Producer of World’s Fastest Bomber Claims it Retains Global Primacy: How Capable is Russia’s Tu-160M?

Russia’s Tu-160 strategic bomber remains the world’s leading supersonic aircraft of its class, according to Yury Abrosimov, chief executive of Tupolev, the design bureau responsible for developing the aircraft. “The Tu-160 strategic missile carrier is still the best supersonic aircraft in the world, outperforming a comparable aircraft system used by the United States. The Tu-160 holds 46 official world records, including those for flight duration and range,” Abrosimov argued. His remarks came as Russia continues serial production of the modernised Tu-160M. The Tu-160 has consistently been assessed to be one of the world’s two most capable operational strategic bomber types, alongside the U.S. Air Force B-2, with the Russian bomber having a significantly superior flight performance and access to a much wider range of missile types, while the B-2, although hampered by very poor availability rates, benefits from advanced stealth capabilities allowing it to launch penetration strikes. 

The Tu-160M retains the distinctive variable-sweep-wing configuration of the original aircraft, and inherits its unique ability to fly at over Mach 2 speeds, but incorporates extensive changes to its internal systems. Abrosimov stated that approximately 80 per cent of its systems and equipment had been modernised, with its avionics, flight and weapons-control systems, navigation equipment and engines all receiving upgrades. These changes are intended to extend the aircraft’s service life and improve its ability to operate with modern weapons and navigation systems, rather than substantially altering its external design.

Russia’s program to resume production of the Tu-160M was launched in 2015, after the original production line had been inactive for decades. Re-establishing manufacturing has required the recovery of specialised industrial processes, including vacuum welding techniques used for large titanium structures, alongside the restoration of airframe assembly and the digitisation of design documentation. The effort has also brought together companies specialising in metallurgy, aircraft manufacturing, mechanical engineering and avionics, reflecting the complexity of rebuilding production capabilities for an aircraft originally developed during the Soviet period. 

The Tu-160 first saw combat in 2015 launching air strikes against jihadist militants in Syria to support Syrian government counterinsurgency effort, and subsequently in June 2025 saw its first deployment to launch sorties against Ukrainian targets. The aircraft can carry up to 12 Kh-55 or Kh-101/2 cruise missiles in two internal rotary launchers. Although currently world leading, the bomber is expected to see its international standing diminish considerably as China and the United States bring new generations of stealth bombers into service, with the U.S. B-21 and two separate Chinese designs all already having reached flight testing stages. Russia’s PAK DP stealth bomber program, by contrast, has faced considerable delays, with its future remaining highly uncertain. It has been speculated that Russia’s defence sector could seek Chinese support for development.