Since the early 2000s, the active fleet has undergone several upgrades, largely focusing on various electronic systems. A program of modernising existing aircraft to a new Tu-160M standard and building new aircraft was embarked upon, with the first updated aircraft delivered in December 2014. Plans were announced in 2015 for the delivery of 50 new-built Tu-160Ms and the upgrading of 16 existing aircraft.<ref name=jdef20220121/>
The new bombers are reported to have more sophisticated armament, engines, and avionics than the original Tu-160. In January 2022, the first newly-built Tu-160M performed a test flight,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> with two new aircraft planned for delivery in 2022<ref name= Zv22>Template:Cite web</ref> of ten on order.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=jdef20220121>Template:Cite web</ref>Template:Update after
The first competition for a supersonic strategic heavy bomber was launched in the Soviet Union in 1967. In 1972, the Soviet Union launched a new multi-mission bomber competition to create a new supersonic, variable-geometry ("swing-wing") heavy bomber with a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, in response to the US Air ForceB-1 bomber project. The Tupolev design, named Aircraft 160M, with a lengthened blended wing layout and incorporating some elements of the Tu-144, competed against the Myasishchev M-18 and the Sukhoi T-4 designs.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Work on the new Soviet bomber continued despite an end to the B-1A and, in the same year, the design was accepted by the government committee. The prototype was photographed by an airline passenger at a Zhukovsky Airfield in November 1981, about a month before the aircraft's first flight on 18 December 1981. Production was authorized in 1984, beginning at the Kazan Aircraft Production Association (KAPO).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Modernization
In 2002, the Russian Defence Ministry and KAPO agreed to modernise 15 Tu-160s.<ref name="lenta.ru"/> In July 2006, the first overhauled and partially modernized aircraft was accepted into Russian service after testing; it reportedly received the capability to use conventional weapons but was not upgraded with new avionics as previously planned.<ref name="russianforces.org">Template:Cite journal</ref> The first modernized aircraft capable of carrying the new long-range Kh-555 conventional cruise missile was delivered to the Russian Air Force in April 2008;<ref name="radar and avionics"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a follow-up contract for the modernization of three more aircraft is estimated to cost RUR3.4 billion (US$103 million).<ref name=JDW20130728>Template:Cite news</ref>
Tu-160 Valeriy Chkalov in 2015
The modernization appeared to be split into two phases, first concentrating on life extension with some initial communication–navigation updates, followed by engine upgrades after 2016.<ref name=Flight20121015>Template:Cite news</ref> In November 2014, a Tu-160 upgraded with new radar and avionics performed its first flight.<ref name="radar and avionics">Template:Cite web</ref> The aircraft was delivered to the Russian Air Force as the Tu-160M model in December 2014.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The phase I update was due to be completed by 2016, but industrial limitations may delay it to 2019Template:Update after or beyond.<ref name=JDW20131111 />
Although Kuznetsov designed an NK-32M engine with improved reliability over the NK-32 engines, its successor company has struggled to deliver working units. Metallist-Samara JSC had not produced new engines for a decade when it was given a contract in 2011 to overhaul 26 of the existing engines; two years later, only four had been finished.<ref name=JDW20131111 /> Ownership and financial concerns hinder the prospects of a new production line; the firm insists it needs a minimum of 20 engines ordered per year but the government is only prepared to pay for 4–6 engines per year.<ref name=JDW20131111 /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A further improved engine was bench tested in 2012 and projected to potentially enter production as early as 2016.<ref name=Flight20121015 />Template:Update needed
On 2 February 2020, the modernized Tu-160M performed its first test flight at the airfield of the Kazan Aviation Plant named for I.Template:NbspGorbunov.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Deliveries started later that year, five aircraft were equipped with the new engines by August 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Vladimir Putin, 4 Tu-160M were delivered in 2023.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
The CEO of Rostec has said that most of the bomber's systems and equipment will be more sophisticated than the initial Tu-160, particularly the armament, engines, and avionics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In 2008, Russia revealed plans for one new Tu-160 to be delivered every one to two years with the aim of increasing the active inventory to 30 or more aircraft by 2025–2030.<ref>"На КАПО им.Горбунова испытали новый серийный Ту-160" Template:In lang. Template:WebarchiveTatar-Inform Information Agency, Kazan, 6 January 2008.</ref> On 29 April 2015, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on order of President Putin,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> announced that Tu-160 production would resume.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In May 2015, TASS reported that the Russian Air Force would purchase at least 50 KAPO-built Tu-160s.<ref name=Revival>Template:Cite news</ref> General Viktor Bondarev stated that development of the PAK DA would proceed alongside Tu-160 production.<ref name=Revival/>
