Category Soviet x-plenes

Sukhoi Su-24

In the mid-1960s the tactical arm of the Soviet Air Force (FA) needed a replacement for the elderly Yakovlev Yak-28 Brewer tactical bombers. The Yak-28 proved disappointing due to short range and severe restric­tions in the use of its weapons. By the mid-1960s, two important factors became evident. The first was the superiority of equivalent US designs, such as the General Dynamics F-111, due to higher performance, wider weapons range and outstandingly superior avionics. The second factor was the rapid development in surface-to-air missile technology; this required new tactical bomber to have supersonic low-level attack capa­bility, which placed high demands on airframe strength and required automatic terrain following capability.

Thus the Sukhoi design bureau (OKB) started work on a tactical bomber which would be the Soviet counterpart of the F-111. Initially the designers settled for mid-set wings with 40° leading-edge sweep. Receiving the in-house designation S-6, it was to have a top speed of 2,500 km/h (1,550 mph) and an all up weight of 20,000 kg (44,090 lb). The two crew members sat in tandem, and the two 7,200-kgp (15,870- lb st) Tumanskiy R-21F-300 afterburning turbojets were placed side-by – side in the rear fuselage, breathing through lateral air intakes.

It soon became evident that a conventional layout was inadequate for the project, and attention was turned to variable-geometry wings and lift-jets, the work proceeding in parallel on these two lines. A com­pletely new project designated T-6 was started. The first prototype, known as the T6-1, entered flight test on 2nd July 1967 with test pilot Vladimir S. Il’yushin at the controls. It had double-delta wings with 60° leading-edge sweep on the inner wings. The crew of two was seated side-by-side. Behind the cockpit were four Kolesov RD36-35 lift engines intended to improve field performance. Initially, two Tumanskiy R-27F2-300 cruise engines rated at 10,200 kgp (22,400 lb st) in full after­burner (again fed by variable lateral air intakes) were fitted; the air for the main engines was used to cool the lift-jets. The intended 11,200-kgp (24,750-lb st) Lyul’ka AL-21 F afterburning turbojets were fitted later.

The T6-1 was intended to carry air-to-surface missiles, unguided rockets, air-to-air missiles, bombs and other stores on four wing and two fuselage hardpoints. The wing span was 10.41m (34.14 ft), overall length 23.72 m (77.8 ft), height 6.373 m (20.9 ft) and wing area 45.33 sq. m (487.9 sq. ft). Maximum TOW was 26,100 kg (57,540 lb).

In the course of trials the Soviet Air Force changed its requirements; the ordnance load was increased to such an extent that lift engines were no longer viable. Also, the contradictory requirements of attack at transonic speeds at ground level and short-field capability were still there. Studies by the Central Aero- and Hydrodynamics Institute (TsAGI) showed that variable-geometry wings compared so favourably with every other possible layout that the Sukhoi OKB radically redesigned the T-6 less than six months after the first flight.

The second prototype, designated T6-2I (the T denoting izmenyayemaya [gheometriya], variable geometry) was completed in late 1969 and took to the air on 17th January 1970, again with Vladimir S. Il’yushin at the controls. The most important change was the new VG wings; they had four sweep settings: 16° for take-off and landing, 35° for loitering and cruise, 45° for manoeuvring and 69° for transonic/super – sonic flight. The fuselage was redesigned to increase fuel capacity and the air intakes were modified. The undercarriage was strengthened to let the aircraft carry an increased warload.

Tests of the T6-2I continued until 1976. The aircraft was soon joined by two more prototypes, the T6-3I and T6-4I. The results were encour­aging and in December 1971 the bomber entered series production at the Novosibirsk aircraft factory No. 153, receiving the service designa­tion Su-24; the in-house designation at the plant was “izdeliye (product) 41”. Initial operational capability was achieved in 1973 but it was not until 1975 that the Su-24 was formally included into the inventory. This version was known to the West by the NATO reporting name Fencer-A.

Modifications to the design were continually implemented as pro­duction progressed. E. g., wing span and wing area were increased soon after the beginning of production. Problems with the variable air intakes caused the intakes to be widened from the 4th production batch onwards (1972) when the to give an increased frontal area. Pressure from the WS to increase range led the OKB to increase the capacity of the number 1 fuel tank by 1,000 litres (220 Imp. gal.) starting with Batch 8, with a concurrent saving in weight which could be used for extra fuel. Operational experience showed the airframe was strong enough to carry more weapons, so two more hardpoints were added on the cen­treline, increasing the total to eight and the weapons load to 8,000 kg (17,680 lb). Weapons delivery was controlled by a PNS-24 Tigr naviga – tion/attack system enabling automatic flight along a pre-programmed route, weapons delivery and return to base.

Important changes were introduced in Batch 15 when the shape of the rear fuselage was redesigned to reduce drag. The box-like structure around the engine nozzles was replaced by a more rounded one with a deeply dished bottom between the nozzles and the brake parachute container was moved up. Extensions were added to the fin at the top and along the leading edge; the upper extension supported the A-711 navigation antenna and the leading edge now accommodated the RSDN-10 long-range radio navigation (LORAN) antenna and a cooling air intake for the generators. SPO-15 Beryoza (Birch) passive radar warning antennae in triangular fairings were placed on either side of the fin near the top. Other changes made at this time included the addition of leading-edge flaps to the outer wings and a reduction in the number of flap sections from three to two each side. This version was known to the West as the Fencer-B. An updated version with Beryoza (Birch) radar homing and warning system (RHAWS) antennae on the air intakes and near the top of the fin was code-named Fencer-C.

By 1975 the ongoing problems with the variable air intakes were finally solved by introducing fixed-area intakes from Batch 21 onwards, which also gave a weight saving of 200 kg (440 lb). Aircraft previously built with variable intakes had that control disconnected. As a result, top speed was effectively limited to 1,400 km/h (870 mph) or Mach 1.4 at sea level, except for very short emergency bursts of Mach 2. This was considered an acceptable trade-off against the elimination of previous problems, as 1,400 km/h at S/L had become the standard attack mode. Concurrently the wings were redesigned and given a different airfoil.

Although improvements were constantly incorporated, this did not affect the designation. It was not until 1975 that enough design changes took place to justify a new designation, T6-M or Su-24M (modifi tseerovannyy – modified). The eighth prototype of the Su-24 sans suf – fixe (T6-8) was converted into the Su-24M prototype and redesignated T6-8M, making its first flight on 24th June 1977. Production began in 1978; the aircraft was known at plant No. 153 as izdeliye 44; the NATO reporting name was Fencer-D.

Major changes were made to the avionics; the most fundamental one was the fitment of a new weapons control system – the PNS-24M Tigr NS. To accommodate the new equipment the forward fuselage was extended by 76 cm and lowered by 15 cm. Apart from the reshaped nose, the Su-24M could be identified by the straight air data boom at the tip of the radome replacing the F-shaped antenna assembly of ear­lier versions, nicknamed “goose” because of its shape. A Kai’ra-24M

(Grebe) day/night low light level TV system/laser designator was fitted, enabling the aircraft to carry laser – and TV-guided missiles and "smart bombs”. Also, the number of weapons carried was increased by the addition of a ninth hardpoint.

Combat capability was greatly improved by the addition of an in­flight refuelling system. An L-shaped FPSh-5M retractable IFR probe was installed just ahead of the cockpit to allow refuelling from another Su-24M fitted with a UPAZ-1A Sakhalin "buddy” refuelling pack or an ll’yushin IL-78/IL-78M Midas tanker. A new Karpaty (Carpathian moun­tains) defence system was introduced. Rounded boundary layer fences were initially fitted on the edge of the wing glove in line with the inner wing pylons; on some aircraft they housed chaff/flare dispensers. Later, when it was discovered that the wing fences improved longitudinal sta­bility but impaired directional stability, they were removed and the dis­pensers relocated to the upper rear fuselage.

In the mid-1980s permission was granted to export the Su-24M. In the late 1980s the OKB brought out an export version designated Su-24MK (kommehrcheskiy – “commercial”, i. e., export version) or izdeliye 44M. The first flight took place in 1987 and small-scale produc­tion commenced in 1988. The Su-24MK differed little from the standard Fencer-D – mainly in the avionics (particularly the IFF system) and weapons options; for example, the Su-24MK could carry more bombs – 38 FAB-100s compared with 34 on the Su-24M and four air-to-air mis­siles instead of two. All export Su-24MKs had angular wing fences, even though they were being removed at the time from Soviet Air Force Fencers. Sales reported so far are: to Iraq (24), Libya (15), Syria (12) and Iran (9).

In 1978 the OKB started full-scale development of the T-6MR recon­naissance version of the Su-24M. Intended as a successor to the out­dated and “short-legged" Yak-27R, Yak-28R and MiG-21 R, it was to operate at a depth of up to 400 km (250 miles) from the front line, day or night in any weather. The first flight took place in September 1980; two prototypes (the T6MR-26 and T6MR-34) were tested and the aircraft entered production and service as the Su-24MR ([samolyot-] razved – chik, reconnaissance aircraft) or izdeliye 48. The NATO code name was Fencer-E.

The comprehensive BKR-1 Shtyk (Bayonet) reconnaissance suite included a Shtyk MR-1 synthetic aperture side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) in the nose covering an area of 4 to 28 km (2.5-17.3 miles) from the centreline; a Zima (Winter) thermal imager; an Aist-M (Stork-M) TV camera; a Kadr (Photo exposure) PHOTINT system comprising an AP-102 panoramic camera and an AFA-A-100 oblique camera; an Efir-1 M (Ether-1 M; pronounced efeer) radiation monitor in a pod under the starboard outer wing; and a Tangahzh (Pitch, in the aeronautical sense) radio monitoring pod or a Shpil’-2M (Spire-2M) laser line-scan pod providing an image of almost photographic quality on the fuselage centreline. Data was recorded on tape but could be instantly transmit­ted to ground stations if required. Three underfuselage hardpoints and the built-in cannon were removed; two R-60 or R-60M air-to-air missiles could be carried under the port wing for self-defence.

Design work on the Su-24MP Fencer-F (izdeliye 46) electronic countermeasures (ECM) aircraft began in 1976; its mission was elec­tronic reconnaissance and neutralisation of the enemy’s air defence radars while escorting attack aircraft to their targets. The two prototypes were converted from Su-24M airframes (the T6M-25 and T6M-35) which were then redesignated T6MP-25 and T6MP-35; the P stands for postanovschchik pomekh – ECM platform. (Strictly speaking, the des­ignation ought to have been Su-24PR) The first flight took place in December 1979. Very little technical information relating to this variant has been released, but it is known to have a sophisticated suite for detecting, locating, analysing, identifying and jamming all known elec­tromagnetic emissions. The bulk of this work is handled by the Landysh (Lily of the valley) system and the aircraft can carry active jamming pods, such as the Los’ (Moose), Fasol’ (String bean) or Mimoza (Mimosette), under the fuselage with no apparent loss of performance. Only about twenty Su-24MPs were reportedly built.

Believe it or not, the Su-24 found peaceful uses as well. In the late 1990s the Flight Research Institute in Zhukovskiy operated two Su-24s – Fencer-A “15 White” (c/n 1515301) and Su-24M “11 White” (c/n 1141613) equipped with an air sampling pod for environmental moni­toring purposes.

The Su-24 achieved initial operational capability with the Soviet Air Force (WS) in 1973, even though official acceptance of the type was not given until 1975 – a move not uncommon in the USSR. After being issued to training units, Su-24s were delegated to regiments operating in the Western areas of the USSR and in the Far East. By assigning them to the Ukraine or the Baltic Republics the WS ensured they could be quickly deployed in times of trouble to Eastern Europe. Later, Su-24 units were stationed in East Germany, Poland and Hungary, but the main Fencer force remained in the USSR.

