PAK-DA: News

A few words about the PAK-DA bomber project

The magazine Air & Cosmos gives interesting information about the project of the new Russian bomber PAK DA. So, it is reported that the competition for its creation was announced in 2007, the winner of which was the Tupolev Design Bureau in August 2009. The KB has signed a three-year contract with the Ministry of Defense of Russia on the R & D "Messenger". Within the framework of the research project of the Design Bureau, Tupolev prepared a draft "product 80", approved in the spring of 2013. On December 23, 2013, the UAC for its part signed a contract for a technical project of PAK DA, which was approved in 2016.



Product 80 is a "flying wing" takeoff weight of 145 tons and a payload of 30 tons. PAK DA is almost twice as light as Tu-160 and is located between Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS. Tu-160 weighs 275 tons, Tu-95MS 185 tons and Tu-22M3 weighs 124 tons. The head of long-range aviation Anatoly Yakovlev said that the PAK DA will be a plane created according to the "flying wing" scheme with subsonic speed and a range of 15,000 km without refueling. The aircraft will be equipped with two engines "Product of the Russian Federation" with a thrust of 23 tons, created on the basis of the engine NK-32-02 ("product P"). The company ODK-Kuznetsov began its development in December 2014.

During a press conference in December 2014, Anatoly Yakovlev said that the prototype PAK DA will take off in 2019, and the aircraft will go to the combat units in 2023-2025. However, in 2015 the idea of ​​resuming production of the Tu-160M2 was accelerated and the PAK DA program was postponed to a later date. Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov said that because of the Tu-160M2 program, the PAK DA project "will be postponed somewhat." It can be assumed that the plans for PAK DA have shifted to the right about five years.

https://bmpd.livejournal.com/3088125.html

So either Piotr Butowski was using as base fanboys' art or fanboys knew something we dont

GunshipDemocracy wrote:So either Piotr Butowski was using as base fanboys' art or fanboys knew something we dont

I always felt it looked too much like a Manta Ray to be taken seriously...

GunshipDemocracy wrote:So either Piotr Butowski was using as base fanboys' art or fanboys knew something we dont

More in line with the TsAGI model of a Tupolev design :

Austin wrote:PAK DA will be cheaper than Tu-160, but will be able to replace all long-range aircraft

Подробнее на ТАСС:
http://tass.ru/armiya-i-opk/4730201

"One of the main tasks assigned by the military department to the creators of the long-range aviation complex of the long-range aviation (PAK DA) is to ensure that the new aircraft functions as all three current missile carriers (Tu-160, Tu-95MS and Tu-22M3) much cheaper than the Tu-160, "- said the agency's interlocutor. According to him, "the tactical and technical assignment for the PAK DA is approved by the military, in the near future, with the conclusion of the contract, the production of design documentation will begin, with the subsequent manufacture of prototypes."

Reducing the cost of development, production and operation of PAK DA will be partly facilitated by the fact that this aircraft will be subsonic.
The specialist did not specify the estimated value of the PAK YES, which appears in the customer's terms of reference.

The cost of Tu-160

Expert estimates of the cost of the Tu-160 aircraft range from $ 250 to $ 600 million (in 1993, the media called the sum of 6 billion rubles, which at the time corresponded to approximately $ 600 million). One hour of the missile carrier's flight (without combat use) costs, according to official figures for 2008, 580 thousand rubles (about $ 23.3 thousand). The cost of the American B-1B bomber, close to the Tu-160 for performance, is $ 317 million, the flight hour costs $ 57.8 thousand.

More than to the fact of being subsonic, it would be the relatively small dimension and being propelled by just two (not afterburning) engines to cut down cost dramatically.

Developing a stealth frame can be very costly but once design is freezed such initial cost would be spread over the whole production.

Isos wrote:What is "PAK YES" ?

PAK-DA. It comes out "YES" in the google translation (da=yes) , i will fix it

not sure if i like this idea of "Smaller, cheaper and subsonic", seems like a downgrade to me in comparison with Tu-160.

Arctic_Fox wrote:not sure if i like this idea of "Smaller, cheaper and subsonic", seems like a downgrade to me in comparison with Tu-160.