On 16 November 2017, a newly assembled Tu-160, built from an unfinished airframe, was unveiled during a roll-out ceremony at KAPO, signifying a restoration of some production techniques (such as electron-beam welding and titanium work) that had fallen into disuse after the termination of serial production in 1992. The new aircraft was named Petr Deinekin after the first commanding officer of the Russian Air Force.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Dmitri Rogozin, the serial production of wholly new airframes for the modernized Tu-160M2 should begin in 2019 with deliveries to the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2023.<ref name= Zv17>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Maiden flight of the first newly manufactured Tu-160M2 Petr Deinekin
The Petr Deinekin Tu-160 performed its first public flight on 25 January 2018, during President Vladimir Putin's visit to the KAPO plant,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and a contract for ten upgraded Tu-160M2s was signed.<ref name=Tu-160M2contract>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> On 12 January 2022 a new-build<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Tu-160M had its first low altitude basic test flight.<ref name=tu2022-01/> It is planned to deliver two new-build Tu-160M in 2022<ref name= Zv22/> with production increasing until all 50 new aircraft on order are delivered.Template:Cn In December 2022, United Aircraft Corporation announced that the second new-build Tu-160M and the fourth modernized Tu-160M were starting flight tests.<ref name=":0" /> It was also reported that the first new Tu-160 had completed factory testing.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Four aircraft were delivered on 21 February 2024.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Other proposed variants
A demilitarized, commercial version of the Tu-160, named Tu-160SK, was displayed at Asian Aerospace in Singapore in 1994 with a model of a small space vehicle named Burlak<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> attached underneath the fuselage.
Weapons are carried in two internal bays, each capable of holding Template:Convert of free-fall weapons or a rotary launcher for missiles capable of carrying conventional or nuclear warheads. The aircraft's total weapons load capacity is 45,000 kg (99,208 lb).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> No defensive weapons are provided; the Tu-160 is the first post-World War II Soviet bomber to lack such defenses. In 2020, officials stated that the Russian Aerospace Forces is planning to arm the Tu-160 with new hypersonic missiles, in particular the nuclear-capable Kh-47M2 Kinzhal hypersonic air-launched ballistic missile.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
While similar in appearance to the American B-1 Lancer, the Tu-160 is a different class of combat aircraft; its primary role being a standoff missile platform (strategic missile carrier).<ref name=tu2022-01>Template:Cite web</ref> The Tu-160 is also larger and faster than the B-1B and has a slightly greater combat range, though the B-1B has a larger combined payload with external payload.<ref>The Directory of the World's Weapons 1996, p. 140.</ref> Another noticeable difference is that the B-1's colour scheme is usually subdued dark gray to reduce visibility; the Tu-160 is painted with anti-flash white, giving it the nickname among Russian airmen "White Swan".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=tu2022-01/> On 16 September 2023, Commander of the long-range aviation Lieutenant General Sergei Kobylash announced that Russian Tu-160s were outfitted with the newest Kh-BD cruise missile with range of 6,500 km. Each bomber can carry 12 missiles separated on two rotary launchers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Operational history
A Tu-160 with Soviet officers in front, September 1989
In April 1987, the Tu-160 entered operational service with the 184th Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment located at Pryluky, Ukrainian SSR.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> The regiment, previously operating Tu-16 and Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, was the first unit to receive the Tu-160. Squadron deployments to Long Range Aviation began that same month. The Tu-160's first public appearance in a parade came in 1989. During 1989 and 1990, a total of 44 world speed flight records in its weight class were set. In January 1992, Boris Yeltsin decided to end serial production of the Tu-160; 35 aircraft were completed by this time. Russia also unilaterally suspended flights of strategic aviation over remote regions.<ref name="lenta.ru">Template:Cite web</ref>
