1. Russia’s Tupolev Tu-160
Producer: Tupololev, Kazan Aircraft Manufacturing Association
Main Users: Air Force of Russia
The program cost was $1.236 billion in FY2006, and the unit cost was $34.33 million.
The Tu-160, created by Tupolev and manufactured by Kazan, is the biggest and heaviest Mach 2 supersonic aircraft ever built. After the XB-70 Valkyrie, it is the second-longest. The Tu-160 is a heavy strategic bomber with variable sweep wings that is supersonic and was first deployed by the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. The Russian Air Force uses it now.
Tupolev Tu-160, Twitter.com, and @EmbassyofRussia
The upgrade effort for the Tu-160 started in the early 2000s. In 2014, the first upgraded Tu-160 was delivered. Twenty-seven of the thirty-seven Tu-160s that are still in service are series aircraft. The Russian President proposed in 2018 to convert a Tu-160 to a civilian aircraft, though it’s unclear if it would be possible.
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