As a developing country in Asia, although India has a population of more than one billion, its comprehensive national strength can be called "floor tile" level. What I did not expect was that for many years India seemed to be "pretentious" and had always prided itself on its comprehensive national strength as "the third in the world", so it was also called "three brothers" by the outside world.
Unexpectedly, this so-called developing country, due to its many years of cooperation with Russia in the field of military industry, has now actually started the idea of "white swan" Tu-160. Earlier, India's former Air Force Chief of Staff, Arupu Raha, openly claimed that India and Russia were discussing tu-160 exports, while at the same time speaking in an unusually firm tone, believing that India was expected to import Tu-160s.
You know, this former chief of staff of the Indian Air Force served as the chief of staff of the Indian Air Force from 2013 to 2016. After retirement, he was rehired by aviation, defense, commerce, commerce and other departments.
However, in the eyes of the outside world, India's so-called expected import of Tu-160 is completely "toad wants to eat swan meat", and it can even be said that it is completely "pipe dreaming". Why?
First, what level does the Tu-160 belong to? It belongs to the most elite ace strategic bomber under the Command of the Russian Air and Space Force. In addition to having the characteristics of large range, large bomb load and large deterrence, it is also an indispensable part of the Russian military's "Trinity" nuclear strike capability, and even the overall performance is far above the Tu-22M3. That is to say, it is impossible for the Russian army to export such an ace bomber to India's "little three".
Second, according to the price of the Tu-160 unit price of more than 2 billion US dollars, Russia exports 6 Tu-160s, and the total contract value is only about 10 billion US dollars. This revenue is different from the US media previously announced that the EU imports a total of $850 million worth of natural gas and oil from Russia every day, accumulating about $24 billion a month. What's more, Russia still has coal, grain and other resources in its hands, which means that Russia may not look at India's $10 billion at all.
Third, the number of Russian Air and Space Force Tu-160s in active service is only about 15. According to India, exporting 6 to the country, which is equivalent to the number of Tu-160s of the Russian Air and Space Force, will be sharply reduced by 40%. This is an absolutely unacceptable presence for Moscow and could even provoke further provocations by NATO.
Fourth, Russia's demand for the Tu-160 is extremely high, after all, the biggest trump card in Russia's hands, in addition to hypersonic missiles, is the famous "mushroom egg". The Tu-160 happens to have a nuclear strike capability, and just imagine that Russia seems to have no reason to "cut off an arm.".
Fifth, India, as a country without an air-launched version of the "mushroom egg", even if it successfully imports the Tu-160, it seems to be a useless situation. What's more, as the "big brother" of the global intelligence community, it can be said that there is no reaction to news such as India's import of Tu-160, and it seems that it is not willing to "make a scene" at all.
Sixth, even if Russia agrees to export the Tu-160, it is likely to be a "modified version". It is not at all a level with the real Tu-160 in the hands of the Russian army, and it is also unknown whether the Indian pilots can successfully pilot it.
Finally, in summary, it is impossible for Russia to export the Tu-160 to India, at least until the Tu-160M is not equipped with an air-space force in bulk, India is unlikely to get the Russian Tu-160. It is not difficult to understand why the United States and Russia, in the face of the news that India is expected to import Tu-160, are basically indifferent, and even simply "lazy to take care of" India.