They are still getting Tu-160s so no problems

Besides something has to do the low grade work, they can't run expensive birds for everything

PapaDragon wrote:

Arctic_Fox wrote:not sure if i like this idea of "Smaller, cheaper and subsonic", seems like a downgrade to me in comparison with Tu-160.

They are still getting Tu-160s so no problems

Besides something has to do the low grade work, they can't run expensive birds for everything

Yes, also because having two different kind of approach, a big, fast supercruising bomber and a more affordable, very long range/time on station, subsonic but stealth plane would made things much more difficult for the counterpart.

The presence of first one would need to keep almost all the F-22A in their actual bases on american territory when instead the presence of scores of the second , armed with hypersonic antiship missiles will be a constant menace for the CVN .

In the meantime there are circulating the news that B-1B and B-2 would be retired as soon as B-21 would be produced in enough quantity.
And rightly so, the Bone is not in any way comparable to a Tu-22M or Tu-160 as it reach just 1,3M so no clear advantage neither in comparison to the PAK-DA while the B-2 is a white elephant and will offer nothing substantially superior to the B-21.

Big_Gazza wrote:

GunshipDemocracy wrote:So either Piotr Butowski was using as base fanboys' art or fanboys knew something we dont

I always felt it looked too much like a Manta Ray to be taken seriously...

especially in this camouflage  But manta Ray has non stealth  inlet when its hungry  so to speak

archangelski wrote:

More in line with the TsAGI model of a Tupolev design :

Looks like a plastic toy model at fist sight BTW I wonder how large cockpit there can be? enough to stretch legs? go to toilet? to prepare some food?

Isos wrote:What is "PAK YES" ?

Automated translator took the acronym DA (Dalinska Avyiatsia-Long Range Aviation) for the plain word Da and translated it with Yes...
Same with mashina being translated to road car instead than just machine.

Install Yandex Browser to get rid of such inconvenience, being based on russian language it manage the automatic translation better.

not sure if i like this idea of "Smaller, cheaper and subsonic", seems like a downgrade to me in comparison with Tu-160.

Affordable makes sense because they can have more in service...

Do you think the A-10 and Su-25 are rubbish because they are subsonic?

All those supersonic fighters and no supersonic inflight refuelling aircraft...

Supersonic costs money... why make a stand off cruise missile carrier supersonic?

Makes rather more sense to make the missiles hypersonic...

Eehnie seems to have made himself scarce...

They would have hard time makeing Su-25 and A-10 supersonic.

When they were introduced there were plenty of fast moving fighterbombers like the MiG-27 and the Su-17 family in the Soviet Union and the Jaguar in the west...

The point is that their jobs did not need supersonic speed... ability to operate from frontline strips was more important than high speed and long range... low speed meant targets could be spotted and dealt with, and extra weapons pylons allowed heavy weapon loads to be carried.

With armements they produce drag as no other fighter jet.

Subsonic means more internal volume to carry more weapons internally... these aircraft are not first strike aircraft.... even at high subsonic flight to the launch area and a supersonic dash and then launch and then flight home for a Tu-160 will take 8 hours or more for the missiles to hit their targets, so it is not like having supersonic speed is going to make any difference.

The airspace they will be penetrating will be about 3-4 hours after all those ICBM warheads and SLBM warheads have vaporised everything.

Subsonic means less powerfull engine but more economic so they can fly at low lvl during all the mission which is better specially in a mountainous environement.

Actually the turbojet engine of the Su-25 is not that efficient at low altitude... it would be rather more efficient at medium to high altitude like most jet engines.

Those two Aircraft are the best one ever build in my opinion. They are the most usefull for every war.

they are better than their supersonic equivalents because very high speed is actually counter productive for the missions they engage in.

For a strategic bomber speed is not useless, but it wont make them invulnerable either and it costs a lot of money in terms of weight and fuel and design compromises to achieve supersonic speed... by going for subsonic you save an awful lot of money and greatly increase your design options... including increase internal volume for fuel and weapons.

the new missiles it will be carrying will be bigger... 12m or more in length perhaps with flight ranges of more than 5,000km, or very high flight speeds... carrying them internally improves flight performance by not increasing drag, and keeps RCS low... I doubt they will go for a tiny RCS as that is expensive, but if they can keep it relatively low it extends the distance at which it can operate from enemy forces without being spotted easily.

wilhelm wrote:Eehnie seems to have made himself scarce...

