MOSCOW, June 29. /TASS/. Proposed long-range next generation plane being developed by the Tupolev design bureau will have a variety of functions. It will be configured as a bomber, command center or reconnaissance plane, as follows from memos compiled for a meeting of the council for legislative support for the defense-industrial complex and military-technical cooperation under the Federation Council.
"Next generation front-line aviation planes (Sukhoi-57) are being created for addressing a wide range of tasks. So are airborne command centers at the strategic and operative levels and reconnaissance and strategic aviation planes (PAK DA)," the memos say.
Earlier, the head of the Federation Council’s defense and security committee Viktor Bondarev said that research and development was nearing completion on a next generation long-range multifunctional plane that will replace Tupolev-22M3, Tupolev-95MS and eventually Tupolev-160.
PAK DA is slated to enter duty in 2025-2030 after testing.
Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Borisov earlier said that a new strategic bomber might be presented to the public in 2018. PAK DA, he said, may make the first flight in 2025-2026 and begin to be batch-produced in 2028 or 2029.
TASS