According to an informed source in the military-industrial complex, the new Russian stealth bomber will be reliably protected from all types of weapons. The aircraft's armament will be placed inside the fuselage.
Russia is getting closer to the first flight of potentially the most expensive combat aircraft in its history — a strategic bomber, which is being created under the PAK DA program. The main characteristics of the machine are still unknown, but [...] a source in the defense industry told TASS about some of the features.
This applies, in particular, to the means of protection. "A completely new onboard defense system is being developed for the PAK DA, which will protect it from all types of weapons — radar and optical," the source said.
All weapons of the aircraft will be placed inside the fuselage. As one might expect, the bomber's arsenal will include long-range missiles. "This will allow the aircraft not to enter the enemy's air defense zone, to hit designated targets from the regions of the World Ocean or from the territory of another state," the source added, noting that they are now continuing to build a prototype of the combat aircraft of the future.
Earlier it became known that the aircraft will be subsonic, unobtrusive and made according to the aerodynamic scheme " flying wing»: this makes it similar to the American B-2 Spirit strategic bomber. The armament may include advanced hypersonic missiles.
Last year, it became known that [...] several PAK DA bombers were being assembled in Russia at once. The production of the cabins was entrusted to the specialists of the Novosibirsk Aircraft Factory named after Chkalov. One product will be used for bench testing of ejection seats.
PAK DA in the artist's view
Image Source: Russian Air Force And Navy Officers Film Company
One of the main components of the program is the creation of a new engine. Earlier, Russian specialists produced the first prototype of the engine for the PAK DA. It was planned to start testing it on a flying laboratory built on the basis of the IL-76 military transport aircraft.
In addition to Russia, the United States and China are actively developing new-generation strategic bombers. The American car has the designation B-21, the Chinese-H-20. Almost certainly, they will be conceptually close to the B-2, and therefore to the Russian bomber. It is possible that both machines will begin flight tests at about the same time: it is known for sure that the B-21 can begin testing in the next few years.
B-21 in the artist's view
Image Source: USAF
In addition to these aircraft, China may soon show the world a new tactical bomber, which, however, is even less known than the H-20 or B-21.