In a strategic response to the US Missile Defense Shield (MDS), Russia has announced to resume the production of its strategic bomber plane Tu-160.
According to Airforce Technology website, "The Tu-160 is capable of carrying the strategic cruise missile Kh-55MS, which is known in the West by the Nato designation and codename AS-15 Kent. Up to 12 Kh-55MS missiles can be carried, six in each bay. The Kh-55MS is propelled by a turbofan engine. The maximum range is 3,000km, and it is armed with a 200kt nuclear warhead.
The weapons bays are also fitted with launchers for the Kh-15P, which has the Nato designation and codename AS-16 Kickback. The Kh-15P Kickback has solid rocket fuel propulsion, which gives a range up to 200km. The Kickback can be fitted with a conventional 250kg warhead or a nuclear warhead. The aircraft is also capable of carrying a range of aerial bombs with a total weight up to 40t."
With its more than 7,300 Km combat radius, this platform is nothing short of a nightmare for the NATO. Air launched nuclear missiles would eventually would not give any time to the US MDS to react.
“In light of development of US antiballistic missile defense system the importance of ground-based and submarine-based missiles is decreasing, because the whole defense system is focused on intercepting the ballistic missiles. Thus the importance of strategic bombers increases. That is why we are paying special attention to the aviation. Unfortunately Russia fell behind in 1990s and 2000s. We were developing mobile missile systems instead of long-range aviation; however, the missile systems are vulnerable. Now we are going to focus on the long-range aviation,” president of the Academy of geopolitical problems, Leonid Ivashov, told Sputnik.
Reportedly, the avioincs of the Tu-160 would be upgraded to enhance its operational performance and survival against modern SAM systems. Russian firm, Radioelectronic Technologies Concern (KRET) is ready to start the production of avionics for the strategic bomber.
