The changes include fully updated avionics, aircraft and weapons control systems, navigation equipment and upgraded engines. According to Abrosimov, the bomber is now built using a new technological base incorporating digital processes.
“One of the main difficulties we encountered was restoring industrial cooperation, starting with suppliers of materials and semi-finished products,” Abrosimov said. “We effectively rebuilt the production chains for a number of assemblies, taking modern technologies into account.”
The work included upgrading workshop equipment and flight-test facilities. Specialised installations for electron-beam welding and vacuum annealing of titanium assemblies were also brought into operation.
The programme required a shared digital environment linking design and production. Sukhoi, Mikoyan and Ilyushin design bureaux helped prepare the digital documentation.Participating United Aircraft Corporation enterprises now work within a common digital information system. Abrosimov said this allows them to track changes and introduce them into manufacturing more quickly.
The Tu-160M retains the variable-geometry wing configuration of the earlier bomber. Abrosimov attributed its combination of speed, range, endurance and payload to the airframe layout and propulsion system.
He said the onboard equipment architecture allows individual systems to be replaced when they become outdated. This is intended to expand the aircraft’s capabilities without requiring the entire equipment suite to be modernised.
The bomber forms part of Russia’s nuclear triad. Abrosimov described the resumption of series production as a way to develop specialised industrial capabilities and strengthen technological independence.
Abrosimov singled out the first flight of an entirely new Tu-160M in January 2022 as the programme’s most memorable moment. He recalled employees gathering outside the factory to watch it take off.
Some industry veterans had questioned whether the modern production network could recreate an aircraft originally built through cooperation across the Soviet Union. The project paired specialists and workers aged 30–35 with experienced personnel invited to share their knowledge of Soviet-era production.
“It is a test of the strength of our entire engineering and manufacturing tradition, which we passed successfully,” Abrosimov said. “It represents a new level of capability in the design and series production of highly complex and advanced aircraft systems.”
