MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. Russia’s next-generation strategic bomber (PAK DA) that the Tupolev Aircraft Company is developing will get the most advanced defensive aids suite that will shield it against all types of weapons, a source in the domestic defense industry told TASS on Wednesday.

In the process of the work on the breakthrough bomber, the emphasis is being made on the aircraft’s protection from an enemy’s air and anti-ballistic missile defenses with electronic warfare technology, the source said.

"A completely new onboard defensive aids suite is being developed for the PAK DA to defend it from all types of weapons, both radar and optical systems," the source said.

The new bomber will carry only inboard weapons, including long-range missiles, he said.

"This will allow the aircraft to stay away from an enemy’s air defense zone, strike designated targets from World Ocean areas or from the territory of another state," the source said, adding that now a PAK DA prototype was being made.

TASS has no confirmation of this information yet.

Development of new strategic bomber

In December 2019, Deputy Defense Minister Alexei Krivoruchko told the Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper that the concept design of the PAK DA bomber had been approved and the Tupolev Aircraft Company had started working out design documentation. In May 2020, TASS sources said that the manufacture of the new strategic bomber’s first prototype had begun.

The Prospective Aviation Complex of Long-Range Aviation (PAK DA) has its design based on the "flying wing" scheme. The next-generation bomber will feature technologies and materials that reduce its radar signature. The aircraft will be capable of carrying existing and future strategic cruise missiles, precision bombs and hypersonic weapons and will be outfitted with the latest communications and electronic warfare systems. The bomber will fly at subsonic speeds.