Summary and Key Points: The Tupolev Tu-160 — White Swan to its crews, Blackjack to NATO — is the only strategic bomber still in production anywhere in Russia. The Soviet Union built 35 of them in roughly eight years during the 1980s and early 1990s. Russia restarted the line at Kazan in 2015 with the goal of eventually fielding 50 bombers, and in the eleven years since has completed perhaps four new airframes from scratch. The reason is not secret, and it is not primarily money. The NK-32M engines the modernized bomber needs come from Samara, which is reported to produce four to six per year. A Tu-160 takes four engines. The arithmetic of Russia’s strategic bomber ambitions runs through a single engine plant, which supports about one aircraft annually.
Russia’s Tu-160 Bomber Can Hit Mach 2 and Is Massive
The Tupolev Tu-160 White Swan (NATO designation: “Blackjack) is currently the only strategic bomber in Russian service that is still in production.
Originally built by the Soviet Union in the 1980s and 1990s, the Tu-160 is one of the world’s heaviest bombers and one of Russia’s most valuable strategic assets.
Over time, the aircraft has received several upgrades to keep it in line with modern standards. The most recent variant is the Tu-160M2.
The modernization package provides a comprehensive upgrade to its avionics and communication systems, along with a new set of more efficient engines to increase its range.
Modernizing Russia’s Best Bomber
As early as 2002, the Russian Ministry of Defense began modernizing its fleet of 15 Tu-160s.
Tu-160 Bomber. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Tu-160. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
Tu-160. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
In the 90s, the USSR ended the Cold War with 35 aircraft, which were divided between the newly formed Russian and Ukrainian Air Forces.
The Russians were able to buy back eight bombers from Ukraine, but the rest were ultimately scrapped under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction.
Moscow viewed the Tu-160 as essential to its strategic autonomy, but Kyiv saw the bomber as too expensive to maintain and operate.
In the early 2000s, Russia upgraded its fleet of strategic bombers to make them compatible with conventional weapons.
The Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO) delivered the first modernized bomber in 2006.
Further modernization efforts focused on upgrading the bomber’s avionics and navigation systems.
In 2014, the first aircraft, under the new designation Tu-160M, was delivered to the Russian Air Force.
The upgraded bomber received new NV 1.07 modern on-board radio-electronic equipment along with the NO-70M navigation system and the DISS-021-70 navigation radar.
Because of the Tu-160’s strategic importance, information about its onboard avionics is frustratingly hard to find in English sources, and even Russian sources offer little information beyond the individual names of certain components.
In 2025, Russia accepted two Tu-160Ms into service, with two more bombers undergoing modernization. The total number of Tu-160Ms in operational service is unknown.
The Tu-160M2: The Latest and Deadliest Variant
The next step in modernizing the Tu-160 focused on modernizing its engines.
The Kuznetsov Design Bureau, which later became the Metallist-Samara JSC, was tasked with creating a new set of engines to improve the bomber’s range and efficiency.
Production of the new NK-32M (some sources use the designation NK-32-02) engines has been slow, with Samara reportedly producing only 4-6 engines per year.
The new engines complement further upgrades to the Tu-160’s avionics and navigation systems.
Again, because of the project’s secrecy, Russian sources are tight-lipped about the exact specifications of the new aircraft.
Russian media, however, claim that the Tu-160M2 is equipped with an AESA radar for improved target detection and range.
The new M2 variant reportedly shares 60% of its internal components with the Tu-160M to simplify production and reduce costs.
As of writing this, only two Tu-160M2s are said to have entered service with the Russian air force. Although they share the same airframe as the original White Swan, the Tu-160M/M2 are fundamentally different aircraft on the inside.
At its heart, however, the bomber still retains its strategic nuclear strike capabilities.
Each aircraft has an internal weapons bay with two rotary launchers, allowing it to carry up to 12 cruise missiles internally.
Its armament includes Kh-55SM, Kh-101/102, Kh-555, and Kh-BD cruise missiles. The Kh-BD, in particular, has an estimated range of 5,000-6,500 km, allowing it to strike targets far from enemy airspace.
A Deadly But Expensive Bomber
Although production of Tu-160M/M2 bombers resumed in 2015, construction of new aircraft has proceeded at a snail’s pace.
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union produced 35 bombers in eight years. Since 2015, the Russians have built maybe four new Tu-160s from scratch. One reason for the delay is the loss of industrial capacity since the end of the Cold War.
The USSR spread its industrial facilities across its territory, many of which were located in modern Ukraine.
After the long pause in production, Russia also lost many skilled personnel who had been involved in assembling the original bombers.
Furthermore, as the most advanced bomber in current service, the Tu-160 is expensive to produce and maintain, especially with the inclusion of newer avionics, a burden made all the more difficult by Russia’s already strained defense budget.
As a result, production of new aircraft is a long and costly endeavor.
In spite of all the technical and budgetary hurdles, production of the Tu-160M continues.
Currently, the Russian Air Force has an outstanding order for 10 Tu-160M2s and at least ten Tu-160Ms, with the end goal of increasing the fleet to 50 bombers sometime in the future.
Although production has been plagued by delays, a sizable portion of the current fleet is undergoing ongoing maintenance and modernization; the Tu-160 remains a formidable bomber.
It has been used on numerous occasions during the war in Ukraine, during Russia’s massive missile attacks against Ukrainian infrastructure. Ongoing modernization efforts have only increased its capabilities, making it one of the most threatening airborne assets to NATO.
About the Author: Isaac Seitz
Isaac Seitz, a Defense Columnist, graduated from Patrick Henry College’s Strategic Intelligence and National Security program. He has also studied Russian at Middlebury Language Schools and has worked as an intelligence Analyst in the private sector.
