The future PAK DA strategic bomber project is progressing; A month ago we approached the topic by reviewing the information available on this project.
The TASS newspaper announced on 13 April that the Russian State had signed a new contract with OKB Tupolev for the manufacture of a first prototype of the future bomber.
While this information may seem trivial, it still tells us / confirms some details about the device;
The PAK DA will be a flying wing, its design is fixed and other options are not envisaged
The PAK DA will be subsonic and its weapon carried internally (the supersonic option is therefore clearly abandoned)
The model (in wood) presented to the military a month ago is indeed the one presenting the definitive design of the Aircraft
The details of the project's progress are therefore beginning to be a little clearer;
The first phase of the project for defining and approving the final design of the aircraft has been completed; This phase having started in 2009 and will end at the end of 2016.
The second phase of the project therefore begins at this time; It concerns the realization of the technical documentation related to the program which will then lead to the manufacture of the first prototype.
The latter will be produced at the KAPO plant (Kazan) where mass production of the PAK DA will take place alongside those of the Tu-160M2. According to TASS, the first prototype will be produced in the early 2020s for a first flight expected around 2024.
While initially the timing was a first flight in 2019-2020 for an entry into service in units around 2023; It is confirmed that the timing has been shifted largely following the revival of the production of Tu-160 in its modernized form Tu-160M2. It is obvious that the excuse of the revival of the Tu-160M2 is somewhat the tree that masks the forest.
So we see, the PAK DA project is progressing but at a rate that is not as fast as initially hoped. It has already taken almost 8 years to see the end of the first phase and it is a safe bet that it will take about the same period of time to get a flying prototype.
However, the timing of the project's progress should be put into perspective. Given the magnitude of the project, its importance and the technological solutions employed, which are for the majority of the first in Russia, it was to be expected that the initial timetable was far too ambitious.
