PAK DA
The PAK DA (or PAK-DA), is a proposed Russian next-generation strategic bomber design, being developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau. The PAK DA acronym (ПАК ДА in Russian) stands for перспективный авиационный комплекс дальней авиации (perspektivnyi aviatsionnyi kompleks dal'ney aviatsii) literally meaning "prospective aviation complex for long-range aviation". The PAK DA was planned to be a new stealthy strategic bomber and is expected to enter service in 2025–30, with the first aircraft previously planned for delivery in 2020, but delivery will now occur sometime beyond 2023.
Development
In 2008, it was reported that the Russian Air Force had tactical and technical requirements for a new generation of strategic bombers. According to some early reports, the PAK DA would be heavily based on the supersonic Tu-160 bomber. Later references to the new bomber, including a televised address from then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, seemed to imply the aircraft would be an entirely new design.
