America’s B-1 Lancer and Russia’s Tu-160 are vying for a potential Indian contract | The Federal

#fighterjets #us #russia #aeroindia2023 India’s defence forces could be looking at procuring operational strategic bombers. The current plan involves buying six Tu-160 strategic bombers from Russia. However, there’s competition for the deal, as evidenced at the Aero India show in Bengaluru. Now, let’s take a closer look at these two bombers. The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. The aircraft possesses 6 external hardpoints for ordnance with a capacity of 23,000 kg and internal bomb bay capacity of 34,000 kg. On the other hand, the Tu-160 can carry 45,000 kg in total. In terms of ferry range, there’s some similarity. Both the aircraft have a similar maximum ferry range of around 12,000 km. They also debuted nearly at the same time. The Tu-160 made its first flight in April 1987 while the B1 Lancer was introduced in October 1986. What have these aircraft been through? The B-1 Lancer has seen combat in Iraq, Kosovo, Libya and Afghanistan. The Tu-160 was blooded during the Russian military intervention in the Syrian Civil War. India may choose to buy either the Tu-160 or the B1 Lancer. Either way, it will be the only country other than the US, Russia and China to have operational strategic bombers ▶For more explainers, and interesting videos - https://thefederal.com/videos/  ▶For the latest news and analysis - https://thefederal.com/  Follow The Federal News here - ▶Facebook:   /      ▶Twitter:   / thefederal_in   ▶Instagram:   / thefederal_india   ▶Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@Thefederal ▶WhatsApp: https://wa.me/917397357788 Download The Federal App here - ▶Android - http://bit.ly/TheFederalAndroid ▶iPhone - http://bit.ly/TheFederalios