Among those types displaced from bomber divisions of the Tactical Aviation’s Air Armies were the obsolete ll’yushin IL-28 Beagle and Yak-28. A division usually included three bomber regiments, each hav­ing three squadrons with 10 aircraft per squadron. As production rate grew it was decided to equip some of the fighter-bomber divisions in the 4th, 24th and 30th Air Armies with the Su-24 capable of a more strate­gic role. These armies had been created in the early 1970s, reporting to the High Command of the Armed Forces to act as a strategic reserve (rather than to Army Fronts or Defence Districts where there was a risk of their aptitude for attacking behind the battle line being wasted in local situations). It was also easier to maintain a tighter control on the use of the nuclear bombs which these aircraft could carry.

On entering service with FA regiments that had previously operated such types as the Yak-28 and MiG-27, the Su-24 proved to be much more demanding in maintenance and service. Considering the com­plexity of its systems, this was hardly surprising and extra headaches were caused by the fact that this was the Soviet Air Force’s first experi­ence with computerised systems.

The Su-24 required appreciably more time and effort to prepare it for a sortie; on average, it needed 45 minutes work by 15 technicians. This effectively doubled ground crew workload per flight – an insup­portable situation which was tackled with alacrity. The demands of time could not be reduced because 45 minutes was the minimum time taken to spin up the gyroscopes in the navigation/attack system; some mis­sions requiring a greater degree of accuracy needed as much as 1 hour 20 minutes. Nonetheless, improvements could be made to ease the ground crews’ workload.

The biggest headaches to ground and air crews alike came from the avionics. Such was the need for this type of bomber that, as noted ear­lier, it was rushed into service before the State acceptance trials were completed. The complexity of the many systems and the use of an on­board computer stretched the knowledge and patience of the crews. Malfunctions were frequent and there were cases in the early stages of the Fencer’s career when whole squadrons were grounded for several days until remedies were found.

In-flight malfunction of the navigation and targeting system could all too easily put the crew at risk, especially on supersonic nap-of-the-earth (NOE) missions. At best the aircraft was saved but the target missed. It has been known for farms to lose valuable crops, buildings and even livestock when crews failed to realise there was a problem with the equipment and continued the attack in automatic mode, dropping their deadly load on whatever was unlucky enough to be there. There was a case of a crew getting lost, running out of fuel and having to eject because the airmen did not realise in time there was a fault.

The Sukhoi OKB went to great lengths to reduce pre-flight check time by providing easier access to engines, all systems, filters, gover­nors etc. Wheel changing was simplified by eliminating the need for lift­ing equipment. Special attention was given to the reduction of refuelling time by providing single-point pressure refuelling.

Once the teething troubles had been recognised and acknowl­edged, they were relatively easy to resolve. One particular cause for sat­isfaction was the aircraft’s ability to withstand bird strikes; a collision with a large eagle and another with seventeen sparrows resulted in no serious damage – at least not to the aircraft.

In spite of these difficulties, he pilots liked the Su-24, affectionately dubbing it “Chemodahn” (Suitcase) – an allusion to the slab-sided shape of its fuselage. They appreciated the good field of view, the well – planned flight deck and the automatic flight systems, especially on low – level operations. Flight handling was reasonably easy, even though the Su-24 could be less forgiving in certain circumstances. Slowly but sure­ly the restrictions imposed during the service introduction period were lifted until the Su-24 emerged as a first-rate tactical bomber.

The Su-24 has seen action in several armed conflicts, drawing first blood during the Afghan War where the type made its debut in the spring of 1984. With its weapons load of 7 tons (15,430 lb) – more than double that of other Soviet tactical strike aircraft, its impressive range and sophisticated mission avionics, the Fencer would make a valuable addition to the arsenal of the Soviet contingent helping the pro-Soviet Kabul government fight the Mujahideen rebels. Until then the Su-24 had been unavailable for the war, but the need for such an aircraft was now evident. It was decided to use the type from Soviet bases in Uzbekistan and Turkmenia. Thus, two regiments were seconded to the 40th Army, as the group of Soviet forces in Afghanistan was known. In early April 1984 the 143rd BAP (Bomber Regiment) with 26 Su-24Ms, then based in Georgia at Kopitnari (Kutaisi-1) airbase, was detached to Khanabad – the one in south-eastern Uzbekistan (near Karshi), not the one in Afghanistan. At the same time the 149th GvBAP (Guards Bomber Regiment) with Su-24 Fencer-Bs based at Nikolayevka AB in Kazakhstan was relocated to the fighter base at Koka’fdy near Termez, right beside the border.

The primary motive for the presence of Fencers on the Afghan the­atre of operations was the need to subdue Ahmad Shah Massoud, the most capable Mujahideen leader. As a rule, the Su-24s were used against area targets such as Mujahideen fortifications. Prior to the sor­tie, reconnaissance aircraft would photograph the target. Its coordinates would be fed into the bomber’s computer, and everything else was largely automatic; the PNS-24 nav/attack system would take the bomber there and drop the bombs. In the 149th GvBAR Sqn 1 aircraft usually carried four 500-kg bombs each and Sqn 2 and 3 aircraft were armed with twelve 250-kg bombs each; additionally, two drop tanks were always carried.

Su-24 operations in Afghanistan were not very intensive, since the ground forces were more in need of close air support than of carpet bombing. Nor were they particularly successful; the Su-24 had been designed with the relatively flat terrain of Western Europe in mind, and the radar (which could pinpoint small targets such as tanks) had trouble picking out the targets among the jumbled rocks. NOE flying was out of the question because of the many canyons and mountain ridges. Weapons efficiency was low, as guided bombs and missiles showed poor controllability in the rarefied air of the mountains. Bomb-aiming accuracy in level flight was poor; dropping bombs in a 20 to 30-degree dive produced better results but took the bombers within range of the enemy air defences. During the following months, attacks were carried out from altitudes in excess of 5,000 m (16,400 ft) – safely out of range of the Stinger man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS) supplied by the Western Alliance to the rebels.

The next time the Fencer appeared in Afghan skies was in 1988. At this stage, when the Soviet Union was already pulling out of the point­less conflict, Su-24 operations were mostly of a psy-war type, intended to exert a constant pressure on the Mujahideen and keep them busy. Sorties were flown not lower than at 7,000 m (22,965 ft) because of the omnipresent Stingers.

Generally the Su-24 had a good reliability record in Afghanistan. The few failures that did take place were mostly associated with hydraulics, flap and engine controls. Initially there were problems with the main nav/attack computer but these were quickly fixed as Afghan experience built up. Sometimes the drop tanks would refuse to give off fuel and had to be jettisoned – which the crews were reluctant to do, knowing that the tanks were in short supply. Because missions were prepared hastily, programming errors occurred and sometimes the navigation data mod­ules would even be installed on the wrong aircraft.

No Fencers were lost to enemy fire in the Afghan War. However, there were a few accidents and incidents. On the night of 13th December 1988 a 149th GvBAP forgot to set the wings and flaps for takeoff (they were always rotated to full sweep on the ground to save ramp space) and took off with the wings at maximum sweep. The fully fuelled and bombed-up aircraft managed to get unstuck at the last moment, crashing through the fence around the inner marker beacon and destroying the antenna in so doing; then it climbed away with a shocking 27-degree angle of attack and proceeded to the target. The rest of the sortie went normally, except for the flapless landing on return (the flap control unit had been annihilated when the aircraft hit a fence post). The crew was saved by the bomber’s rugged design and the fiat terrain around the base (eyewitnesses said the aircraft “could have run all the way to Afghanistan”!).

In December 1988 a 735th BAP Su-24 went off the side of the run­way when landing at Khanabad in a stiff crosswind. One of the main gear units hit a pothole and collapsed, rupturing a fuel line and causing a massive fire. The crew escaped but the WSO later died from burns.

Despite the Soviet withdrawal, the Su-24s stayed around for anoth­er month, ready to support Najibuilah’s government if the Mujahideen made an attack on Kabul. In the event, however, this was not needed and the aircraft returned to their home bases in March 1989, ending the Fencer’s Afghan involvement.

The type remained in active service in post-Soviet days. Apart from Russia, in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) the Su-24 was operated by the air forces of Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

The Russian Su-24s were also actively used in the First Chechen War (1994-96) and the Second Chechen War (1999-2001) against Chechen separatists. These missions did not always go without losses; three Fencers were shot down by MANPADS.

It is nearly 35 years since the first flight of the Su-24 prototype and 30 years since it first entered service with the WS. Despite many improvements to the airframe, avionics and systems, it does not incor­porate the latest state-of-the-art and no attempt has been made to ren­der it stealthy. Therefore, plans were in hand to replace it with a modern strike aircraft from the Sukhoi stable – the Su-34 (Su-32FN), a two-seat side-by-side derivative of the Su-27 Flanker interceptor. Yet budgetary constraints have caused these plans to be delayed, compelling the Russian Air Force to change its approach. Several Russian companies, such as Gefest&T, are offering mid-life updates for the Su-24M. Designated Su-24M2, the first upgraded aircraft having enhanced all- weather/night capability (38 White, c/n 1041643) was unveiled at the MAKS-2001 airshow. No doubt the introduction of the Su-34 will be a high-priority task, but shortage of funds (together with upgrade possi­bilities) will ensure that the Su-24M and MR will still be in Russian tacti­cal bomber and reconnaissance regiments for a few more years.

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24Seen here at OKB-51 ‘s flight test facility in Zhukovskiy, the T6-1 (the first prototype of the Sukhoi T-6 tactical bomber) differed a lot from subsequent aircraft in the series. This view shows clearly the cranked delta wings similar to those of the Su – 15TM interceptor, the separately opening port and staboard canopy halves, the V-shaped window of the laser rangefinder ahead of the windscreen, the engine cooling air intakes on the rear fuselage and the land – ing/taxi lights on the sides of the nose. The closed dorsal intakes of the buried Kolesov RD36-35 lift jets in the fuselage are not vis­ible here.

Sukhoi Su-24

The T6-1 lacked a dielectric radome, fea­turing an all-metal nose ahead of the cock­pit windshield.

Подпись: • A “toad’s eye view” of the T6-1 seen head – on. Note the shape of the two-dimensional air intakes, the six weapons hardpoints, the straight pitot at the tip of the nose, the back-up pitot near the port wingtip and the nozzles of the lift jets between the under­fuselage pylons. The relatively narrow land­ing gear track is also noteworthy.

A three-quarters rear view of the T6-1, showing the rectangular section of the fuselage forming a box around the engine nozzles, the lack of ventral fins, the brake parachute container at the base of the fin and the radar warning receiver (RWR) antenna near the fin tip. Note the unusual variant of the Soviet Air Force insignia on this aircraft with a pentagon incorporated into the middle of the star.

Sukhoi Su-24

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After giving up on the use of lift jets which imposed an unacceptable weight penalty the OKB redesigned the T-6 radically, Incorporating variable-sweep wings to reconcile speed and field performance requirements. This is one of the prototypes of the Su-24 “sans suffixe”in the assembly shop of 0KB-51’s experimental plant in Moscow. This view shows clearly the wings at minimum sweep and the double-slotted flaps. Note that the rear fuselage, which was detachable for engine maintenance/ change, is still unpainted, indicating that the aircraft is undergoing conversion to a new variant (probably the Fencer-B proto­type). The aircraft in the background is the T10-1, the first prototype of the Su-27 fighter (NATO code name Flanker-A).

The T6-2I (coded 62 Yellow) at the flight test facility during manufacturer’s tests. Note the warning markings near the radome (“Danger, HF radiation”) and the air intake bodies (“Danger, jet intake”). Note also the Sukhoi OKB’s “winged archer” logo beneath the cockpit and the red band near the top of the fin. The land­ing lights are still built into the forward fuselage sides. The all-movable stabilizers “bled” down to maximum nose-down posi­tion when hydraulic pressure fell off after engine shutdown.

