MOSCOW, January 13-RIA Novosti, Nikolai Protopopov. Strategic missile carriers Tu-160 and Tu-95 still remain the main air argument of the Russian nuclear triad, however, despite regular modernization, their resource is limited. These machines will be replaced by a promising long-range aviation complex (PAK DA). The Ministry of Defense has already decided on its appearance, and tests of the engine will begin in 2021. About what will be the new "strategist" - in the material RIA Novosti.
Flying Wing
The Defense Ministry expects that the PAK DA will enter service under the current state program, that is, until the end of 2027. The military approved the sketch of the new aircraft, agreed on its characteristics and signed all the contract documents necessary for production.
The beginning of the construction of a prototype bomber was reported in May last year, in December it became known about the first engine assembled for it. Alexey Sobolev, Managing Director of the UEC-Kuznetsov enterprise, said that the power plant with the index " Product of the Russian Federation "was manufactured in" iron " and is preparing for bench tests scheduled for the beginning of the year.
In parallel, several more engines are being assembled — they will be tested both on a stand reproducing high-altitude conditions and in a flying laboratory.
The project is classified, there is little information in the public domain yet. It is known that the so-called stealth technologies were widely used in the promising aircraft. More powerful, productive and economical engines will increase the flight duration to 30 hours (in the Tu-160-25).
The designers chose a different scheme of the fuselage-the PAK DA is created on the principle of "flying wing". This will expand combat capabilities and improve maneuverability. As the Honored military pilot of Russia Vladimir Popov explained to RIA Novosti, such an arrangement also implies low visibility.
"There is no fuselage as such, the load is distributed evenly over the wing," he says. - There will be no attachments, the air intakes will be hidden deep inside, and the wide rear part of the wing will cover the hot exhaust gases. In addition, the design will allow you to take more fuel, ammunition and electronic equipment."
Combat training flight of the Tu-160 strategic missile carrier from the Engels-2 airfield
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Press Service of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
An advanced "stuffing"
PAK DA will be equipped with the most modern electronics, and with a modernization reserve for decades to come.
"This was the case before, our Tu-95" strategists" are already more than half a century old, but they still solve all the tasks facing them, " Popov stressed. Electronic equipment and automated systems will significantly increase maneuverability and make it easier to control the aircraft.
"The British at one time had a strategic bomber" Vulkan", built according to the scheme" flying wing", — reminds Popov. — But it was abandoned — including because of the complexity of piloting. After all, then there was only manual control. And on the PAK DA, many operations will be performed by automation."
The latest alloys and composites are used in the manufacture of the fuselage. In recent decades, scientists have made great progress in the field of aviation materials with less visibility and greater strength, which is very important when you need to lift several hundred tons of metal into the air, fly with it, maneuver and withstand heavy loads.
At the same time, experts are sure, a promising bomber is likely to be made subsonic, with a cruising speed of about a thousand kilometers per hour, the maximum — about the speed of sound.
"When there is no stabilizer, it is difficult to compensate for various dive or caperoadie moments, — said Popov. — But the designers came to a certain compromise. A large area of the "flying wing" will allow you to operate at low altitudes and maintain maneuverability near the ground, and at 20 kilometers, where the air is very thin, the wing will create sufficient lift. The bomber will be able to go extremely low with the rounding of the terrain, strike from an "ambush", as well as effectively attack the enemy from stratospheric echelons."
Future Russian sixth-generation bomber PAK DA
Image source: © Channel "FILM COMPANY OFFICERS of the VKS and the RUSSIAN Navy" on Youtube
Veterans of the cold war
However, it is still too early to talk about mass production and mass deliveries of the promising "strategist" to the troops. While the improvement of time-tested missile carriers continues. So, in 2021, deliveries to the VKS of deeply modernized Tu-160M bombers should begin. In the next seven years, the fleet of such cars will grow by one and a half times.
The updated "White Swans" are created on the basis of the most powerful and largest supersonic aircraft in the world, the Tu-160, developed in the 1970s as a response to the American B-1 Lancer supersonic bomber. The Soviet Air Force in 1992 had 35 such machines. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, 19 went to Ukraine. Only eight were returned to Russia — Kiev disposed of the rest.
The program to revive the production of Tu-160 in Russia started in 2015. The first prototype missile carrier, built on the basis of a combat bomber, took to the air in February last year. All subsequent ones will be built from scratch. They will receive new NK-32-02 engines that increase the flight range by a thousand kilometers. Modern onboard systems, control and navigation systems, electronic warfare systems and weapons control systems have also been developed.
Strategic bomber-missile carrier Tu-160 during the dress rehearsal of the air part of the parade in honor of the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War in Moscow
Image source: © host photo Agency / Vladimir Astapkovich
Another" old — timer " of strategic aviation is the Tu-95 bomber. The "Bear", as it was nicknamed in NATO, has been in service since the mid-1950s. The upgraded Tu-95MS has been produced since 1981 — it is the world's only and fastest turboprop aircraft. The maximum speed of the missile carrier is 830 kilometers per hour. It takes on board more than 20 tons of combat load and delivers it to ten thousand kilometers.
In the summer, the upgraded "Bear" Tu-95MSM made its first flight. Like the supersonic "hundred and sixties", the Tu-95 will be equipped with an advanced complex of weapons and avionics. The aircraft will receive even more powerful power plants with an increased resource. According to the developers, the combat characteristics of the Tu-95 after modernization will increase twice.
Tu-95MS
Image source: © Photo : Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