Nah, he's probably digging through Star Wars wookieepedia trying to get more "evidence" that flotilla of Lider destroyers has almost completed construction....

I guarantee you he is coming back with more "facts"

GunshipDemocracy wrote:

GarryB wrote:Shame they don't list the upgrades...

They actually did


in short:
Crew: 2 pilots
Engines same as Tu-160M2 - NK-32
avionics - based on 160M2 (I presume netcentric with new navigation to chase CVBGs)

Weaposn: Kh-32, Kindzhal, X-50 (scaled down X-101) and Gzur ( Ma-8 missile) both x6 and with range   ~1500 km (this form BMPD)

Attention: air-frame also will be modified (didn't say to what degree though)
Build in refueling bar too      


refurbished: 36 units. Not bad to fend off NTO fleet. + 50 Tu-160M2.






Updated missile carrier Tu-22M3M will receive a rigging Tu-160

https://rg.ru/2018/04/28/reg-pfo/obnovlennyj-raketonosec-tu-22m3m-poluchit-osnastku-tu-160.html

The creation of a deeply modernized bomber-missile carrier Tu-22M3M is nearing completion, the head of the Tupolev company Alexander Konyukhov said.

- On the prototype of a deeply modernized missile carrier, assembly work and preparations for the first take-off are being completed . It is planned for the third quarter of 2018. In the same year, modernization of combat aircraft will begin, "Interfax quotes Konyukhov .

The updated Tu-22 will receive new, more economical and durable engines, as well as on-board electronics, unified with the "older brother", the strategic missile carrier Tu-160. In particular, the aircraft will have a system of space communications and the ability to receive in-flight target designation - including from mobile sea and land terminals. Given that the main task of the Tu-22 is still hunting for aircraft carriers, the ability to take on-the-fly operational information about their whereabouts will not be superfluous. Another innovation will be the bar for refueling the aircraft in the air - this option will increase the already considerable combat radius of the missile carrier - with new engines the flight range of the Tu-22M3M will be almost 10 thousand kilometers.

In parallel with the modernization of the aircraft, a new weapon is being developed for him. The upgraded electronics will allow the aircraft to use the Kh-32, Kh-55, Kh-555, Kh-101/102 missiles, and prospective Kh-50, GZUR and Dagger .

"Modernization will significantly prolong the service life of Tu-22M family aircraft," Konyukhov stressed. According to open sources, Russia has more than 100 aircraft of this type.

Collecting new cars and modernizing the drill will be in Kazan, where at the Gorbunov Aircraft Plant there are at least four Tu-22 gliders preserved from the Soviet reserve. In addition, the company has accumulated experience in restoring production of Tu-160. The first "White Swan" from the new series  climbed into the sky in early 2018.

Russia will raise into the sky  a new missile carrier

The first flight of the upgraded long-range missile carrier Tu-22M3M is scheduled for August 2018, RIA Novosti reported at the Kazan aircraft plant.

https://rg.ru/2018/04/25/reg-pfo/rossiia-podnimet-v-nebo-novyj-raketonosec.html

"We intend to lift the Tu-22M3M in the air in August," the company representative said.

Photo: Grigory Sysoev / RIA Novosti
Preparation of the Su-57 for the Victory Parade was shot on video
Deep modernization and the resumption of the mass production of the most massive long-range aircraft was laid in the State Program of Armaments for 2018-2027. The aircraft is updated according to the scheme used for the "older brother" Tu-160: from the old Tu-22M, there is only a glider (and the one is modified).

Instead of the regular NK-25 engines, the missile carrier will receive the upgraded Tu-160 power units: with a similar thrust, they are more durable and much more economical - the range of the upgraded Tu-22 will grow by one and a half times. The aircraft will receive a retractable bar for refueling in the air and an on-board electronics similar to the Tu-160M2. The crew

will be reduced from four to two people.

In the arsenal of the missile carrier will enter as available weapons of destruction: cruise missiles X-55, X-555, X-32, X-101/102, and prospective: Kindzhal , X-50 and GZUR. The weapons compartment is likely to be enlarged. The aircraft will be equipped with a space link to obtain target coordinates in real time - including from portable land and sea terminals.

