A knowledgeable source told TASS that a prototype of a promising new-generation strategic bomber will be assembled by 2023. Earlier it became known that the first sample of the engine for the new aircraft was manufactured in Russia.
PAK DA is one of the key defense programs of Russia. It involves the creation of a fundamentally new bomber, which will replace, in particular, the Tu-95.
Until recently, the timing of the appearance of the first cars remained blurry. However, now a source in the aircraft industry has told TASS important details. "The production of a prototype is underway. It is assumed that the demonstration sample will be ready by 2023, " the agency interlocutor said. There is no official confirmation.
In the winter of the year before last, Deputy Defense Minister Alexey Krivoruchko announced the approval of the draft design of the new car. In 2020, sources announced the start of production of the first prototype. The final assembly will be carried out at the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S. P. Gorbunov.
At the end of last year, it became known that engineers had produced a prototype aircraft engine for the PAK DA strategic bomber. For testing the engine [...], a flying laboratory can be used on the basis of the Il-76 military transport aircraft.
The proposed image of a promising bomber under the PAK DA program
Image source: Piotr Butowski/Air&Cosmos
And although the PAK DA program became known more than a decade ago, many key aspects (including the estimated flight performance characteristics of the aircraft) are kept secret.
It is known from open sources that the car will be inconspicuous, subsonic and built according to the "flying wing"aerodynamic scheme. In other words, the aircraft will become an analogue of the American B-2 Spirit. Among other things, the PAK DA armament should include a new long-range hypersonic missile.
The Americans can write off the B-2 itself in the foreseeable future, transferring its functions to the new Northrop Grumman B-21 Raider.
The latter may make its first flight in the next few years. Recently [...], the most detailed image of the new car was posted on the Network today (although it is official, there are no guarantees that the new aircraft will look exactly like this).
B-21
Image source: USAF
Apparently, the Chinese have also taken a similar path: the promising Xian H-20 bomber will most likely also be an analogue of the B-2 or B-21.
If you believe the model shown a few years ago, the external differences from overseas cars will be minimal. Like the new Russian and American cars, the Chinese plane may make its first flight in the foreseeable future.
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