Aerospace

Russian stealth bomber to carry hypersonic missiles

Russia is pressing ahead with plans to develop its new PAK-DA stealth bomber, which is on par with its US analogues and will carry an array of modern weapons, including hypersonic missiles.

The PAK-DA, which is being developed by Tupolev, is expected to be a subsonic flying-wing aircraft that is roughly analogous to the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit and the US Air Force's forthcoming Long Range Strike-Bomber, National Interest wrote.

The PAK-DA is likely to feature many of the technologies that are expected to be incorporated into the new Tu-160M2 version.

In a break from previous Russian and Soviet bombers, which focused on using a combination of speed and long-range cruise missiles to deliver their payloads, the PAK-DA is the first Russian bomber optimized for stealth.

That said, the PAK-DA will probably not be a small aircraft, close in size to a Boeing 757.

It is expected to have a range of 6,740 nautical miles. It will also be able to carry 30 tons of weapons.