PAK-TA Supersonic Transport aircraft

eehnie wrote:For me, the Il-PAK-TA project of supersonic transport aircraft would be more interesting from a military point than the Tu-164 project of supersonic airliner.

Yes of course, militarily the first is relevant and the second not necessarily...

Honestly I do not see future for this project. I do not understand the pressing need for a supersonic transport (though I can understand that speed is good, especially in a country as big as Russia) and also think the volume required for a transport plane does not fit the aerodynamic requirements of efficient supersonic flight. The economic case of operating a fleet of supersonic PAK-TA has everything IMO to be a disaster:

1. Very high procurement costs per unit
2. Low payload and volume per unit
3. Derived from 2., high number of units needed
4. Huge operational costs when compared to conventional, high capacity airlifters moved by high-bypass engines.
5. Due to 4., no use except in case of emergency and need to have a parallel fleet of conventional transport planes.

As far as I can see, the ongoing transport aircraft and engine projects at the RF will offer a comprehensive and up-to-date fleet without the need of the PAK-TA

eehnie wrote:
This project would not be competence of the subsonic fleet of transport aircrafts that have an independent work in safe areas.

The main purpose of an aircraft like the supersonic Il-PAK-TA would be to become a tool, key tool, for fast deployment to friendly but contested areas. This kind of aircraft is unlikely to engage in rutine air transport operations.

At this point surely is more important to finish the development of the remaining subsonic transport and airliner aircrafts to complete the new generation of auxiliary aircrafts by 2025, to asure a renovation of the fleet, but the IL-PAK-TA project remains of interest in my view.

I see. Yeah, it may make sense to have a speed differential in order to attack points and gain a critical advantage before the enemy can protect them or avoid them overwhelming of the own under-protected sectors. But in that case it would be as you say complementary to the conventional transport fleet and therefore much smaller in scope than all the ongoing projects in the area. I think the realization of such initiative will follow the same fate as the renewed efforts to create supersonic commercial transports, since both depend on similar technologies in the end. Maybe variable-cycle engines, which shouldn't be very far away, would allow such a plane greater flexibility and therefore make a stronger economic case. But nevertheless by its own aerodynamic constraints, a supersonic plane will IMO not be capable in the mid term to reach the economy of use and mass / volume capability of a conventional airlifter and so will remain a niche-aircraft.

In any case, I find such figures as were made public in the past (200 tons payload, 2,000 km/h, 80 units in 2024) and the accompanying BWB hybrid concept totally out of touch with reality. Probably amidst modernization in the armed forces at the beginning of this decade, an initiative was started or at least discussed, contemplating the different shortcomings of the VTA in those days: need to modernize the outdated planes, substitute airframes running out of flying hours, avoid dependence from Ukraine and several other issues, with the aim of solving them through the creation of a new platform, the PAK-TA. From what we see many of those lines are still being pursued, even when no official requirements for a "PAK-TA" have been reported (or at least I am not aware of them). None of them until now is related to a supersonic transport from what we know, but there has been some insistence in versions of the Tu-160 and commercial supersonic planes, so maybe in the future those efforts can materialize and find some application in a military transport... will not hold my breath for it though