Belesarius Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 http://sputniknews.com/military/20150429/1021514706.html Not sure of the veracity of the article, but interesting if true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted May 1, 2015 Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 I would be shocked if any of the tooling and manufacturing expertise needed to make those things was still easily to hand after 20+ years. They did make some "new" blackjacks in the mid 1990s if memory serves, but those were made from mostly already completed airframes they had lying around. On top of that, TU-160 needs a lot of specialized ground equipment. There's a big ground trolley to start the engines, for example. Can they still make those? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted May 1, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2015 It would be verrrrry Russian to still have the tooling around. They never like to throw shit out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted May 2, 2015 Report Share Posted May 2, 2015 The response from quasi-informed corners of the net is that this is just a general wishing out loud. It's unclear to me if they can even still make the NK-32 engines, as the limited flight hours left on the existing engines was identified as a problem recently. NK-32 is a hell of an engine, by the way. Belesarius 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted May 28, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 28, 2015 Another article on this one hit Sputnik. Again, take the article with a shaker full of salt. It's a persistant wish, if nothing else. http://sputniknews.com/military/20150528/1022644596.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Maybe Looser or Ensign could clarify or correct, but from what I have read, the TU-160 is more than just a strategic force projection tool for the Russian Air Force. It's the biggest, heaviest combat aircraft in the world. It has, next to the flanker, the most advanced engines and most advanced avionics that ever the Soviet Union did produce. It even has (modest) stealth features. As a strategic bomber only the B-2 could reasonably called its better. In short, it's a bit of a point of pride, and I suspect that this pride needs to be considered in addition to purely strategic concerns. Blackjack needs an enormous amount of support to be kept in the air. The B-1B is supposed to be a bear to maintain; TU-160 is thirty metric tons heavier and has variable-geometry inlets! But the Russian Air Force keeps them flying. Belesarius 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted May 29, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Maybe Looser or Ensign could clarify or correct, but from what I have read, the TU-160 is more than just a strategic force projection tool for the Russian Air Force. It's the biggest, heaviest combat aircraft in the world. It has, next to the flanker, the most advanced engines and most advanced avionics that ever the Soviet Union did produce. It even has (modest) stealth features. As a strategic bomber only the B-2 could reasonably called its better. In short, it's a bit of a point of pride, and I suspect that this pride needs to be considered in addition to purely strategic concerns. Blackjack needs an enormous amount of support to be kept in the air. The B-1B is supposed to be a bear to maintain; TU-160 is thirty metric tons heavier and has variable-geometry inlets! But the Russian Air Force keeps them flying. Exactly. Nailed it right there. The Russian STRONK Ego must be maintained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted May 30, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 It's a persistent enough rumor that it's made it onto Jane's page, tho they are still referencing the Sputnik article. http://www.janes.com/article/51855/russia-to-build-more-blackjack-bombers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 This is a more plausible story than Colli believes, I think. The Russians have been fastidious about preserving what industrial architecture they can from the Soviet era. Unlike the US, where if a project goes dead it almost never gets resurrected in any way, the Russians will mothball projects for years and then revisit them.Putin is looking to strengthen national defense, and the Tu-160 is still one of the most advanced bombers in the world. If they have the means to restart production, or at least production of spares, they may well do so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Word from Russia-watchers is that this is journalistic integrity at its best; they twisted the words of a senior official to mean something much more exciting than what they actually did. What was said was that restarting production of TU-160 would only product attractive unit costs if the production run were 50 or so aircraft or more. So then journalists started reporting that there were plans to make 50 TU-160s, which would be insanely expensive. LoooSeR and Sturgeon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturgeon Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 How many do they currently have?That makes much more sense. They have Tu-160s, I don't see why they couldn't get a decent fleet of them going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted May 30, 2015 Report Share Posted May 30, 2015 Thirty-something were produced. Production was closed off in the nineties, but there were enough half-completed airframes left over that they were able to bang out a few complete bombers every couple of years until the early 2000s or something. Of those, less than half are combat-ready, although reports vary on exactly how many are good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted May 31, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 16 was the # I've seen mentioned as ready to fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xlucine Posted May 31, 2015 Report Share Posted May 31, 2015 16 was the # I've seen mentioned as ready to fly. Janes supports 16, see post #8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted July 12, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2015 http://www.ibtimes.com/russia-working-resume-tu-160-nuclear-bomber-production-report-2004285 Persistent rumor if nothing else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Maybe there's something to all this... This is a photo of an unfinished blackjack fuselage. I have been unable to find out what year the picture is from. Earlier reports were that all the unfinished fuselages had been finished into complete aircraft or cannibalized for parts, but there are some newer contentions that there are actually several more unfinished airframes in varying stages of completion. So like Bele said, at the very least it's a persistent rumor. That_Baka, Belesarius and Sturgeon 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tied Posted March 11, 2016 Report Share Posted March 11, 2016 Exactly. Nailed it right there. The Russian STRONK Ego must be maintained. Not really. Outside of ICBMs the Tupolevs are the most effective weapons versus carrier groups Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meplat Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Either way, it's a lovely bit of work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoooSeR Posted March 12, 2016 Report Share Posted March 12, 2016 Photos from Kazan aviation factory in Tatarstan. One Tu-160 on photo is unfinished, second is RF-94113 "Valentin Bliznuk" LostCosmonaut, Bronezhilet, Belesarius and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted March 16, 2016 Author Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Oh hi! This thread again. http://alert5.com/2016/03/16/first-three-tu-160m2s-will-be-assembled-using-stored-airframes/ Can one of the Russian speakers give us a breakdown on this article? http://www.vedomosti.ru/politics/articles/2016/03/11/633157-bombardirovschik-tu-160m2-nachnut-vossozdavat-sovetskih-zadelah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted April 8, 2016 Report Share Posted April 8, 2016 Maintenance of the gigantic wing sweep actuator of the blackjack. The wing sweep mechanism is housed in a giant titanium box, similar to an F-14, but much much bigger: That is probably the single trickiest part of the TU-160 airframe to make. Belesarius 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 Well then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted November 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 I heard that they were planning on getting 50+ more, so a full production restart. https://theaviationist.com/2017/11/16/russia-unveils-new-tu-160m2-strategic-super-bomber-update/ http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/16175/russia-rolls-out-new-tu-160m2-but-are-moscows-bomber-ambitions-realistic Apparently new versions of the NK-32 are being used as well, with a corresponding 600km range increase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Collimatrix Posted November 17, 2017 Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 The bird being towed out now is, as I understand it, made from half-completed leftovers. But a complete production restart is planned to follow later on. Perhaps the Syrian conflict convinced the Russian military of the utility of more heavy bombers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belesarius Posted November 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 17, 2017 1 hour ago, Collimatrix said: The bird being towed out now is, as I understand it, made from half-completed leftovers. But a complete production restart is planned to follow later on. Perhaps the Syrian conflict convinced the Russian military of the utility of more heavy bombers. I think what's interesting to me, given some of the discussion we've had about the difficulty of engine production that they are doing an improved version of the NK-32. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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