Collect the updated missile carriers and modernize the combat vehicles will be at the Kazan Aircraft Plant named after Gorbunov, where from the Soviet times at least four unfinished gliders have been preserved. The GPV provides for the modernization of 36 combat aircraft, mass production of the Tu-22M3M is planned to be deployed in the mid-1920s at a rate of three or four aircraft per year.

Well, the reality coming to pass over wrong arguments.

GarryB will recognize now that the Tu-22 is an strategic bomber? Will now recognize that it was possible to recover the refueling system?

The Tu-95/142 will be replaced in good part by new units of the Tu-160.
The Il-38 is likely to be replaced by recovered units of the Tu-22.

Here, in these news about the modernized Tu-22 and Tu-160, you have the technological floor for the Tu-PAK-DA. There is not room for a Tu-PAK-DA that improves not the the technological floor marked by the modernized Tu-22 and the Tu-160. The Tu-PAK-DA is reported to be approximately of the size of the Tu-22. The TU-PAK-DA only will succeed if it improves the capabilities of the modernized Tu-22 (and of the Tu-160 in relative terms). Subsonic fanboys have a serious problem with this.

With me here or not, the reality will continue coming.

Wow 50% more range for the TU-22? That make it into a strategic bomber no? getting pretty close to 10000 km!!

GarryB will recognize now that the Tu-22 is an strategic bomber? Will now recognize that it was possible to recover the refueling system?

Actually I would say it proves the opposite... first of all the weapons listed don't include strategic nuclear weapons... ie teh Kh-102 standard nuclear armed 5,000km range land attack cruise missile that would be the primary strategic nuclear armament of the Tu-95MSM and Tu160M2 strategic cruise missile carrying aircraft.

And second if the Tu-22M3M is GETTING INFLIGHT REFUELLING capability that means that the current in service Tu0-22M3 does not currently have it.

The Il-38 is likely to be replaced by recovered units of the Tu-22.

Il-38 is an anti sub maritime patrol aircraft... what exactly can a Tu-22M3M do against a submarine? How would it even find it?

Here, in these news about the modernized Tu-22 and Tu-160, you have the technological floor for the Tu-PAK-DA. There is not room for a Tu-PAK-DA that improves not the the technological floor marked by the modernized Tu-22 and the Tu-160. The Tu-PAK-DA is reported to be approximately of the size of the Tu-22. The TU-PAK-DA only will succeed if it improves the capabilities of the modernized Tu-22 (and of the Tu-160 in relative terms). Subsonic fanboys have a serious problem with this.

the same sources that said the PAK DA will be the size of the Tu-22M3 also said Sukhoi were making it...

The PAK DA is a strategic bomber so needs to be the size of a strategic bomber aircraft like the Tu-95 or Tu-160.

It will be able to trade excess fuel for extra weapons for a theatre role, but its primary role is long range cruise missile carrier.

Wow 50% more range for the TU-22? That make it into a strategic bomber no? getting pretty close to 10000 km!!

It actually states it has a 10,000km range, so 5,000km flight radius... which is about 1,500km short of what the CIA in the US has been claiming its real performance is so it can be included in START II cuts. Now START II is null and void and means nothing any more.

Hole wrote:You know that the Il-38 and Tu-142 are anti-submarine warfare aircraft?
Why should someone use a supersonic plane for ASW?
There´s no need for that!

Supersonic ASW is useless, except for delivering the payload.

Hole wrote:You know that the Il-38 and Tu-142 are anti-submarine warfare aircraft?
Why should someone use a supersonic plane for ASW?
There´s no need for that!

Actually that is not true, if you could combine supersonic with good low speed flight characteristics then you may have something. You also have to remember the low speed of ASW planes is somewhat a result of the sensor options for ASW, as tech improves on those then slow speed and loiter times become less relevant. Also subs now have the ability to fire SAMS so ASW is getting much more dangerous. Drop a sonobuoy from higher altitude and use it to detect, high speed for transit to suspect area, drop torpedo on parachute from high altitude.

Searching for targets means long flight times over enormous distances... most of the time criss crossing the same piece of water looking for the needle... being able to fly really fast is useless... and just generally means high fuel consumption... which is also useless.

If you want a good replacement for the Tu-142 and the Il-38 then the only realistic option would be a navalised PAK DA subsonic flying wing...