Russia Rebuilds Factories to Restart Tu-160M Strategic Bomber Production

The head of Tupolev has said that Russia has restructured supply chains and modernized factories to resume production of the Tu-160M strategic bomber.

Yuri Abrosimov discussed the effort in an article published by the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), which includes Tupolev.

Abrosimov identified restoring industrial cooperation, starting with suppliers of materials and semi-finished products, as a key challenge.

According to him, they had to rebuild technological processes for several assemblies from scratch using modern technologies. The company upgraded workshop equipment and its flight-test facilities, and introduced electron-beam welding and vacuum annealing systems for titanium assemblies.

According to the company head, the Tu-160M supersonic strategic bomber retains its original external appearance but is being built using a new technological base and digital technologies.

Under the modernization program, the company upgraded 80% of the aircraft’s systems and equipment. The onboard electronic equipment, flight and weapons control systems, and navigation systems were completely renewed, while the engines were also modernized.

Abrosimov noted that the approach to modernizing the onboard systems would allow the aircraft’s capabilities to expand in the future without major modifications. The onboard equipment architecture allows individual systems to be replaced as they become obsolete without upgrading the entire suite. This is intended to enable the aircraft to adapt to new requirements and take on additional missions.

Resuming Tu-160M Production

Work to modernize the facility and its workshops began in 2016, after the Russian Ministry of Defense decided to resume bomber production. During preparations for the production line, the company faced corruption-related criminal proceedings and delays in restoring Tu-160M production.

In June 2024, Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation announced it had completed modernization at three workshops for producing new Tu-160 bombers. Overall, from 2016 to 2024, about 10 production facilities were modernized to prepare them for serial production of key components.

Under the original plan, the Kazan Aviation Plant (KAZ) was to complete modernization of all its centers and workshops by 2020. After KAZ reported that it could not meet the deadline, the company funded further modernization itself.

Under a contract signed by the Russian Ministry of Defense for the 2018–2027 period, the Russian Aerospace Forces were expected to receive 10 newly built Tu-160M aircraft. Initial plans called for an order of 50 aircraft.

The first newly built Tu-160M2 made its maiden flight in Kazan on January 12, 2022, becoming the first new Tu-160 built since the 1990s. In December 2022, a second newly built Tu-160M2 was transferred to a test facility.

In 2023, deliveries of four aircraft were expected by the end of the year: two upgraded Tu-160Ms and two newly built Tu-160M2s. The deadline was later postponed to 2024. In December 2024, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said the military would receive four Tu-160Ms in 2025.

However, by the end of 2025, Russia had announced the delivery of only two Tu-160M strategic missile carriers. It remains unclear whether these were newly built aircraft or older airframes that had been repaired, modernized, and returned to service. No announcement was made about delivering two additional aircraft.