Perilous Times
Putin: Russia to build new strategic Nuke Bomber
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin looks on during a visit to the
city of Beslan in the republic of North Ossetia in the Russia's North
Caucasus, Monday, March 1, 2010. Putin said Monday during a government
meeting that focused on the military aviation that Russia will build a
new strategic bomber. He said that the development of new aircraft
engines, materials for aircraft construction and electronics are the
top priorities.
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
The Associated Press
Monday, March 1, 2010; 2:53 PM
MOSCOW -- Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia will
build a new strategic bomber, a move that comes as the nation tries to
upgrade its aging military arsenal.
Putin said in televised remarks that work on the bomber must follow the
development of a prospective stealth fighter, which made its maiden
flight in January and was hailed by the government as a big step in
military modernization efforts.
"We won't limit ourselves to just one new model," Putin said at a
government meeting that focused on military aviation. "We must start
work on a prospective long-range aircraft, our new strategic bomber."
Putin didn't mention any details in his public remarks, but said that
the development of new aircraft engines, materials for aircraft
construction and electronics will be the top priorities.
The chief of the Russian long-range aviation, Maj. Gen. Anatoly
Zhikharev, said earlier this year that a prospective new bomber must
join the air force in 2025-2030. Zhikharev said the new aircraft should
replace the Soviet-built Tu-95 and Tu-160 strategic bombers.
While the first flight of the new stealth fighter, the T-50, was
cheered by the government, observers noted that it came nearly two
decades after the first prototype of the U.S. F-22 Raptor took to the
air.
No images of the prospective new Russian strategic bomber have been
published, but some commentators said it might follow the design of the
U.S. B-2 bomber, which also made its first flight more than 20 years
ago.
Military analysts said that new Russian weapons programs have suffered
from post-Soviet industrial degradation that badly affected the
production quality and slowed down new developments.
Putin acknowledged that the new fighter program is still in its early
stage, adding that the aircraft will have to conduct about 2,000 test
flights before it goes into production. He said earlier that the
fighter's serial production is set to begin in 2015.