PAK DA - Russian Fifth Generation Steath Bomber

Only against Pak and it can be done using MKI

Carpet bombing is mostly done by heavy bombers or transport aircraft, the flanker will be used for air support.

MKI is a truck. Higher sortie count and we can get the job done.

I mean we will need a military target to do a carpet bombing, we just cant kill civilian population even if they are alien and if civilian population is of no concern Nukes are their as a last resort, still not a valid reason to procure a strategic bomber for a purpose of carpet bombing

Exactly. That's why I said if at all it has to be Pak and we can use MKIs for that. I don't see us carpet bomb China. We are increasingly seeing precision strikes using drones and cruise missiles. Don't see any need to carpet bomb. It's usually to flatten a city which will include civilians. Something that we saw in WWII or Vietnam war. It's indiscriminate.

Long range aviation or strategic aviation is part of Nuclear Triad paradigm. There is no need to argue "need it or not".

Nuclear triad - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Russia to replace current bombers with subsonic flying wing

he Russian air force has selected a subsonic Tupolev flying wing proposal as the basis for its PAK-DA long-range bomber programme, according to command sources quoted by local media. If confirmed, the choice would end a long campaign by deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin to develop a hypersonic aircraft, which appears to have been abandoned as technically incompatible with the air force's insistence on extended-range performance and stealth characteristics.


Moscow announced a competition for bomber designs during 2012. Its programme "attracted several proposals from various design bureaus, including the Tupolev flying-wing design and at least one hypersonic proposal", a defence ministry source told the Izvestia newspaper.

A blended fuselage flying-wing design will permit installation of the engines inside the aircraft, maximising stealth and minimising the aircraft's infrared signature, air force sources say.

"Given the timescale, the general state of the Russian aerospace sector, the demands being placed upon it, and the likely available funding, a high-speed option was unlikely to be favoured given the enormous technical risk," says Douglas Barrie, air warfare analyst with the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies. "Hypersonics may feature as part of the PAK-DA programme, but as strike weapons carried within the aircraft's internal bay or bays."

Last year, Rogozin announced the formation of a joint-venture between Tactical Missiles Corporation and NPO Mashinostroyenia to research hypersonic technology.

Tupolev will complete an outline proposal for the aircraft and present a budget proposal for detailed design work by the start of 2014. Production is due to begin by 2020, with the type expected to eventually replace the air force's Tupolev Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers.

"Even taking the 'conservative' option, the timescale for development of the bomber remains ambitious," Barrie says.

Rogozin had long championed a hypersonic design for Russia's future bomber requirement. Speaking in August 2012, he noted: "The question is: will we copy the Americans' 40-year experience and create a [Northrop Grumman] B-2 analog? Or will we go down a new, ultra-modern technology route, looking to the horizon, and create a machine able to penetrate air defences and carry out a strike on any aggressor?"

Deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin had wanted to avoid imitating the USAF's B-2 design


Russia to replace current bombers with subsonic flying wing

PAK DA - Russian Fifth Generation Steath Bomber

In a meeting with Russian lawmakers, Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Viktor Bondarev said that all the relevant document were signed allowing the industry to begin the development of systems for the plane.

With its flying wing shape and radar-evading capabilities, the subsonic PAK-DA is destined to replace Moscow’s aging fleet of 63 Tu-95 Bear and 13 Tu-160 Blackjack strategic bombers.

According to the RIA Novosti, Russian Air Force commander insisted that the aircraft will be equipped with advanced electronic warfare systems and armed with new nuclear-capable long-range cruise missiles, and will be able to carry a wide array of conventional precision guided weapons.

The new plane will enter production stage by 2020 with the first bomber in active service by 2025-2030 timeframe.