India does not yet possess a strategic bomber aircraft, despite having the fourth largest Air Force in the world. It appears now that the Indian Air Force will soon acquire the advanced and upgraded version of the Tu-160 Blackjack called the ‘White Swan’.

This was disclosed in a throwaway line about a “bomber” being acquired by IAF, by the former CAS, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, while delivering the keynote speech, on 8 August, at the ‘Chanakya Dialogues.’ By way of another casual remark, he also mentioned the possibility of a nuclear-warhead variant of a hypersonic glide missile being developed shortly.

The negotiations with Russia are apparently in the final stages for securing on lease six – a third of a squadron —of the supersonic, fly-by-wire, 4-man crewed Tu-160. 

Strategic Bombers

A strategic bomber is a medium-to-long-range aircraft designed primarily to drop loads of air-to-ground weapons on distant targets to impede the enemy’s capacity to wage war.

Strategic bombers, as opposed to tactical bombers, fighter-bombers, and attack aircraft, are built to fly deep into enemy territory and destroy strategic targets like major infrastructure, logistical facilities, military installations, and factories. They are used in air interdiction operations to attack enemy combatants and military equipment.

Strategic bombers can carry nuclear weapons and breach opposing air defenses. The states who own them have the option to strike “anytime, anywhere” thanks to their long-range capabilities and great striking strength despite the large armaments load they carry.

Due to their size, bombers have a broad radar cross-section (RCS), making them susceptible to airborne and ground-based air defense (AD) weaponry. Additionally, they are expensive to buy and keep up. Although they have longer-range capabilities, they must be flown from deep airfields. They may undoubtedly transport electronic warfare gear to aid in deep penetration efforts.

In addition, the price of developing a strategic bomber is astronomical even by American standards. One of the reasons only a small number of nations operate and produce them is the estimated $100 billion overall production cost associated with the creation of the US’ newest bomber.

Despite these costs, strategic bombers make sense to create deterrence with China and a formidable nuclear triad to boost overall defense.

About the Tu-160

The Tupolev Tu-160 is operated by a crew of 4 personnel comprising a pilot, co-pilot, bombardier and a defensive systems officer. The aircraft has a length of 54.1 metres and a wingspan of 55.7 metres. It has a maximum speed of 2,220 kilometres per hour and an operational range of 12,300 kilometres. It has two internal weapon bays which can house 45,000 kilograms of ordnance.

The strategic bombers being large size aircrafts have a large Radar Cross Section (RCS), and hence are extremely vulnerable to both airborne and air defence systems. The strategic bombers are generally operated from the airbases located in depth.

To showcase its endurance, the Russians had staged a Murmansk to Venezuela sortie in 2008 and in 2010 a 23 hour patrol covering 18,000 kms over the Russian landmass.

One version of the bomber runs on hydrogen fuel, though for reasons of fuel/fueling aspects, the aircraft India leases will likely stick with the variant run on enhanced aviation fuel.

Like the Tu-22M Backfire, which Russia uses as a maritime strike bomber, the Tu-160 could be equipped to receive data directly from spy satellites. India has a constellation of ocean survey and spy satellites which constantly keep track of Chinese warships entering the Indian Ocean. Using this real time data, the Tu-160s can be vectored towards Chinese carrier battle groups which can then be targeted with anti-ship missiles. The bombers can also be guided by scout aircraft.

With this bomber it should be possible to planning nuclear targeting of the most distant Chinese targets — Beijing. with other critical and closer targets being taken on by Su-30MKIs.

Russia has extensively used these strategic bombers in the war against Ukraine.

Only three countries in the world – USA, Russia and China possess strategic bombers in its air force. The Indian Air Force (IAF) would be the fourth air force in the world to possess the deadly and destructive strategic bombers after the Tupolev Tu-60 strategic bombers, nicknamed White Swan, starts joining its fleet. NATO has named the Tupolev-Tu160s as Blackjack.

The PLAAF has 231 H-6 strategic bombers and 36 H-6K strategic bombers, making it the biggest air force in the world in terms of strategic bombers.

US Air Force comes a distant second with 156 B-1, B-2 and B-52 strategic bombers whilst the Russian Air Force has 135 Tu-22s, Tu-95s and Tu-160s.

An important reason of the thinking of the IAF to acquire the White Swan is that China has deployed its H-6K strategic bombers near the Indian borders. H-6Ks were first sighted near the Indian borders on November 11, 2021 which was the 72nd Raising Day of the Chinese air force (PLAAF).

Comments

The Russian Tu-160 is certainly a game changer, but it doesn’t mean India should rush headlong into a deal. In terms of size, firepower and reach, it dwarfs everything in the IAF, but it should not be forgotten that the Blackjack is a 35 year old design. Plus, with the Russian defence companies, the delivery of spares is always an issue.