The T6-2I at the Flight Research Institute (Lll) airfield in Zhukovskiy. All six hard – points are equipped with MBD3-U6-68 multiple ejector racks carrying 250-kg (551-lb) FAB-250 bombs. Due to take-off weight limitations the two MERs under the fuselage carry five bombs each instead of six; the total number of bombs is 34, equalling a warload of 8.5 tons (18,740 lb). Note the colour of the radome, the differ­ent Sukhoi OKB badge, three test mission markers and cruciform photo calibration markings beneath the cockpit and the blue fin stripe replacing the earlier red one. An ILS aerial is mounted above the air data boom carrying pitch and yaw sensor vanes.

One more view of the fully loaded T6-2I at Zhukovskiy with wings at maximum sweep. As is the case with some Western strike air­craft, the pylons under the Su-24’s outer wings rotate as wing sweep chages, remaining parallel to the fuselage centre­line. This view shows well the intakes’ boundary layer splitter plates.

One of the Su-24 prototypes with the wings at minimum sweep. The aircraft carries 24 FAB-250s on MERs on the wing pylons and a pair of 500-kg (1,102-lb) FAB-500s on the fuselage stations, which equals an ord­nance load of 7 tons (15,430 lb).

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Sukhoi Su-24Подпись: 24 Blue, a Su-24 “sans suffixe” representing the second production version known in the West as the Fencer-B. This view illustrates some of its features - the kinked forward segment of the nose gear doors consisting of two hinged parts, the faired heat exchanger on top of the centre fuselage and the antenna faired into the fin leading edge with a cooling air intake below it. Production Su-24s featured a so-called “goose" - an L-shaped strut at the tip of the radome mounting an antenna array; the radome itself was white. Note also the faired electronic countermeasures (ECM) antennas on the air intakes and the sides of the fin near the top and the boundary layer fences forming extensions of the inner wing pylons. T

The sixth prototype Su-24 (T6-6) was coded 66 Yellow. Here the aircraft is armed with SPPU-6 gun pods with depressabie six-barrel 23-mm Gatling machine guns (here with the barrels at the maximum deflection of 45°) on the inner wing pylons, OFAB-250ShN low-drag bombs for low – level strike on the fuselage stations and Kh-23 rockets on the outer wing pylons. The T6-6I still had a straight air data boom with an ILS aerial above it and nose- mounted landing lights (they were moved to the wing roots on production aircraft); the fin top band was white.

Two views of the T6-27 (coded 27 White), another Fencer-B development aircraft, carrying three Kh-29 rockets on the inner wing and centreline pylons plus two Kh-23 rockets on the outer wing pylons. The red colour of the rockets identifies them as inert rounds for initial weapons trials; note the photo calibration markings on the rear fuselage. The wing fences were a recent addition at the time the pictures were taken – they have not been painted yet!

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24The T6-8M, the prototype of the Su-24M (NATO code name Fencer-D), at the Lll air­field in Zhukovskiy in original guise. Note the extended nose, the extended wing leading edge root ECM fairings, the non­standard twin nose gear doors which remain open when the gear is down, the patch of bare metal and the absence of sensors on the underside of the nose where modifications have been made, the modified fin leading edge and the photo calibration markings on the fuselage. Despite the redesigned nose, the aircraft retains the "goose" typical of the initial – production Su-24 (compare this to the pro­duction aircraft on the opposite page).

Sukhoi Su-24The T6-8M at a later stage of the trials wearing an unusual three-tone camouflage and the Sukhoi OKB “winged archer” badge beneath the cockpit. The sensor array under the nose has been reinstated. The aircraft carried no tactical code.

Another view of the camouflaged T6-8M, showing the shape of the rear fuselage around the engine nozzles and the ventral fuel jettison pipes under the nozzles. These features are identical to the final production version of the Su-24 «sans suf- fixe» (Fencer-C).

Sukhoi Su-24
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An early-production Su-24M coded «07 White». Note the long straight air data probe at the tip of the radome and the wing fences (making the NATO reporting name Fencer oddly appropriate). The port canopy half is secured by a retaining rod to keep it from slamming down on some­body’s head or hands when there is no pressure in the hydraulic system.

Another view of Su-24M “07 White’’, show­ing the characteristic profile of the nose radome. Production Su-24s and Su-24Ms were normally painted light grey overall with white undersurfaces.

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Two views of Su-24s parked on a rain – lashed hardstand at Ostrov airbase near Pskov, north-western Russia. The base, whose name means “island” in Russian, hosts the Russian Navy’s Combat and Conversion Training Centre (i. e., opera­tional conversion unit).

The examples in these photos are repre­sentative of the very first production ver­sion known as the Fencer-A, as indicated by the boxy structure around the engine nozzles and the placement of the brake parachute container very close to the noz­zles. Oddly, the starboard airbrake-cum – mainwheel-well-door is open on all aircraft in the lineup while the port one is closed, as it should be on the ground. Note the fuel jettison pipe between the engine nozzles.

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Su-24 “29 White” seen at OstrovAB in 1998 is an example of the penultimate version of the Su-24 “sans suffixe” called Fencer-В in NATO parlance. Note the 3,000-litre (660 Imp. gal.) PTB-3000 drop tank suspended on the centreline pylon.

Sukhoi Su-24A trio of Fencer-As at Ostrov AB; note the different location and smaller size of the yellow radiation and air intake warning tri­angles. While the aircraft are in flyable stor­age, the resident Fencer-As were awaiting retirement and disposal on site.

Sukhoi Su-24Su-24 “05 White” is an example of the final variant of the Su-24 “sans suffixe ” known as the Fencer-C. Theis version can be identi­fied by the ECM antenna fairings on the air intake bodies and the fin sides.

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Подпись: PTB-3000 drop tanks lying in a neat row on the edge of the hardstand. These huge tanks were used for both ferry flights and long-range operations. ► Sukhoi Su-24A

Another view of Su-24s with PTB-3000 drop tanks under the wings in storage at OstrovABin 1998. The incredible fact that two neighbouring Fencer-As in the line-up carry the same tactical code, 29 White (quite apart from the Fencer-B shown on the preceding page!), is explained by the fact that the Su-24s were ferried to Ostrov for storage from various units and all three bombers obviously belonged to different regiments.

Close-up of the PTB-3000 on the centre­line hardpoint of Fencer-B “29 White”. The fins were set at more than 90° in order to provide adequate clearance between tank and wing/fuselage. Typically of the Soviet/Russian Air Force, drop tanks and such were marked with the aircraft’s tacti­cal code to stop them from being stolen and used on another aircraft – but clearly that did not always help; this drop tank comes from a sister ship coded 23! The yellow rectangles on the fuselage carry maintenance stencils.

Front view of Su-24 Fencer-B “29 White”. The canopy is closed by a heavy canvas cover which protects the Perspex from the ultraviolet radiation of the sun, delaying the appearence of micro-cracks which gener­ate annoying reflections (this phenomenon is known as “silvering”).

The tails of these Fencer-As show how the Su-24 ’s rudder is cut away from below, with a radar warning receiver aerial at the base. On later versions the space between it and the fuselage was occupied by the brake parachute container which was moved up considerably.

Sukhoi Su-24Подпись: Another view of the Fencer-A lineup at Ostrov AB. Left to right: 26 White, 29 White No. 1, 29 White No. 2 (ex 43 White), 24 White and 74 Red. T Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24

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The Su-24’s wings were moved aft into fully swept position after landing to save space on the hardstand. This view shows the Su – 24’s large spoilers used for roll control.

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This Fencer-A (52 White) at Ostrov AB has had the entire forward fuselage wrapped in tarpaulins. The wraps bear the aircraft’s tactical code on a black circle. The aircraft is a late-production example, as indicated by the dorsal heat exchanger fairing usually found on later variants.

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Sukhoi Su-24As the wings are moved back into maximum sweep position the centre of gravity shifts aft, causing the Su-24 to assume a nose-up position. Fortunately, unlike some variable – geometry aircraft, even an unladen Fencer does not exhibit a tendency to tip over on its tail in this situation.

Sukhoi Su-24This Fencer-C undergoing maintenance has had a support placed under the tail – just in case. All wheel well doors are fully open. Note that skin panels mounting the centre portions of the ventral fins have been removed for access to some of the equip­ment in the rear fuselage.

Fencer-A “26 White” at Ostrov AB. The slope behind it faced with concrete slabs functions both as a revetment wall and as a jet blast deflector, allowing the engines to be run after the aircraft has been aligned with the taxiway.

This late-production Fencer-A (note heat exchanger) operated by the Russian Navy’s Black Sea Fleet is rather more fortu­nate. When this picture was taken in 1998 it was fully operational and based at Gvardeyskoye AB in the Crimea which the Ukraine has leased to the Russian Naval Air Arm. Note the generally better surface fin­ish on this aircraft and the different design of the nosewheel mudguard. It is hard to say why a car tire has been place on top of the aircraft. The vehicle in the background is an APA-5 ground power unit on a Ural – 375D truck chassis.

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Sukhoi Su-24Подпись: ◄ Front view of a Fencer-C at Gvardeyskoye. The pilot’s PPV head-up display (HUD) is visible through the windshield. Sukhoi Su-24

Su-24 Fencer-C “23 White” on the hard – stand at Gvardeyskoye AB in the summer of 1998. This view illustrates the large, high – set brake parachute container and the fin leading edge air intake which are charac­teristic of the Fencer-B/C.

Preparations are in hand for another day’s flying training over the Black Sea as a gag­gle of Su-24s basks in the sun at Gvardeyskoye AB. The nearest aircraft is provided not with the usual tarpaulin but with a modern cockpit cover made of reflective metallised fabric which also keeps the cockpit from turning into a steam bath in the summer season.

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Подпись: Fencer-Cs “23 White", “01 White” and “21 White” await the next sortie. Note the drop tank resting on a wooden cradle next to the latter aircraft. ▼ Подпись:Sukhoi Su-24
Gvardeyskoye AB is a large and well – equipped base with a large flight line boasting an excellent surface and a con­crete-lined jet blast deflector, in post – Soviet days, however, it was not much used, and the arrival of the Russian Fencers (the Ukraine operates the type, too) was a welcome spell of activity. Note the bicycle leaned against the aircraft; ser­vicemen cycling around CIS airbases are a pretty common sight. Small wonder, as legging it around the place can get quite tiresome.

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Подпись: ◄ Three-quarters front view of Fencer-C «27 White» (c/n 2315337). Note the “clip-on” ladders. Built-in boarding steps were gen-erally rare on Soviet combat aircraft.. Подпись:Sukhoi Su-24A

Su-24s «01 White», «21 White» and «07 White» in the maintenance area at Gvardeyskoye AB. The second aircraft is unserviceable, being minus the port engine.

Another angle on the maintenance ramp, with a fourth aircraft («27 White») on the left. Note the trestle under the tail of Fencer-B «21 White». Fencer-Cs «01 White» and «27 White» are obviously recod­ed, the tactical code being applied over a blotch of darker paint.

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Fencer-C “28 White” (c/n 1715324) differs slightly in the design of the «goose» and undernose aerial from «27 White» on page 26. Interestingly, the port air intake cover comes from another example coded «26 White» (c/n 2215334).

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A trailer-mounted ground power unit stands beside Fencer-C «01 White» to pro­vide electric power during maintenance.

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Many operational Su-24s show consider­able signs of wear and tear, as exemplified by Fencer-C «27 White» at Gvardeyskoye. Note the unit badge beneath the wind­screen. Again, the aircraft is obviously recoded, the part of the intake body with the tactical code making a marked contrast with the rest of the weather-stained air­frame.

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A pair of Su-24Ms coded «53 Red» and «57 Red» makes a banked turn over the Volga River near Akhtoobinsk, seat of the Air Force Research Institute. The camera ship is a slow transport, so the bombers fly with the wings at 16° to keep formation.

This view of a Su-24M shows that the wing and stabilator leading edges are parallel when the wings are at 69° maximum sweep. The radome on this particular example is unspeakably dirty, and more dirt emanates from the wing glove fairings near the wing pivots. The retractable FPSh-5M refuelling probe is positioned on the centreline ahead of the windscreen. Note the white colour­ing of the wing/stabilator leading edges and the offset position of the dorsal heat exchanger.

