Translated material
Experts estimate the cost of the new strategic bomber program
On January 25, President Vladimir Putin visited the Kazan Aviation Plant. During the visit, a contract was signed for the supply of 10 Tu-160M strategic bombers to the Ministry of Defense in the amount of 160 billion rubles. until 2027. The contract also includes the supply of spare parts and maintenance. The release of the Tu-160M is scheduled to begin around 2023, Vedomosti writes .
The Ministry of Defense reported earlier that it is planned to purchase 50 bombers in total. Expenses for the reconstruction of production facilities within the framework of the Tu-160 production restoration project amount to 37 billion rubles. Thanks to these expenses, it was possible to complete the construction of the Tu-160 bomber from the Soviet backlog, the flight of which Putin observed on Thursday. Work continues on the creation of systems for the updated Tu-160M.
It is likely that the production of all 50 Tu-160Ms will last until about the mid-2030s, and their service will continue into the second half of the 21st century, Konstantin Makienko, an expert at the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, predicts.
The cost of the entire Tu-160M program will be at least 900 billion rubles, which is comparable at face value with the cost of the Sochi Olympics, Vedomosti notes, citing an estimate by a former Defense Ministry official. Already now it is the most expensive program of the entire Russian aviation industry.
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