Wow. If this is accurate, it’s the best definitive look at Russian strategic aviation I have seen. I was taken back at the overview of the Russian refueling tanker fleet. Twenty planes support the entire Russian Air Force? The statement that the 203rd APSZ (the only tanker regiment in the entire Russian Air Force) in 1996 only had around 200 refueling missions is in itself staggering. Any idea if these numbers have been improved on recently? The bomber numbers are the same as today, how about the current number of tankers? Another question, is the Il-78M a new design from the original Il-78 or just a modernized version?

Frank Shuler
USA

The Il-78M is a modernized design, not something entirely new. The number of missions has improved but tanker availability more broadly has not. More tankers are in the works, possibly on the Il-476 platform, but it's fairly speculative at this point.

Thanks for the clarification on the Il-76-M. Various published information I have read stated the M version was only the designation given to military models as opposed to the basic Il-78 civilian cargo carriers. Earlier, a contract between Russia and China for new Il-76 construction was cancelled; rumor had it Moscow couldn’t deliver because too many components of the Il-76 airframe came from Ukraine and were now unavailable. Looks like the Kremlin went with a modified design, the Il-476, to be built by the Urals-based Aviastar-SP aircraft-manufacturing plant. This all-Russian transport features a fully-digital flight control system, new avionics and the PS-90A-76 engines. Rumor again is that China wants this plane.

Frank Shuler
USA

Уважаемый Павел!

Хотел бы обратить Ваше внимание на тот факт, что в статье есть по крайней мере одна неточность. Там указано:"In 1999-2000 the 37th Air Army received three Tu-95MS aircraft and eight Tu-160 bombers, which had been sitting on the airfields in Ukraine since the fall of the Soviet Union. One new Tu-160 bomber was delivered by the manufacturer, the Kazan Aviation Plant (KAPO). That completed the formation of the Russian strategic aviation fleet – no new aircraft have entered service since then.". Это не так. В 2000 году в состав ДА вошел ПРЕДпоследний самолет Ту-160 (с/н 08-02, б/н 07, "Александр Молодчий"). Последний на сегодняшний момент самолет Ту-160 вошел в состав ДА РФ в 2008 г. - (с/н 08-03, б/н 08, "Виталий Копылов").

Maxim: Thank you. For those who don't read Russian, the comment says that although the article says that no new bombers were received after 2000, there was a delivery of a new bomber in 2008 - an aircraft named Vitaly Kopylov (#08-03, tail #08) entered service in 2008.

Indeed, the aircraft was delivered in August 2008. But as I understand, it wasn't a newly build plane and some sources suggested that t is not fully operational.

Да,Павел,я согласен с Вами.Отмечается,что "Виталий Копылов" был последним из задела КАПО до 1992 г.,и стал достраиваться уже с 2002 г.Новым в полном и обыденном смысле этого слова он,конечно,не является.

to Maxim Pashnev: На самом деле это те самые издержки перевода, которых при переводе всегда и побаиваешься.
В русском оригинале статьи дословно было так:
"...В 1999-2000 годах 37 ВА удалось вернуть себе еще 3 Ту-95МС и 8 Ту-160 с Украины (а также получить завода в Казани новый Ту-160), завершив тем самым формирование своего парка (практически в этом виде он существует и сейчас)...".

For those who don't read Russian - the issue seems to be resolved. The original text was supposed to say that "the bomber fleet almost has not changed since 2000," but "almost" was lost in translation.

As for Vitaly Kopylov, its construction began before 1992 and was resumed in 2002, so it is not, strictly speaking, a new aircraft.

Some news on the new generation command and control system.

http://rian.ru/defense_safety/20110127/326899686.html