu-160M strategic bombers in service.
However, only seven aircraft are currently involved in combat operations against Ukraine. The others are undergoing modernization, testing, training flights, or maintenance.
Russian strategic bombers typically take off from the "Ukraina" airbase in the Far East.
They receive their strike munitions at the Engels-2 base in the Saratov region, which has repeatedly been the target of Ukrainian drone attacks.
According to satellite imagery, there are currently between 7 and 9 Tu-160 aircraft at the Kazan Aircraft Plant, which is nearly half of the entire fleet.
The new production facility, whose construction began in 2020, did not actually become operational until 2026, indicating significant delays in Russia’s program to resume production of the Tu-160M2.
Despite the Kremlin’s statements about a large-scale modernization of its strategic aviation, open-source data shows that the pace of modernization and production of new aircraft remains significantly below plan.
Russia continues to showcase 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.
Russian commanders are submitting false reports about the alleged capture of Ukrainian settlements, which is leading to the disorganization of subsequent assault operations.