Sukhoi Su-24Su-24M «67 White» parked at the Russian Navy Combat and Conversion Training Centre, OstrovAB. Note the red covers on the dipole aerial aft of the cockpit and the hemispherical sensor of the Mak-UFM missile warning sensor further aft.

Sukhoi Su-24Two more Su-24Ms, «64 White» and «68 White», under wraps at the Russian Navy Combat and Conversion Training Centre. Unlike the Fencer-As depicted earlier, these aircraft are not in storage but are actually based at Ostrov and belong to the 240th GvOSAP (Guards Independent Composite Air Regiment).

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Sukhoi Su-24Su-24M «66 White» is one of the Fencer-Ds belonging to the Russian Navy Combat and Conversion Training Centre. This example carries an L-080 Fantasmagoriya-A (Phantasm-A) electronic reconnaissance (ELI NT) pod on the centreline pylon.

Sukhoi Su-24Three more views of Su-24Ms «64 White» and «68 White». The main gear doors are fully open. Note the kinked nose gear door consisting of two parts, a characteristic feature of the Su-24M, and the curvature of the colour division line across the wing fences. Note that the tactical code is repeated on the «pig snout» plate at the tip of the nose pitot cover.

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In accordance with the 240th GvOSAP’s status Su-24M «66 White», seen here soak­ing under a horrendous downpour at Ostrov AB, wears a Guards badge (the old Soviet – style version) on the starboard side.

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Подпись: A Head-on view of a very late-production Fencer-D coded «94 Blue» (c/n 1241613), another 239th TsPAT machine.

This late Fencer-D, a Batch 10 aircraft (c/n 1041611?) belonging to the 239th TsPAT (Aviation Hardware Demonstration Centre) at Kubinka AB, represents the export ver­sion designated Su-24MK. The blue tactical code is noteworthy, but the dark green/ dark earth tactical camouflage with pale blue undersurfaces similar to the one worn by Iraqi Air Force examples is even more unusual for a Russian Air Force Su-24. Note the lack of wing fences on this aircraft.

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«94 Blue» is prepared for a mission amid a jumble of ground support equipment that

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brake parachutes on the left. 239th TsPAT Su-24MKs await the next sor-

tie. The Su-24 hardstand at Kubinka is well equipped, with an energy supply system obviating the need for mobile ground power units.

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Two more views of Su-24MK «94 Blue» (c/n 1241613) as is taxies out for a training sor­tie at Kubinka AB, the canopy still open. Unlike the other Fencers operated by the 239th TsPAT, this aircraft wears the stan­dard grey/white colour scheme. Also, this aircraft lacks the wing fences; these were removed from many Su-24s in service.

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«93 Blue», another camouflaged 239th TsPAT Su-24MK (c/n 1041623), taxies out for a training sortie. The aircraft is armed with S-25-OF heavy unguided rockets on the wing glove pylons and R-73 air-to-air missiles on the outer wing pylons. The «wet» centreline pylon mounts an UPAZ – 1A Sakhalin «buddy» refuelling pod allowing the Su-24 to refuel other tactical aircraft. The angular wing fences of «93 Blue» house APP-50 chaff/flare dispensers.

«94 Blue» is prepared for engine starting, using an APA-5D GPU in this instance; the brake parachute pack lies beside, ready for loading. The APA-5’s lateral cable booms swing out to the sides, allowing the vehicle to power up two aircraft at a time

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«92 Blue», the second of three camou­flaged Su-24MKs operated by the 239th TsPAT, fires up its Lyui’ka AL-21Fafterburn­ing turbofans at Kubinka on a bleak winter’s day. The aircraft shows signs of operational wear and tear, with weathered areas on the forward fuselage side touched up in fresher blue paint.

«92 Blue» taxies out, showing the steel plates protecting the inboard portions of the wing flaps from damage when they slide inside the wing gloves as wing sweep is changed.

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Due to the unit’s «showcase» nature the Su-24MKs at Kubinka AB were frequently displayed to various visiting military dele­gations and at open doors days. In the upper photo «91 Blue» is seen together with a Su-25 of the Nebesnyye Goosary (Celestial Hussars) display team which was disbanded soon afterwards.

Sukhoi Su-24Two more views of Su-24MK «91 Blue» during displays at Kubinka. The aircraft is fitted with six MBD3-U6-68 MERs (two of them in tandem on the

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Su-24M «11 White» (c/n 1141613) belong­ing to the Sukhoi OKB performs a simulat­ed refuelling of Su-30 «597 White» (c/n 79371010101) belonging to the Ispytateli (Celestial Hussars) display team of the Flight Research Institute during the MAKS-97 airshow.

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SU-24MK «93 Blue» (c/n 1041623) refuels a sister aircraft coded «91 Blue» during an open doors day at Kubinka AB.

Two Su-24Ms can take on fuel simultane­ously from an IL-78 tanker, as demonstrat­ed by Fencer-Ds «17 White» and «19 White» formating with IL-78M «30 Blue» over Kubinka AB.

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Su-24M «45 Red» is one of several operat­ed by the 968th IISAP (Instructional & Test Composite Air Regiment) which is part of the Russian Air Force’s 4th TsBP і PLS (Combat and Conversion Training Centre) in Lipetsk. Note the unit badge and the five mission markers on the nose applied to mark successful live weapons training sor­ties.

Su-24M «42 Red» is prepared for the day’s flying at Lipetsk AB. Like the other resident Fencers, the aircraft has been recoded. The GPU in this case is an APA-5DM based on a diesel-powered Ural-4320.

Sukhoi Su-24«41 Red», another 968th IISAP Su-24M (seen here sharing the ramp at Lipetsk with a Mikoyan MiG-29), wears 14 mission markers. It is equipped with a UPAZ-1A refuelling pod.

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Su-24M «41 Red» features APP-50 chaff/flare dispensers on the upper side of the rear fuselage to enhance the aircraft’s protection against heat-seeking missiles (see also page 44).

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Another view of the flight line at Lipetsk.

Подпись: Su-24Ms lined up under threatening skies at Lipetsk. Note the open brake parachute container clamshell doors on «47 Red».
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Interestingly, none of the 4th Combat and Conversion Training Centre’s Su-24Ms has the tactical code repeated on the fin, as is customary in the Russian Air Force. On the other hand, the tactical code is repeated on the nose gear door, which is certainly unusual.

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The flight line in Lipetsk is equipped with removable jet blast deflectors made of steel. This type of structure is more com­mon at Soviet/CIS airbases than the «built – in» version of the kind seen at OstrovAB.

Although the Su-24M’s entire nose ahead of the windshield is painted white, not all of it is dielectric. Here the extent of the actual radome is clearly visible, as the special radio-transparent white paint used on dielectric fairings has become so weath­ered as to turn a dirty grey colour.

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This view of a Su-24M shows the wings at minimum sweep, the high-lift devices (slot­ted flaps and leading-edge slats) and the four underfuselage hardpoints (two in tan­dem and two side by side). The foremost pylon and the two side-by-side pylons are fitted in this case. The airbrakes/main gear doors are just about to close as the aircraft «cleans up» after take-off.

 

Su-24M «44 Red» «burns rubber» at the moment of touchdown in Lipetsk. This is one of several Fencer-Ds upgraded by the Russian avionics/weapons integrator Gefest & T. The mid-life update can be identified by the faired chaff-flare dis­pensers on top of the aft fuselage; the fair­ings have small air intakes at the front. The aircraft carries RBK-500 cluster bombs on the centreline pylons.

 

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Sukhoi Su-24Close-up of the Gefest & T logo on the air intake ofSu-24M «40 Red», another exam­ple upgraded by the company. Note the «cross-hairs» in the middle of the Cyrillic letter F.

The Su-24Ms of the 4th TsBP і PLS are by far the most actively flying Fencers in Russia, surpassing even those the naval examples based at OstrovAB.

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The Su-24Ms of the 968th IISAP wear a badge depicting a rampant bull with the word «Vsegda» («always» in Russian). The badge signifies readiness to take on any adversary, anytime, anywhere (equvalent to the «Semper paratus» motto of some Western squadrons). A more unofficial interpretation is «we’ll have everybody, everywhere, every time and in every possi­ble way».

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Sukhoi Su-24Su-24Ms «45 Red», «46 Red» and «40 Red» make a smoky flypast in echelon starboard formation. All three aircraft carry small bombs on the centreline; a minimum ord­nance load is enough for weapons training.

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The Su-24M served as a basis for the Su-24MR Fencer-E reconnaissance air­craft. This head-on view shows the recon­naissance version’s characteristic asym­metric external stores arrangement with a Efir – 1M electronic intelligence (ELINT) pod on the starboard wing pylon and a dual missile rack with two R-60 AAMs for self – defence under the port wing.

The Su-24MR has a much smaller nose radome, as revealed by the discolouration of the dielectric parts on the T6MR-1 pro­totype («26 White») converted from a Fencer-A (c/n 0115305). The space aft of it is occupied by a Shtyk MR-1 side-looking aircraft radar (SLAR) with elongated flush dielectric panels. The prototype lacked the IFR probe of production examples.

Sukhoi Su-24The nose of the Su-24MR is painted white right up to the windshield, just as on the regular Fencer-D, in order to conceal its special nature from the adversary’s aerial reconnaissance and space surveillance assets. This example coded «15 White» carries an Shpil’-2M laser line-scan pod on the centreline pylon. The white «hump» on the dorsal heat exchanger fairing is not a cap of snow but a dielectric panel. Note that the drop tanks apparently come from another aircraft; even writing the tactical code in really huge digits does not help!

Su-24MR «12 White», seen here at the moment of rotation, carries a large photo reconnaissance/ELINT pod on the centre­line pylon.

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This Su-24MR coded «40 Yellow» (c/n 0941648) is used as a demonstrator by the Sukhoi Design Bureau and based in Zhukovskiy, hence the flashy colour scheme in the Russian flag colours of fhite, blue and red. Here the aircraft is fitted with a PHOTINT/ELINT pod; the open camera port is visible here.

Su-24MR c/n 0941648 in the static park of MosAeroShow-92. In this instance it car­ries an Shpil’-2M pod; this near head-on persoective illustrates the pod’s elliptical cross-section. Note that the AAM adapter under the starboard wing is the wrong one, i. e., it is intended for the starboard side (the upper missile should be on the outer side!).

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This view of the Su-24MR demonstrator at MosAeroShow-92 shows to advantage the special colour scheme.

 

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Su-24MR «40 Yellow» (c/n 0941648) – this time with no external stores – takes off from Zhukovskiy’s runway 12 fora demon­stration flight during one of the MAKS air – shows.

«40 Yellow» completes its landing roll on runway 30 at Zhukovskiy. The aircraft is a regular participant of the flying programme during Moscow airshows.

Su-24MR «40 Yellow» passes in front of the crowd. Note the Vee shape of the colour division lines on the underside and the dirty marks sloping downwards from the stabila – tor pivots (a result of the stabilators’ habit of«bleeding» down to maximum deflection when the engines are inoperative).

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The other special mission derivative of the Su-24M was the Su-24MP Fencer-F elec­tronic countermeasures aircraft. This view shows the square-shaped dielectric panels on the sides of the nose (hiding jammer antennas), the characteristic ECM aerials under the nose and on the air intakes, and the centreline Fasol’ jammer pod.

Sukhoi Su-24The few Su-24MPs were stationed in the Far East and the Ukraine (the latter aircraft were retained by the newly-independent Ukraine after the break-up of the Soviet Union). Here, a Russian Air Force Su-24MP in wraps sits on a snowbound ramp at Lipetsk. Note that the outer wings are wrapped up, too.

Sukhoi Su-24This 4th TsBP і PLS Su-24MP coded «15 White» is apparently due to awaken from winter sleep and make a training flight; mechanics are about to remove the canvas covers from the airframe.

