Russia’s Aerospace Forces received two upgraded Tu-160M strategic bombers at the end of 2025, ending a cycle of delays that had persisted since the contract was signed in 2018.
The delivery was confirmed by Defense Minister Andrey Belousov during the year-end meeting of the Ministry of Defense, according to reports from Russian and Ukrainian media.
Belousov did not clarify whether the delivered aircraft are newly built units or older Tu-160 bombers that returned to service after undergoing extensive modernization. The original contract called for the delivery of ten Tu-160Ms at a cost of around US$1.92 billion, with initially more ambitious plans that mentioned up to 50 aircraft, a number later reduced.
The program, however, faced successive delays. In 2019, then-Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the first Tu-160M would enter service in 2021, which did not happen. Meanwhile, Russia attempted to resume production of the Tu-160 family, with the maiden flight of the first newly built Tu-160M2 in January 2022 and the delivery of a second unit for testing at the end of the same year. Delivery forecasts for four aircraft were postponed from 2023 to 2024, and later to 2025.
The Tu-160M variant, known to NATO as “Blackjack,” incorporates new avionics, navigation, and communication systems, along with compatibility with modern long-range cruise missiles, maintaining its strategic role within the air component of Russia’s nuclear triad.
The modernization and resumption of production occur in the context of significant losses in Russia’s long-range aviation 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