A total of 19 Tu-160s were based inside the newly independent Ukraine during the dissolution of the Soviet Union. On 25 August 1991, the Ukrainian parliament decreed that the new nation would take control of all military units on its territory; a Defence Ministry was created that same day. By the mid-1990s, the Pryluky regiment had lost its value as a combat unit; 19 Tu-160s were effectively grounded due to a lack of technical support and spare parts. Ukraine considered the Tu-160s to be a bargaining chip in economic negotiations with Russia and of limited military value. While Russian experts, who examined the aircraft at the Pryluky Air Base in 1993 and 1996, assessed their technical condition as good, the US$3 billion price proposed by Ukraine was considered by Russia to be unacceptable. In April 1998, amid stalled negotiations, Ukraine decided to commence scrapping the fleet under the Nunn–Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction agreement. In November, the first Tu-160 was deconstructed at Pryluky.<ref name="Russia's_Strategic_Bomber_Force">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In April 1999, Russia resumed talks with Ukraine, proposing to purchase eight Tu-160 and three Tu-95MS bombers manufactured in 1991 (those in the best technical condition), as well as 575 Kh-55SM cruise missiles. An agreement was reached and a US$285 million contract was signed, the value of which was deducted from Ukraine's debt for natural gas. On 20 October 1999, a group of Russian military experts went to Ukraine to prepare the aircraft for the flight to Engels-2 air base. On 5 November, the first two aircraft, a Tu-160 and a Tu-95MS, departed Pryluky. During the following months, the rest were flown to Engels-2.<ref name="Russia's_Strategic_Bomber_Force" />
Russian President Vladimir Putin inside the cockpit of a Tu-160 in August 2005
Alongside buying Ukrainian Tu-160s, Russia pursued other means of expanding its fleet. In June 1999, the Russian Defence Ministry and KAPO signed a contract for the delivery of a single near-complete bomber. Named Aleksandr Molodchiy, it was the second aircraft in the eighth production batch. It arrived at Engels-2 on 10 September and was commissioned into service on 5 May 2000.<ref name="Russia's_Strategic_Bomber_Force" /> The unit operating the fleet from Engels-2 was the 121st Guards Heavy Bomber Regiment, which was formed up in early 1992 and received six aircraft by 1994. By the end of February 2001, the fleet stood at 15 with the addition of the eight Ukrainian Tu-160s and the new-build.<ref name="Russia's_Strategic_Bomber_Force" /><ref name="take-off.ru">Template:Cite web</ref> The fleet was reduced to 14 due to the crash of the Mikhail Gromov during flight trials of a replacement engine on 18 September 2003.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="take-off.ru"/> On 5 July 2006, a Tu-160 named Valentin Bliznyuk, named after the Tu-160's chief designer, entered service with the Russian Air Force after completing its overhaul, bringing the total number back to 15.<ref name="russianforces.org"/> Built in 1986, it was formerly used as a test aircraft by Tupolev.<ref name="lenta.ru"/>
On 22 April 2006, the commander of the Long-Range Aviation Lieutenant General Igor Khvorov reported a pair of Tu-160s flew undetected through a US-controlled sector during a military exercise in the Arctic.<ref name="lenta.ru"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 17 August 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of strategic aviation flights, which had been suspended in 1991.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On 14 September 2007, British and Norwegian fighters intercepted two Tu-160s in international airspace near the United Kingdom and Finland, as they were patrolling the North Atlantic.<ref>Satter, Raphael G. "NATO jets intercept Russian warplanes."Template:WebarchiveUSA Today, 14 September 2007. Retrieved 19 July 2009.</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="lenta.ru"/> On 25 December 2007, two Danish Air Force F-16s were scrambled to intercept two Tu-160s near Danish airspace.Template:Cn
On 29 April 2008, a new Tu-160 named Vitaly Kopylov joined the Russian Air Force, increasing the total number of aircraft in service to 16.<ref name="lenta.ru"/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In early 2008, Tu-160s took part in an exercise with the Russian Navy in the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name="lenta.ru"/>
A Tu-160 is intercepted by an RAFTornado F3 in March 2010
On 10 September 2008, two Tu-160s made an unprecedented deployment to Russia's ally Venezuela as part of military manoeuvres amid increasingly tense relations between Russia and the United States. The Russian Defence Ministry said Vasily Senko and Aleksandr Molodchiy would conduct training flights over neutral waters before returning to Russia. They were escorted by NATO fighters as they crossed the Atlantic Ocean.<ref>"Russian bombers land in Venezuela."Template:Webarchive BBC News, 11 September 2008.</ref>
On 12 October 2008, Tu-160s were involved in the largest Russian strategic bomber exercise since 1984. A total of 12 bombers, including Tu-160 and Tu-95 aircraft conducted a series of launches of their cruise missiles. Some bombers launched a full complement of missiles; it was the first time that a Tu-160 had ever fired a full complement of missiles.<ref>"Russia plans biggest missile test for 24 years."Template:WebarchiveThe Daily Telegraph, 7 October 2008.</ref>
On 10 June 2010, two Tu-160s carried out a record-breaking 23-hour patrol with a planned flight range of Template:Convert, having flown along Russia's borders and over neutral waters in the Arctic and Pacific Oceans.Template:Cn