«15 White», a Ukrainian Air Force Su-24MP, sits in front of a hardened aircraft shelter (HAS) at Chortkov AB. The immaculate fin­ish on this aircraft is noteworthy.

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Подпись: As is the case with the Su-24MR, the nose of the Su-24MP is painted entirely white to disguise its role and hopefully prevent its from being specially chosen as a target. ◄
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Another view of Ukrainian AF Su-24MP «15 White». The nose gear doors are open for maintenance. The 118th OAPREB (Independent ECM Regiment) at Chortkov operating the type transitioned to the Su-24MP from the Yakovlev Yak-28PP.

Sukhoi Su-24This Ukrainian Air Force Su-24M coded «19 White» carries UAF roundels on the forward fuselage (which makes an interesting com­parison with the aircraft on the opposite page) and dragon artwork. Note the L-080 Fanmtasmagoriya-A ELINTpod on the cen­treline station.

Ukrainian Air Force Su-24 Fencer-B «49 White» (c/n 1615324) undergoing mainte­nance at its home base, Chortkov AB. The radome swings open to port, revealing the two antenna dishes; the larger one is for the Puma fire control radar while the small one underneath is for the terrain following radar.

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Two more views of Ukrainian Air Force Su – 24 «49 White» (c/n 1615324) unbuttoned for maintenance, showing the positioning of the UAF roundels on the wings and the removable panels on the upper fuselage for access to the control runs and other systems.

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The nighbouring aircraft coded «50 White» is also being worked upon. The drop tank is inscribed «50 starboard» but the «5» has almost vanished – though it is hard to say why.

The Ukrainian Air Force also managed to keep some Fencer-As flying, as illustrated by «65 White» here. Note the variance in the shield-and-trident tail insignia on individual aircraft; the crudely overpainted red star is showing from under the UAF insignia on this one. The panels carrying the middle por­tions of the ventral fins are removed, show­ing that «65 White» is a bit unairworthy for the time being.

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Soviet/CIS Air Force tactical bomber units sometimes operated a mix of different Su-24 versions, as illustrated by Fencer-A «65 White» sharing the flight line with a Fencer-C. The removed access panels with the middle portions of the ventral fins are lying behind the aircraft.

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The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) was one of the few export cus­tomers for the Su-24. Apart from the Su – 24MKs delivered directly from Russia, the IRIAF retained several ex-Iraqi examples which sought shelter in neutral Iran at the closing stage of the 1991 Gulf War. Here, IRIAF Su-24MKs serialled 3-6853 (above) and 3-3810 (right) are seen at military hard­ware exhibitions at Teheran International airport.

Two IRIAF SU-24MK (3-6807 and 3-6811) cruise over the snow-covered mountains of northern Iran. These photos illustrate the two-tone camouflage worn by export Fencers.

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The rear fuselage and tail unit of the Fencer-A, the first production version of the Su-24, showing the low-set brake para­chute container. This particular aircraft serving as a ground instructional airframe at the Ukrainian Air Force Technical School near Kiev is the T6-19 development aircraft («619 White»; c/n 0215307?). Note the photo calibration marking on the tail.

This view clearly illustrates the difference in rear end treatment between the Fencer-A (background) and the Fencer-C. Note the antenna and cooling air intake built into the latter aircraft’s fin leading edge.

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The rear fuselage and tail unit of the Su-24M (illustrated here by 239th TsPAT «92 Blue»), except for the shorter, upward – curved fuel jettison pipes.

 

Close-up of the Su-24M’s brake parachute container, with the radar homing and warn­ing system (RHAWS) antenna array above

 

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Подпись: ◄ The Su-24 has four underwing hardpoints. This particular example features non-stan-dard wing glove pylons allowing two stores to be carried on each inboard station. Sukhoi Su-24Подпись: I
The outer wing pylons rotate as wing sweep changes, remaining parallel to the fuselage axis. This aircraft carries 32-round UB-32 rocket pods for firing 57-mm S-5 folding – fin aircraft rockets (FFARs).

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MBD3-U6-68 multiple ejector racks can be carried on any of the Su-24’s hard points. Up to six of these MERs can be fitted at a time for carrying FAB-250 HE bombs. The starboard one of the two elongated ventral fairings visible in the left photo houses a 30- mm Gryazev/Shipoonov GSh-6-30 six-bar­rel Gatling cannon; the muzzle opening is closed by «eyelid» shutters.

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Double launcher adapters for R-73 air-to – air missiles can be carried on the outer wing pylons. These are usually fitted to the Su-24MR (here, «40 Yellow», c/n 0941648) and Su-24MP.

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The Su-24’s hefty wing pivot box is manu­factured as a singe whole with the fuse­lage. This is the port wing pivot and the riv­eted structure around it. Note the shallos strake which organses the airflow around the wing/fuselage joint.

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Up to three 3,000-litre (660 Imp. gal.) PTB-3000 drop tanks can be carried on the fuselage and inner wing hardpoints. Small canards with negative incidence are fitted at the front to facilitate separation when the tank is jettisoned.

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Подпись: ◄ The «goose» of the Fencer-A/B/C - the characteristic L-shaped strut carrying the pitot, ILS aerial and ESM antennas. Sukhoi Su-24

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Sukhoi Su-24Close-up of the antenna dishes of the Orion-A fire control radar and the Rei’yef terrain following radar below it forming the PNS-24 Tigr navigation/attack avionics suite. The antenns are mounted on a solid frame which swings out to starboard for access to the radar sets. The stencils on the antenna dishes read «Attention! Tuned, do not touch». Note also the V-shaped win­dow of the TP-23E infra-red seeker.

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The Su-24 features a sharply swept two – piece windshield made of strong polycar­bonate. It is designed to minimise drag at high speed and withstand birdstrikes which are quite likely during low-level dashes. Note the PVD-7 pitot head in line with the windshield.

The two halves on the canopy can be opened individually, leaving a splitter run­ning down the middle. The construction number is normally stencilled on this (though not on this particular aircraft).

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Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Подпись: ► The Su-24 has a levered-suspension twin- wheel nose gear unit equipped with a mud/snow/slush guard to prevent engine damage on semi-prepared runways. Подпись:Sukhoi Su-24Close-up of the faired centreline pylons carrying MBD3-U6-68 MERs.

Close-up of the Chaika (Seagull) under­nose forward-looking infra-red seeker (FLIR)/laser ranger window and Filin (Horned owl) ESM antennas.

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

The instrument panel of the Su-24 featured illuminated push-button switches; some of the engine instruments are of the vertical strip type. The diagram in the centre with the aircraft silhouette and radial beams is the RHAWS indicator.

Overall view of the cockpit. The naviga – tor/weapons systems officer (WSO) sits on the right, detecting targets on the orange – coloured radar screen and the display above it. This aircraft is c/n 1215301 (note «12-01» stencilled in the WSO’s footwell).

Sukhoi Su-24
Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24
A

Another view of the cockpit with its conven­tional electromechanical flight instruments. The throttles are on the captain’s side con­sole.

As the Su-24 can only land safely with the wings at minimum sweep, a read emer­gency wing actuating handle is located on the l/l/SO’s instrument panel to the left of the airspeed indicator.

Подпись: ■fN i I A.I m ^ ■ і Pi 1, V7

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Aptly coded «62 Yellow», the T6-2I was the first variable-geometry prototype.

 

The T6-27 during weapons trials. The aircraft is a Fencer-B.

 

«40 White», a 149th Guards Fighter Regiment Su-24 Fencer-B which saw action in Afghanistan, operating out of Kokaidy, Uzbekistan. Note the 13 mission markers.

 

Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Sukhoi Su-24

Another Su-24M in a highly unusual colour scheme applied in the early 1990s. Note the «eyes» painted on the forward fuselage for bird-scaring. The Russian flag addition to the red star was short-lived.

 

A Ukrainian Air Force Su-24MR. Note the old-style round tail

insignia and the Guards badge.

 

An Iraqi Air Force (a! Quwwat al-Jawwiya al-lraqiya) Su-24MK serialled 24246.

 

Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24Sukhoi Su-24

A production Su-24M with the wings at 69" sweep.

Type 150

Type 150

Purpose: Experimental jet bomber.

Design Bureau: OKB-1, Podberez’ye and later at Kimry, General Director from October 1948 S M Alekseyev.

The first official history of OKB-1 to be pub­lished (in Kryl’ya Rodiny for December 1987, written by I Sultanov) stated that it was led by Alekseyev, whose own OKB had been closed, and that this aircraft was ‘designed in close collaboration with CAHI (TsAGI), the leading experts on aerodynamics and struc­tures being V N Belyayev, AI Makarevskii, G P Svishchev and S A Khristianovich’. At the end it briefly noted that ‘a group from Ger­many, led by B Baade, participated…’ It would have been more accurate to explain that OKB-1 was specifically formed on 22nd October 1946 in order to put to use several hundred German design engineers, led by Prof Brunolf Baade and Hans Wocke, who had been forcibly taken with their families to a location 120km east of Moscow where they were put to work in a single large office block. For the first three years they were fully occu­pied on the Types 131 and 140 described pre­viously. However, mainly because of doubts that the forward-swept wing would ever be
made to work, even before they left Germany they had completed preliminary drawings for a bomber of similar size but with a conven­tional backswept wing. By 1948 this had be­come an official OKB-1 project, called 150. The original Chief Designer was P N Obrubov, but Alekseyev took his place when he arrived. Workers were increasingly transferred to the 150, which grew in size and weight from the original 25 tonnes to produce a bomber inter­mediate between the IL-28 and Tu-16. The brief specification issued by the WS called for a take-off weight between 38 and 47 tonnes, a maximum speed rising from 790 km/h at sea level to 970km/h at 5km, a service ceiling of 12.5km and a range varying with bomb load from 1,500 to 4,500km (932 to 2,796 miles). Only a single flight article was funded, and this had to wait a year for its en­gines. At last it was flown by Ya I Vernikov on 14th May 1951. On Flight 16 on 9th May 1952 the aircraft stalled on the landing approach, and though the aircraft was marginally re­pairable nobody bothered, because of the clearly greater potential of the Tu-88 (proto­type Tu-16). The dice were in any case loaded against a German-designed aircraft. In late 1953 Baade and most of the Germans re­
turned to their own country, where in Dres­den they formed a company called VEB which used the Type 150 as the [highly unsuitable] basis for the BB-152 passenger airliner.

A modern all-metal aircraft, the 150 had a shoulder-high wing with a fixed leading edge swept at 35°. As this wing had hardly any taper the tips were extraordinarily broad, leaving plenty of room for slim fairings housing the re­tracted tip landing gears. The concept of tan­dem centreline landing gears with small wheels at the wingtips had been evaluated with Alekseyev’s own I-215D. At rest the wing had anhedral of-4°, reduced to about -1° 20′ in flight. Each wing had two shallow fences from the leading edge to the slotted flap. Out­board were three-part ailerons. The fuselage was of circular section, tapering slightly aft of the wing to oval. Fixed seats were provided in the pressurized forward section for two pilots, a navigator/bombardier and a radio operator who also had periscopic control of a dorsal turret with two NR-23 cannon. Underthe floor was the RPB-4 navigation/bombing radar, with twin landing lamps recessed in the front. Behind this was the steerable twin-wheel nose gear. Next came the large bomb bay, 2.65m (8ft Sin) wide and high and 7m (23ft)

long, with a load limit of 6 tonnes (13,228 Ib). Next came the rear twin-wheel truck, which on take-off could be suddenly shortened to tilt the aircraft 3° 30′ nose-up for a clean liftoff. The large fin was swept at 45°, with a two-part rudder and carrying on top the 45°-swept tailplane and three-part elevators with dihe­dral of 8°. In the tail was a rear gunner with a turret mounting two NR-23 cannon. Under each wing was a forward-swept pylon carry­ing a Lyul’ka AL-5 turbojet rated at 4,600kg (lO. HOlb). A total of 35,875 litres (7,892 Im­perial gallons) of fuel was housed in eight cells along the upper part of the fuselage, and additional tanks could be carried in the bomb bay. On each side of the rear fuselage was a door-type airbrake. Like almost everything else these surfaces were operated electrical­ly, the high-power duplicated DC system in­cluding an emergency drop-out windmill generator. Each flight-control surface was op­erated by a high-speed rotary screwjack.

