They only built 35 under the Soviet Union when money was no object. Now that their economy is in shaky condition they’re going to build 50?
Maybe they have a buyer for them
The old guy engineers are dead....... the kids need something to train on
They were still entering service when the Soviet Union fell. And iirc Ukraine got to keep between 1/3 to 1/2 the fleet. Just like it got to keep Varyag.
It’ll be interesting to see the production rate of these things. I’d guess that this has as much to do (if not more) with maintaining the industrial base and transitioning to the next gen bomber as a strategic forces buildup.