In August 2011, Russian media claimed that only four of the sixteen Tu-160s were flightworthy.<ref name=JDW20131111>Template:Cite news</ref> Flight International reported eleven were combat-ready by mid-2012;<ref name=Flight20121015 /> between 2011 and 2013, eleven were observed in flight.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 1 November 2013, Aleksandr Golovanov and Aleksandr Novikov entered Colombian airspace on two separate occasions while flying from Venezuela to Nicaragua. Noting a lack of clearance, the Colombian government issued a letter of protest to the Russian government after the first violation.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In the second violation, two Colombian Air ForceIAI Kfirs stationed at Barranquilla intercepted and escorted the two Tu-160s out of Colombian airspace.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 17 November 2015, as part of the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War, several Tu-160 and Tu-95MS strategic bombers of the Russian Aerospace Forces fired Kh-101 air-launched cruise missiles from above the Mediterranean Sea, striking targets in Idlib and Aleppo provinces. In total, between 34 and 83<ref name="ffi2016">Template:Cite book</ref> cruise missiles were fired, destroying 14 targets. In addition, Tu-22M3 strategic bombers hit numerous claimed Islamic State targets with unguided munitions. This operation also marked the combat debut for the Tu-160 and Tu-95MS.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=DT>Template:Cite news</ref>
In August 2018, several Russian military aircraft including two Tu-160, Tu-95MS strategic bombers and Il-78 aerial tankers were deployed for the first time to the Russian Far East as part of a long-range tactical flight exercise, flying 7,000 km non-stop flight from their home base in Saratov Oblast to Chukotka. During the exercise, the crews practised the combat use of cruise missiles at the Komi Test Range and performed aerial refueling.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
On 10 December 2018, two Tu-160s accompanied by an An-124 cargo plane and an Il-62 passenger plane, landed at the Maiquetía airport in Venezuela.<ref name="VenezuelaIsachenkovTime">Template:Cite magazine</ref> On 23 October 2019, two Tu-160s accompanied by an An-124 and an Il-62 visited South Africa as part of strengthening ties between the two nations; the aircraft performed a 13 hours non-stop flight over the Caspian Sea, Arabian Sea, and Indian Ocean, covering Template:Cvt with mid-air refueling and landed at Waterkloof Air Force Base in South Africa. It was the Tu-160's first visit to the African continent.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
On 20 January 2025, Ukraine launched a drone attack on the Gorbunov Kazan Aviation Plant in Kazan, Russia where the Tu-160 is built, about Template:Cvt from the border with Ukraine, causing several explosions. Russian sources stated that damage was minimal and all drone threats had been neutralized.<ref name=newsweek20250120>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=mt20250120>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2022, retired Air Chief Marshal Anoop Raha said India was interested in purchasing Tu-160s.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Reports emerged in late 2022 that India was in talks with Russia to acquire six Tu-160s that could make India the only country other than US, Russia and China to have operational strategic bombers.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>Template:Update after
Designation used for serial Tu-160s when needed to separate them from all the pre-production and experimental aircraft.<ref name="A&C">Aviation and Cosmonautics magazine, 5.2006, pp. 10–11. Template:OCLC.</ref>
Proposed commercial version, designed to launch satellites via the "Burlak" (Template:Langx, "hauler") launch system.<ref name="A&C" />
Tu-160M2
Highly upgraded version featuring,<ref name="urlRussia Rolls Out New Tu-160M2, But Are Moscows Bomber Ambitions Realistic? - The Drive">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> new avionics, electronics, glass cockpit, communications and control systems, and a number of new weapons, as well as new more powerful and efficient engines giving it greater operational range. It will also have a new defensive system to protect it from incoming missiles.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="urlRussia Says Its Future Bombers Will Have Protection From All Missiles - The Drive">Template:Cite web</ref> The first plane was to be ready by late 2021.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> There has been some discussion about whether radar absorptive materials have been applied,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but most sources confine its upgrades to electronic warfare and enhanced range/avionics.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Russian Aerospace Forces – 18 Tu-160/M operational, of which 5 Tu-160 in repair and modernization. There are a further 2 Tu-160M under construction, "which are being assembled under the 'reproduction' program from Soviet-era scrap: these aircraft [have] received numbers 904 and 905, respectively."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> According to Newsweek, 2 Tu-160M and 2 Tu-160M2 have been commissioned as of July 2025.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
.jpg)