Подпись: Three views of 150. Type 150Though flight testing revealed some buffet­ing and vibration, especially at full power at high altitude, the numerous innovations in­troduced on this aircraft worked well. Never­theless, it would have been politically undesirable for what was essentially a Ger­man aircraft to be accepted for production. Thus, hitting the ground short of the runway was convenient.

Dimensions

Span

24.1m

79 ft 1 in

Length (excluding guns)

26. 74 m

87 ft 8% in

Wing area

125m2

1,346ft2

Weights

Empty

23,064kg

50,84715

Loaded

54 tonnes

119,00015

Performance

Maximum speed

at sea level,

850 km/h

528 mph

at 10 km (32,808 ft)

930 km/h

578 mph

Service ceiling about

13km

42,650ft

No other data, except that design range (see a5ove) was exceeded.

 

Type 150

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colourSoviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Top: Mikoyan Ye-4 with RD-9I engine Centre: Mikoyan Ye-2A Bottom: Mikoyan Ye-5

 

Photographs on the opposite page: Top: Mikoyan I-3U in late 1956. Bottom: Mikoyan I-7U.

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colourSoviet X-Planes. in colour

♦Ир fifty іНМІ -*

 

;ч2йСЬЄЄі

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Top: Mikoyan Ye-152/Awith K-9 missiles.

Right and bottom: Two views of the Mikoyan Ye-152P.

Photographs on the opposite page:

Top and centre: Two views of the Mikoyan Ye-8/2.

Soviet X-Planes. in colourBottom: Mikoyan Ye-50/3.

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Подпись:Soviet X-Planes. in colourPhotographs on the opposite page:

Top: Mikoyan Ye-152M (Ye-166) record version at Monino.

Centre. MiG-211/1 ‘Analog’.

Bottom: MiG-21PD (’23-31′).

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Top: One ofthe Myasischev M-17 prototypes at Monino

Подпись: Opposite page: Three views of the Mikoyan 'I-44'.

Soviet X-Planes. in colourAbove, right and below: Three views of the Myasischev M-55.

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Подпись:Soviet X-Planes. in colourPhotographs on the opposite page:

Top and centre left: Two views of the Myasischev VM-T.

Centre left and bottom: Two views of the Sukhoi T-4 (‘101’).

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colourSoviet X-Planes. in colour

Подпись: Top: Sukhoi S-22I test-bed. Centre left: Sukhoi T10-3. Centre right: Sukhoi T10-24. Bottom: Sukhoi T10-20 record version at Khodynka. Photographs on the opposite page:

Top and centre: Two views of the Sukhoi P-42 record aircraft.

Bottom left and right: Two views of the Sukhoi Su-27UB-PS test-bed.

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

 

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Three views of the Sukhoi S-37, the lower two taken at the MAKS-99 air show. ,

Soviet X-Planes. in colourPhotographs on the opposite page: Top: Sukhoi Su-37 (T10M-11). Bottom: Sukhoi Su-37 ‘Berkut’.

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Soviet X-Planes. in colour

Top: Tupolev Tu-155 test-bed at Zhukovskii.

 

Cen/re: YakovlevYak-141 at Khodynka.

Bottom: YakovlevYak-141 second prototype.

 

Soviet X-Planes. in colourSoviet X-Planes. in colour

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BICh-11, RP-1

Purpose: To test rocket engine in flight. Design Bureau: B I Cheranovskii.

The BICh-11 was designed in 1931 as a bungee-launched glider to see if the concept of using wingtip rudders could be made to work. The glides may have been too brief to be useful, because in 1932 Cheranovskii added a small British engine more powerful than the Tomtit used for BICh-3. In 1933 this aircraft was selected by MosGIRD, the Moscow-based experimental rocket-engine
group, as a suitable test-bed with which to fly a small liquid-propellant rocket engine, which began bench-testing on 18th March 1933. The aircraft was again modified, with the rocket engine(s) and their supply and control system and a new wing of increased span. It was then judged that the propulsion system was too dangerous to fly. Note: some accounts say the piston engine was installed after the removal of the rocket engine(s), but drawings show the piston-engined aircraft to have had the original wing.

The BICh-11 was another wooden aircraft with fabric covering, with a single seat, hinged canopy and trailing-edge elevators and ailerons. It appears to have had no land­ing gear other than a centreline skid. On the wingtips were rudders, under which were skids. In its powered form the engine was an ABC Scorpion with two air-cooled cylinders, rated at 27/35hp. The rocket engine was the GIRD OR-2, designed by a team led by FATsander, with a single thrust chamber burning petrol (gasoline) and liquid oxygen.

Sea-level thrust was 50kg (110 Ib). The BlCh – 11 was given a wing of greater span, and fit­ted with sprung landing gears and a tailskid. There is confusion over whether one or two OR-2 engines were installed (drawings sug­gest one), fed by a lagged spherical tank of liquid oxygen and a smaller bottle of fuel, all fed by gas pressure. In this form the aircraft was painted red overall, with ‘GIRD RP-1’ painted on each side of the vestigial fuselage. RP stood for Raketnyi Planer, rocket glider.

It is not recorded whether this aircraft flew satisfactorily with wingtip rudders, which with BICh-7 had proved unsatisfactory.

 

Dimensions (as RP-1)

Span 12.1m

Length 3.09m

Wing area 20.0m2

 

BICh-11, RP-1

Cheranovskii with RP-1.

 

39 ft Г in 10 ft 1% in 215 ft2

 

Weights

Empty 200kg

No other reliable data.

 

441 Ib

 

BICh-11

 

RP-1

 

BICh-11, RP-1BICh-11, RP-1

Grigorovich I-Z

Purpose: To evaluate a fighter with APK recoilless cannon.

Design Bureau: Team led by Dmitrii PavlovichGrigorovich, inVT(internal prison) run by OGPU (secret police, later NKVD) at Factory No 39.

The story of the development in the Soviet Union of large-calibre recoilless guns, under the leadership of L V Kurchevskii, is outlined in the entry on the Tupolev ANT-23. By the end of the 1920s design bureaux were receiv­ing contracts for experimental fighters de­signed to be armed with such weapons. In late 1929 Grigorovich was sent to Central Construction Bureau 7, which was really Hangar 7 at Factory 39, an OGPU secure prison for designers. Here he led the design of the Z, a secret monoplane to be armed with two 76.2mm (Sin) APK-4 guns. To speed con­struction the powerplant group and forward fuselage of the first prototype were the same as those of the Polikarpov I-5, which was also built in Hangar 7. The complete aircraft, called I-Z (Fighter Z) was flown by Benedikt Bukhgol’ts in (it is believed) early May 1931. It was inspected by Stalin, Voroshilov, Molotov and others on 6th July 1931. Subsequently a small series of21 production I-Z fighters were produced at GAZ No 39. These were still re­garded as experimental. In February/March 1933 aircraft No 39009 was placed on a high
platform and used for firing trials, and in Sep­tember 1933 No 39010 underwent NIl-WS testing. Two of these aircraft were later used in Zveno trials, as described under Vakhmistrov. In 1934-35 Factory No 135 at Kharkov built a further 72, with modifications, designated IP-1. These saw only limited use, partly because of difficult spin recovery, but were not considered as experimental.

At this time monoplanes were still struc­turally difficult, and the wing, though of torch-welded stainless (Enerzh-6) lattice con­struction, still needed underwing bracing to the fixed landing gears. Apart from the semi – monocoque rear fuselage, the covering of the whole airframe was fabric. The prototype had a Bristol Jupiter, in a helmeted cowling, while the first production batch had the same 480hp engine built under licence as the M-22 and cowled in a Townend ring. The second batch, from Kharkov, had the 700hp M-25 (Wright Cyclone). The main landing gears variously had spatted wheels, plain wheels or skis. The guns were suspended from both main spars outboard of the struts (just in­board on the first prototype), and were fed at a slow rate from a seven-round magazine in the wing. A PV-1 machine gun was fitted to right of centre ahead of the windscreen to as­sist aiming using the optical sight. The tailplane was mounted high to avoid the rear blast from the APK-4s.

This neat aircraft did all that was expected of it, but none of Kurchevskii’s big guns ever became operational.

I-Z cockpit.

Grigorovich I-Z

GRIGOROVICH I-Z

 

Far left: I-Z series aircraft.

 

Left: Close-up of APK-4.

 

Bottom left: Aircraft I-Z No 39009 rigged for firing trials.

 

Dimensions (first I-Z)

Span

Length

Wing area

11.5m

7.645m

19.6m2

37 ft 8% in 25 ft 1 in 21 lft!

Weights

Empty

1,180kg

2,601 Ib

Loaded

1,648kg

3,633 Ib

Performance

Max speed at sea level

259km/h

161 mph

Time to climb to 5 km

14min

(16,400ft)

Service ceiling

7km

22,970ft

Range

600km

373 miles

Take-off run

110m

361ft

Landing speed/

l00km/h

62 mph

run

180m

591ft

 

Grigorovich I-ZGrigorovich I-Z

Lavochkin La-7PVRD and La-9RD

Lavochkin La-7PVRD and La-9RD

Purpose: To investigate the use of pulsejets to boost fighter performance.

Design Bureau: The OKB of Semyon A Lavochkin.

In 1942 Vladimir N Chelomey, working at TsIAM (Central Institute of Aviation Motors) began bench-testing the first pulsejet in the Soviet Union. This was independent of work by the German Argus company, which be­cause of Soviet secrecy became famed as the pioneer of such engines. The Soviet unit re­ceived two designations, D-10 and RD-13. In 1946 the first two flight-cleared D-10 engines were hung under the wings of a slightly mod­ified La-7, which was designated La-7PVRD. In the second half of 1947 a second pair, des­ignated RD-13, were flown under the wings of an La-9, which misleadingly received the des­ignation La-9RD. Despite the fact that the pro­gramme had already been abandoned, eight further La-9 fighters were fitted with these en­gines, and all nine made a deafening forma­tion flypast at the Tushino Aviation Day.

Left: La-7/2D-10.

The D-10 pulsejet appears to have been heavier than the German 109-014 unit of sim­ilar size, though weight data are lacking. The duct was mainly aluminium at the front and steel to the rear ofthe fuel injectors. Fuel was drawn from the main aircraft tanks and igni­tion was electrical. The unit was suspended from a shallow pylon projecting ahead of the wing leading edge with two main attach­ments, with a steadying attachment at the rear. Apart from the pulsejet instrumentation and control system a few modifications were needed to the aircraft, the main one being to remove a large portion of flap above the pulsejet jetpipe. No data are available de­scribing how thrust varied with airspeed or height; Shavrov merely gives the thrust of a single D-10 as 200kg (44 lib).

Подпись: La-9RD, also called La-9D-13 orLa-9/2D-13Lavochkin La-7PVRD and La-9RDLavochkin La-7PVRD and La-9RDThough these pulsejets performed as ex­pected, they significantly added to aircraft weight and drag, and reduced manoeuvrabil­ity, especially rate of roll. In addition, the vio­lent vibration transmitted to the aircraft ‘made flying difficult’ and was very unpopular with pilots.

Dimensions (La-7PVRD)

Span

9.8m

32 ft % in

Length

8.6m

28 ft n in

Wing area

17.59m2

189ft2

Weights

Empty

2,998kg

6,609 Ib

Loaded

3,701 kg

8,159 Ib

Performance

Maximum speed, according to Shavrov the calculated speeds were

800 km/h at 6,000 m and 715 km/h at 8,000

m, whereas the actual

speeds at these heights were

670 km/h (416 mph) and 620 km/h

(385 mph), or marginally lower than without the pulsejets!