The IAF could modify the aircraft for the AWAC-killing role by arming the Blackjack with the indigenous Astra Mark 3 – a 300 km range air-to-air missile which is likely to be tested by 2024. The Astra’s speed of 5,556 kph – two times faster than a bullet – means it would be able to hit targets with a huge amount of kinetic energy. The Tu-160’s blistering speed will add extra launch momentum to such a missile.

Another major spinoff is the Tu-160 will amplify Beijing’s “Malacca Dilemma”. Since a large part of China’s trade and nearly 80 per cent of its oil supplies pass through the narrow (65 km wide) waterway, long-range strikes by the IAF can bottle up Chinese merchant and naval fleets within this body of water. This will not only choke the flow of oil flowing from the Gulf and Africa to China but also grind down the country’s export-oriented economy.

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This was disclosed in a throwaway line about a “bomber” being acquired by IAF, which was preceded by a generous acknowledgement — “Mr Bharat Karnad will be happy to know”, by the former CAS, Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha. He was delivering the keynote speech, on 8 August, at the first edition of the ‘Chanakya Dialogues’ hosted by the Chanakya Foundation in New Delhi. On further questioning by me, he confirmed that the aircraft in question was the Tu-160.

By way of another casual remark, he also indicated that a nuclear-warheaded version of a hypersonic glide weapon may soon be on the way. No doubt it is an armament that will be carried in the White Swan’s weapons bay.

It will reverse the obdurately tactical and theatre-level orientation of the IAF brass for 70-odd years. It resulted in August 1971 in the IAF rejecting the Tu-22 Backfire bomber offered the Air Marshal Sheodev Singh Mission by the Soviet Defence Minister, the legendary Admiral of the Fleet, Sergei Gorshkov.

Moscow had not reckoned with the obstinately nonstrategic mindset of Air Chief Marshal PC Lal — regarded, incidentally, as a great leader by the IAF!– and his cohort running the service at the time. Indeed, Gorshkov was so certain the IAF would jump at this offer he had a squadron of this bomber aircraft painted with IAF roundels and parked on a military base outside Moscow for flight to India.

So what did IAF choose instead? MiG-23BN — no joke!! Worse, the IAF, dog-in-the-manger like, not only did not want the Backfire for itself, it later prevented the Indian Navy from buying this aircraft for maritime surveillance, fearing the Navy was trespassing on its turf by expropriating the strategic bombing role.

Post-1974 and India’s possessing very basic 12 kiloton gravity nuclear bombs, the Tu-22 would have been a credible recallable manned option as nuclear deterrent before India obtained in the late 1980s the first of the Agni land-based missiles. The Tu-22 could have been replaced with newer versions of the aircraft, including the latest, most advanced, Tu-22M3, and would now have comprised a more compelling two-pronged air vector in the nuclear triad along with the Tu-160.

It is always heartening when something one has ardently advocated over the years begins to take shape, becomes reality. The negotiations with Russia are apparently in the final stages for securing on lease six – a third of a squadron — better than nothing! of the supersonic, fly-by-wire, 4-man crewed Tu-160. It will leave the frontline Russian fleet with 29 of these aircraft, because only a total of 35 ‘White Swans’ have been built. Published material suggests the White Swan Tu-160 (the equivalent of the American B-1 strategic bomber) has a 70metres/second climb rate, max speed of 2,200 km/h and cruising speed of 960km/h, unrefueled range of 12,300km, and combat radius of 7,300km.

One version of the bomber runs on hydrogen fuel, which may be right up Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan for converting the country to a hydrogen economy. Though for reasons of fuel/fueling aspects, the aircraft India leases will likely stick with the variant run on enhanced aviation fuel.

To show off its astonishing endurance, the Russian Air Force staged a Murmansk to Venezuela sortie in 2008 (to show support for the regime of Left-leaning President Nicolás Maduro Moros at a time when the Obama Administration was tightening the sanctions screw on it), and in 2010 a 23 hour patrol covering 18,000 kms over the Russian landmass.

The options and possibilities this bomber offers should make the mouths of IAF warplanners and operations guys water. Preparatory planning should begin for nuclear targeting by the White Swans of the most distant Chinese targets — Beijing!, with the more critical, but relatively proximal, targets, such as the Three Gorges Dam and its system of downstream dams and the Lop Nor nuclear weapons complex in Xinjiang left, if necessary, for the Su-30MKIs to take out. The Sukhois can be embarked from Tezpur/Kalaikunda in the one case, and the Ainee base in Tajikistan available to IAF, in the other.

The problem IAF will have is in basing the Blackjack. The Bareilly base — which ran the Canberra medium bomber and the MiG-25 Foxbat high-altitude surveillance aircraft, won’t do. Bareilly is too near major and satellite PLAAF airfields on the Tibetan plateau in the central sector of the LAC, not to pose risks to the White Swans based there. A base in southern central India will be the safest and best option considering the “long-legged” Tu-160 will still be able to hit deep inside China, and have IAF air defence/interceptor aircraft out of a string of air bases in northern India as protective tier.

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