The Russian Aerospace Forces received two upgraded Tu-160M strategic bombers in late 2025, ending a cycle of delays that had lasted since the signing of the contract in 2018.
The delivery was confirmed by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov during a closing meeting of the Defense Ministry, according to Russian and Ukrainian media reports.
Belousov did not say whether the delivered aircraft are newly built units or older Tu-160 bombers that have returned to service after extensive modernization. The original contract called for the delivery of ten Tu-160Ms for approximately US$1.92 billion, with initially even more ambitious plans mentioning up to 50 aircraft, which was later scaled back.
However, the program faced successive delays. In 2019, then-minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the first Tu-160M would enter service in 2021, which did not materialize. At the same time, Russia sought to resume production of the Tu-160 family, with the first newly built Tu-160M2 flying in January 2022 and the second unit being delivered for testing later that year. The delivery forecasts for the four aircraft were gradually pushed back from 2023 to 2024 and then to 2025.
The Tu-160M version, known in NATO as the “Blackjack”, features new avionics, navigation and communications systems, and is compatible with modern long-range cruise missiles, while maintaining a strategic role within the air arm of Russia’s nuclear triad.
The modernization and resumption of production comes in the context of significant long-range losses to the Russian Air Force since the start of the war in Ukraine, including Tu-22M3 and Tu-95MS bombers, according to open-source assessments.
Source: Militarnyi / Defence Blog | Photo: X @TomatkaP | This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team
Two of the world’s most powerful new aircraft, the TU-160M missile carrier, have joined the Russian Air Force. Despite the crisis of the 90s, the Russian defense industry managed to restore production of the world’s most powerful strategic missile carriers,
🧵 pic.twitter.com/3deMngWCYZ— Neznakomaya❤🇷🇺 (@TomatkaP) December 19, 2025