 

Dimensions (La-9RD)

Span

Length

Wing area

9.8m

8.63m

17.72m2

32ftP/Un 28 ft 3% in 191 ft2

Weights

Empty

3,150kg

6,944 Ib

Loaded

3,815kg

8,410 Ib

Performance

Maximum speed, the calculated gain was 127 km/h, but Shavrov gives the actual achieved speed as 674 km/h (419 mph), 16 km/h slower than the original La-9.

 

Right: Three views of La-9RD.

 

Lavochkin La-7PVRD and La-9RD

Ye-152M

By the late 1950s the Mikoyan OKB had moved on to envisage this as the ultimate sin­gle-engined heavy interceptor. It was to have the R-15B-300 engine, with a maximum rating of 10,210kg (22,509 Ib) and an improved propulsive nozzle of convergent/divergent form, considerably greater internal fuel ca­pacity in an added fuselage spine, wingtip rails for the Volkov K-80 missile (later pro­duced as the R-4R and R-4T), and many other modifications including canard foreplanes which this time were to be fully powered. The Ye-152/2 was rebuilt into the Ye-152P (from Perekhvatchik, interceptor) as a stepping stone to the Ye-152M. Externally it incorporat­ed all the new features, including the roots for the foreplanes, but the surfaces themselves were not fitted. By the time the rebuild was complete the IA-PVO (manned fighter branch of the air defence forces) had selected the Tupolev Tu-128, and Mikoyan was well ahead with the far more impressive twin-engined MiG-25. In 1965 the Ye-152P, with the missile launchers replaced by more pointed wing – tips, was put on display as the ‘Ye-166’, adorned with the details of the records set by the Ye-152/1. It still survives at the Monino museum in Moscow.

Ye-152MYe-152M

Top left: I-3U.

Top right: I-7U.

Ye-152MAbove and right: Two views of I-75. Bottom: Ye-150.

Ye-152M

Ye-152M
Ye-152M

 

Ye-152M

 

Ye-152M

Ye-152M

Ye-152M

Ye-152MYe-152M

Ye-152M
Ye-152M

Photographs on the opposite page:

Top left: e-l52A.

Top right: Ye-152A with K-9-155 mis siles.

Centre: Ye-152A with K-9-155 missiles.

Bottom: Ye-152/1 with K-9-155 missiles.

Photographs on this page:

Above: Ye-152M project model.

Top left, centre and bottom right: Ye-152M with K-80 missile mock-ups.

Top right: Ye-152M record version (so-called ’Ye-166′) at Monino.

Подпись: MiG-21 Experimental Versions Design Bureau: OKB-155 ofAI Mikoyan. Ye-2, Ye-4, Ye-5

The Korean War of 1950-53 triggered a signifi­cant acceleration of development of weapons in the Soviet Union. For the first time the ‘MiG’ OKB found itself working under intense pres­sure on two distinct classes offighter. The first to be launched were the big radar-equipped interceptors typified by a wing area of 30m2 (323ft2) and engines in the thrust range 9,072 to 13,608kg (20,000 to 30,000 Ib). The second family were small but agile fighters intended for close visual combat, characterised by wings of some 22m2 (237ft2) and engines in the 5,000kg (ll,0201b) class. The smaller air­craft were required to reach Mach 2 on the level at heights up to 20km (65,617ft) whilst carrying guns and a radar-ranging sight. Inten­sive tunnel testing failed to show clear superi­ority between a swept wing rather like a small version of that of the MiG-19, with a leading – edge sweep of 61°, and the new delta (trian­gular) shape with a leading-edge angle of 57°, so it was decided to build experimental ver­sions of both. The single engine was Tuman – skii’s AM-9B (later called RD-9B), as used in the twin-engined MiG-19, with a maximum af­terburning thrust of3,250kg (7,165 Ib). The fol­lowing specification refers to the swept-wing Ye-2, first flown on 14th February 1955. This led to the mixed-power Ye-50. The Ye-4, the first of the deltas, was very similar but had a disappointing performance. Despite this, with minor changes the delta Ye-5 was some 700km/h faster, leading to the production MiG-21. Even though all versions had limited capability, this small fighter was produced in four countries in greater numbers than any other military aircraft since 1945 apart from the MiG-15. Assuming 2,400 for Chinese pro­duction the total was 13,409.

Dimensions

Span

Length (excl pilot boom) Wing area

8.109m

13.23m

21.0m2

26 ft T/, in 43 ft 4% in 226ft2

Weights

Empty

3,687kg

8,1281b

Internal fuel

1,360kg

2,998 Ib

Loaded

5,334kg

11,75915

Performance Maximum speed

at 11,000m (36,089 ft)

l,920km/h

1,1 93 mph (Mach 1.8)

Service ceiling

19,000m

62,336ft

Range (estimated)

1,220km

758 miles

Take-off run

700m

2,297ft

Landing speed/

250km/h

155 mph

run

800m

2,625 ft

Ye-50

Right at the start of the ‘Ye’ programme Mikoyan had planned a mixed-power proto­type, the Ye-lA, with the afterburning turbojet boosted by a Dushkin S-155 rocket engine. This was never built, but in 1954 it was re­stored to the programme with the designa­tion Ye-50. One reason was the British Saro SR.53, with a similar propulsion system, and another was that the definitive RD-11 (later called R-l 1) engine was still some two years off. An order was received for three Ye-50 air­craft, and Ye-50/1 made its first flight (without using the rocket) on 9th January 1956, the same day as the first Ye-5. Though similar in size to the Ye-2 already described, the empty weight of the Ye-50/1 was 4,401kg (9,702 Ib). This was because of the rocket engine and its tanks, an extended nose and additional equipment. The main engine was an RD-9Ye rated at 3,800kg (8,377 Ib). The S-155 was fed with RFNA (red fuming nitric acid) and kerosene by a turbopump in the swollen base of the fin, driven by decomposing high-test hydrogen peroxide. The thrust chamber was immediately to the rear, above the main-en­gine afterburner. The whole rocket installa­tion, though complex, was refined and reliable. On the turbojet alone this heavy air­craft was underpowered, and the bulk of the rocket and its tankage meant that with re­duced jet fuel the range was very short. This aircraft was damaged beyond repair on its 18th fiight on 14th July 1956. The Ye-50/2 reached 2,460km/h (l,529mph, Mach 2.32). The Ye-50/3 incorporated various modifica­tions, but suffered inflight catastrophe, killing Nil pilot N A Korovin. Gor’kiy received a con­tract for a single Ye-50A with greatly in­creased rocket and jet fuel, made possible by a large tank scabbed on under the fuselage, but the Ministry decided against mixed – power aircraft (preferring much more power­ful main engines) and the Ye-50A was never completed.

Ye-6/3T

The MJG-21F, the first series version, went into production at Gor’kiy in 1959. The facto­ry designation was Ye-6/3T, and the third pro­duction aircraft, the 3T, was set aside to explore the effect of fitting canard (nose) foreplanes. These were small delta-shaped surfaces with cropped tips, the leading-edge angle being 45°. They were not powered but were pivoted on axes skewed at 40° and free
to align themselves with the local airflow. To prevent flutter a lead-filled rod projected ahead of the leading edge at mid-span. Their purpose was merely to reduce longitudinal static stability, but they were considered to be ineffectual in use.

. OOS Stal’-5

Purpose: Flying-wing transport or bomber. Design Bureau: OOS, Russian for Section for Experimental Aeroplane Construction, Moscow Tushino.

Along with Kozlov (see ‘invisible aircraft’ story) the chief designer at OOS was Alek­sandr Ivanovich Putilov, who joined from CAHI (TsAGI) when OOS was just a group in­
terested in steel airframes. The Stal’ (steel) 5 was sketched in 1933 in two forms, as a trans­port and also as the KhB (Khimicheskii Boye – vik), an attack aircraft for spraying poison gas (obviously it could also carry bombs). In 1934 a complete wing spar was made for static test, and in late 1935 VVKarpov and Ya G Paul actually flight-tested a scale model with a span of 6m (19ft 7in), wing area of
15.0m2 (161.5ft2) and two 45hp Salmson en­gines. It was difficult to fly, and the idea was dropped.

Putilov’s flying wing was to be powered by two 750hp M-34F water-cooled V-12 engines. The structure was to have been almost en­tirely Enerzh-6 stainless steel, skinned with Bakelite-bonded veneer over the centre sec­tion and fabric elsewhere. The drawing shows the slotted flaps, elevator and four re­tractable wheels. The payload was to have been between the spars in the centroplan (centre wing), deep enough for people to walk upright.

Several designers, notably the American Burnelli, tried to make extra-efficient aircraft along these lines. None succeeded.

Dimensions

Span 23.0m 75 ft 5Л in

Length 12.5m 41ft

Wing area 120nf l,292ft!

Weights (estimated)

Empty 5.5 tonnes 12,125 Ib

Loaded 8 tonnes 17,640 Ib

No other data.

Sukhoi T-4, 100

Purpose: To create a Mach-3 strategic weapons system.

Design Bureau: P O Sukhoi, Moscow, with major subcontract to TMZ, Tushino Machine-Building Factory.

This enormous project was triggered in Dec­ember 1962 by the need to intercept the B-70 (or RS-70), ‘A-ll’ (A-12, later SR-71), Hound Dog and Blue Steel. At an early stage the mis­sion was changed to strategic reconnais­sance and strike for use against major surface targets. It was also suggested that the basic air vehicle could form the starting point for the design of an advanced SST. From the outset there were bitter arguments. Initially these centred on whether the requirement should be met by a Mach-2 aluminium aircraft or whether the design speed should be Mach 3, requiring steel and/or titanium. In January
1963 Mach 3 was selected, together with a de­sign range at high altitude on internal fuel of 6,000km (3,728 miles). General Constructors Sukhoi, Tupolev and Yakovlev competed, with the T-4, Tu-135 and Yak-33 respectively. The Yak was too small (in the TSR.2 class) and did not meet the requirements, and though it looked like the B-70 the Tupolev was an aluminium aircraft designed for Mach 2.35. From the start Sukhoi had gone for Mach 3, and its uncompromising design resulted in its being chosen in April 1963. This was despite the implacable opposition not only of Tupolev but also of Sukhoi’s own deputy Yevgenii Ivanov and many of the OKB’s department heads, who all thought this de­manding project an unwarranted departure from tactical fighters. Over the next 18 months their opposition thwarted a plan for the for­mer Lavochkin OKB and factory to assist the

T-4, and in its place the Boorevestnik (stormy petrel) OKB and the TMZ factory were ap­pointed as Sukhoi branch offices, the Tushino plant handling all prototype construction. A special WS commission studied the project from 23rd May to 3rd June 1963, and a further commission studied the refined design in February-May 1964. By this time the T-4 was the biggest tunnel-test project at CAHI (TsAGI) and by far the largest at the Central In­stitute of Aviation Motors. The design was studied by GKAT (State aircraft technical committee) from June 1964, and approved by it in October of that year. By this time it had outgrown its four Tumanskii R-15BF-300 or Zubets RD-17-15 engines and was based on four Kolesov RD-36-41 engines. In January 1965 it was decided to instal these all close to­gether as in the B-70, instead of in two pairs. Mockup review took place from 17th January

to 2nd February 1966, with various detach­able weapons and avionics pods being of­fered. Preliminary design was completed in June 1966, and because its take-off weight was expected to be 100 tonnes the Factory designation 100 was chosen, with nickname Sotka (one hundred). The first flight article was designated 101, and the static-test speci­men 100S. The planned programme then in­cluded the 102 (with a modified structure with more composites and no brittle alloys) for testing the nav/attack system, the 103 and 104 for live bomb and missile tests and deter­mination of the range, the 105 for avionics in­tegration and the 106 for clearance of the whole strike/reconnaissance system. On 30th December 1971 the first article, Black 101, was transferred from Tushino to the LII Zhukovskii test airfield. On 20th April 1972 it was accepted by the flight-test crew, Vladimir Ilyushin and navigator Nikolai Alfyorov, and made its first flight on 22nd August 1972. The gear was left extended on Flights 1 through 5, after which speed was gradually built up to Mach 1.28 on Flight 9 on 8th August 1973. There were no serious problems, though the aft fuselage tank needed a steel heat shield and there were minor difficulties with the hy­draulics. The WS request for 1970-75 includ­ed 250 T-4 bombers, for which tooling was being put in place at the world’s largest aircraft factory, at Kazan. After much further argument, duringwhich Minister P V Demen – t’yev told Marshal Grechko he could have his enormous MiG-23 order only if the T-4 was abandoned, the programme was cancelled. Black 101 flew once more, on 22nd January 1974, to log a total of lOhrs 20min. Most of the second aircraft, article 102, which had been about to fly, went to the Moscow Aviation In­stitute, and Nos 103-106 were scrapped. Back in 1967 the Sukhoi OKB had begun working on a totally redesigned and significantly more advanced successor, the T-4MS, or 200. Ter­mination ofthe T-4 resulted in this even more remarkable project also being abandoned. In 1982 Aircraft 101 went to the Monino muse­um. The Kazan plant instead produced the Tu-22MandTu-160.

