With blanks from the USSR era! Russia does not have the opportunity to produce new Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 bombers from scrat

Now the Russian Federation does not have the opportunity to produce "from scratch" new Tu-160 and Tu-22M3 bombers. However, the Russians are using blanks from the Soviet era, writes RBC-Ukraine, referring to the Defense Express portal.

According to the publication, the Russian Federation is currently using blanks from the Soviet era to create formally "new" bombers. They have been standing in the workshops of the Kazan Aviation Plant (KAPO) for decades.

In particular, in 2022-2023 Russia has made three Tu-160 bombers from these blanks, which received the designation Tu-160M. It is also known that as of February 2022, one Tu-160 bomber was "stuck" at the Kazan Aviation Plant. It was also modernized.

The Russians want to put all four Tu-160Ms into service in 2025, earlier this was planned for 2023. It is now known that the Russians want to put all four Tu-160Ms into service. One of the reasons for the postponement is the difficulties with the engines and on-board electronic equipment.

According to Defense Express, the situation with the Tu-22M3 is worse, since before February 2022 Six fuselages of these aircraft were spotted at the KAPO site.

"At most two of the six fuselages were used either as "spare parts donors" or for the production of the fuselage of the modernized Tu-22M3M," the publication writes.

According to the publication, the Russians rolled out the first such aircraft in 2018, and the second - in 2023. At the moment, these are all available Tu-22M3M bombers. However, in 2012, it was planned that up to 30 Tu-22M3 bombers would be modernized at KAPO by 2020.