Sukhoi T-4, 100

Подпись: Four views ofthe T-4 NolOl

In all essentials the T-4 was a clone on a smaller scale of the North American B-70. The structure was made of high-strength tita­nium alloys VT-20, VT-21L and VT-22, stain­less steels VIS-2 and VIS-5, structural steel VKS-210 and, for fuel and hydraulic piping, soldered VNS-2 steel. The wing, with 0° an – hedral, had an inboard leading-edge angle of 75° 44′, changed over most of the span to 60° 17′. Thickness/chord ratio was a remark-

able 2.7 per cent. The leading edge was fixed. The flight controls were driven by irreversible power units in a quadruplex FBW (fly-by­wire) system with full authority but automat­ic manual reversion following failure of any two channels. They comprised four elevens on each wing, flapped canard foreplanes and a two-part rudder. The fuselage had a circular diameter of 2.0m (6ft 6%in). At airspeeds below 700km/h (435mph) the nose could be drooped 12° 12′ by a screwjack driven by hy­draulic motors to give the pilot a view ahead. Behind the pilot (Ilyushin succeeded in get­ting the proposed control wheel replaced by a stick) was the navigator and systems man­ager. Both crew had a K-36 ejection-seat, fired up through the normal entrance hatch, and aircraft 101 also had a pilot periscope. Be­hind the pressure cabin was a large refriger­ated fuselage section devoted to electronics. Next came the three fuel tanks, filled with 57 tonnes (125,661 Ib) of specially developed RG-1 naphthyl fuel similar to JP-7. Each tank had a hydraulically driven turbopump, and the fuel system was largely automated. A pro­duction T-4 would have had provision for a large drop tank under each wing, and for air refuelling. Behind the aft tank were systems compartments, ending with a rectangular tube housing quadruple cruciform braking parachutes. Under the wing was the enor­
mous box housing the air-inlet systems and the four single-shaft RD-36-41 turbojets, each with an afterburning rating of 16,000kg (35,273 Ib). An automatic FBW system gov­erned the engines and their three-section variable nozzles and variable-geometry in­lets. Each main landing gear had four twin- tyred wheels and retracted forwards, rotating 90° to lie on its side outboard of the engine duct. The nose gear had levered suspension to two similar tyres, with wheel brakes, and used the hydraulic steering as a shimmy damper. It retracted backwards into a bay between the engine ducts. The four auto­nomous hydraulic systems were filled with KhS-1 (similar to Oronite 70) and operated at the exceptional pressure of 280kg/cm2 (3,980 lb/in2). A liquid oxygen system was pro­vided, together with high-capacity environ­mental systems which rejected heat to both air and fuel. The crew wore pressure suits. The main electrical system was generated as 400-Hz three-phase at 220/115 V by four oil – cooled alternators rated at 60 kVA. Aircraft 101 never received its full astro-inertial navi­gation system, nor its planned ‘complex’ of electronic-warfare, reconnaissance and weapon systems. The latter would have in­cluded two Kh-45 cruise missiles, developed by the Sukhoi OKB, with a range of 1,500km (932 miles).

Подпись:Подпись:Sukhoi T-4, 100

Подпись: 1: Hinged nose 2: Pilot's cockpit 3: Entry hatch 4: Foreplane 5: Navigator's cockpit 6: Entry hatch 7: Pressurized electronics bay 8: Forward fuel tank 9: Mechanical, electrical and fuel services 10: Main fuel tanks 11: Aft fuel tank 12: Rear spar 13: Elevon 14: Fin 15: Tail trimming tank 16: Fin antennas

Like the B-70 this was a gigantic pro­gramme which broke much new ground (the OKB said ‘200 inventions, or600 ifyou include manufacturing processes’) yet which was fi­nally judged to have been not worth the cost.

Dimensions Span Length Wing area

22.00m

44.50m

295.7m2

72 ft 2% in

146ft

3,183ft2

Weights

Empty (as rolled out)

54,600kg

120,370 Ib

(equipped)

55,600kg

122,575 Ib

Loaded (normal)

114,400kg

252,205 Ib

(maximum)

136tonnes

299,824 Ib

Design Performance

Max and cruising speed

3,200 km/h

1,988 mph (Mach 3.01)

at sea level

l,150km/h

715 mph (Mach 0.94)

Service ceiling

24km

78,740 ft

Range

at 3,000 knYh

1,864 mph (Mach 2.82)

(clean)

6,000 km

3,728 miles

(drop tanks)

7,000km

4,350 miles

Take-off run

(normal loaded weight)

1,000m

3,281 ft

Landing speed/run

260 kmh

161.6 mph

with parachutes

950m

3,117ft

Подпись:Purpose: To test wing forms for the 100 aircraft.

Design Bureau: P O Sukhoi, Moscow.

Another of the aircraft used to provide re­search support for the 100, or T-4, was this modified Su-9 interceptor. In the period 1966­70 this aircraft was fitted with a succession of different wings. Most testing was done at LII Zhukovskii.

The 100L was originally a test Su-9, with side number (callsign) Red 61 (the same as for the T6-1, and also for the first two-seat MiG-21, but this had finished testing at LII be­fore the 100L arrived). The aircraft was fitted with telemetry with a diagonal blade antenna under the nose, but apparently not with a cine camera at the top of the fin. The various test wings were manufactured by adding to the existing Su-9 wing box, in most cases ahead of the wing box only. The first experimental wing was little changed in plan view: the wing was given an extended sharp leading edge which extended the tip to a point. Three fur­ther wings with sharp leading edges were
tested, as well as one with a ‘blunt leading edge’. This meant that it was the sharply swept inboard leading edge that was blunt, because at least one of the wings was fitted with a leading edge which in four stages in­creased in sweepback from tip to root to meet the fuselage at 75°. All the test wings had perforated leading edges from which smoke trails could be emitted. Further testing was done with a sharp-edged horizontal tail.

Sukhoi T-4, 100

Results from this aircraft were aerodynam­ic, not structural, but they materially assisted the design ofthe 100.

Yakovlev Experimental Jet Fighters

Yakovlev Experimental Jet FightersYakovlev Experimental Jet Fighters

Purpose: To create fighters and interceptors with new and untried features.

Design Bureau: OKB-115 ofA S Yakovlev, Moscow.

Yakovlev was one of the two General Con­structors who created the first jet aircraft in the Soviet Union (the other was Mikoyan). Yakovlev cheated by, in effect, putting a tur­bojet into a Yak-3 ! A succession of single-en­gined jet fighters followed, one ofwhich was the Yak-25 of 1947 (confusingly, Yakovlev later used the same designation for a different aircraft, see later). This achieved the excel­lent speed of 972km/h (604mph) on the 1,588kg (3,500 Ib) thrust of a single Rolls- Royce Derwent engine (thus, it was faster than a Gloster Meteor on half as many Der­went engines). The first of two Yak-25 proto­types was modified to evaluate an idea proposed by the DA (Dal’nyaya Aviatsiya, long-range aviation). Called Burlaki (barge – hauler) this scheme was to arrange for a strategic bomber to tow a jet fighter on the end of a cable until it was deep in enemy air­space and likely to encounter hostile fighters. The friendly fighter pilot would then start his engine and cast off, ready for combat. The first of the two Yak-25 prototypes was ac­cordingly fitted with a long tube projecting ahead of the nose, with a special connector on the end. The two aircraft would take off in­dependently. The bomber would unreel a cable with a special connector on the end, into which the fighter would thrust its probe, as in probe/drogue flight refuelling. It would thus have a free ride to the target area. The idea was eventually rejected: towing the fighter reduced the range of the bomber, the fighter might not have enough range to get home (unless by chance it could find a friend­ly bomber and hook on), the long tube affect­ed the fighter’s agility and, worst of all, the fighter pilot would have to engage the enemy after several hours sitting in a freezing cockpit with no pressurization.

One of the least-known Soviet aircraft was the Yak-1000. The late Jean Alexander was the only Western writer to suggest that this extraordinary creation might have been in­tended purely for research, and even she re­peated the universal belief that its engine was a Lyul’ka AL-5. In fact, instead ofthat impres­sive axial engine of5,000kg (11,023 Ib) thrust, the strangely numbered Yak-1000 had a Rolls- Royce Derwent of less than one-third as muchthrust. Designed in 1948-49, this aircraft was notable for having a wing and horizontal

Centre: Yak-1000.

Bottom: Yak-25E Burlaki.

Подпись: Top: Yak-27V. Three views ofYak-28-64 (two R-8T and two R-3S). Yakovlev Experimental Jet Fighterstail of startlingly short span (wing span was a mere 4.52m, 14ft l0in), almost of delta form and with a thickness/chord ratio nowhere greater than 4.5 per cent and only 3.4 per cent at the wing root. Behind the rear spar the en­tire wing comprised a powerful slotted flap, the outer portion ofwhich incorporated a rec­tangular aileron. The tailplane was fixed half­way up the fin, which again was a low – aspect-ratio delta fitted with a small rudder at the top. The long tube-like fuselage had the air inlet in the nose, the air duct being imme­diately bifurcated to pass either side of the cockpit, which was pressurized and had an ejection-seat. The inevitably limited supply of 597 litres (131 Imperial gallons) of fuel was housed in one tank ahead of the engine and another round the jetpipe. The only way to arrange the landing gear was to have a nose – wheel and single (not twin, as commonly thought) mainwheel on the centreline and small stabilizing wheels under the wings. Flight controls were manual, the flaps, land­ing gear and other services were worked pneumatically, and the structure was light alloy except for the central wing spar which was high-tensile SOKhGSNA steel. Only one flight article was built, the objective being a speed in level flight of 1,750km/h (1,087mph, Mach 1.65). Taxi testing began in 1951, and as soon as high speeds were reached the Yak-1000 exhibited such dangerous instabili­ty that no attempt was made to fly it.

In the jet era there is no doubt that Yakovlev’s most important aircraft were the incredibly varied families of tactical twin-jets with basic designations from Yak-25 (the sec­ond time this designation was used) to Yak-28. Some of the sub-variants were exper­imental in nature. One was the Yak-27V, V al­most certainly standing for Vysotnyi, high altitude, because it was specifically intended for high-altitude interceptions. This was a sin­gle flight article, which had originally been constructed as the Yak-121, the prototype for the Yak-27 family, with callsign Red 55. To turn it into the Yak-27V it was converted into a single-seater, and a Dushkin S-155 rocket engine was installed in the rear fuselage, re­placing the braking parachute. The S-155 had a complicated propellant supply and control system, because it combined petrol (gaso­line) fuel with a mixture of RFNA (red fuming nitric acid) and HTP (high-test hydrogen per­oxide) oxidant, plus a nitrogen purging sys­tem to avoid explosions. Brochure thrust of the S-155 was 1,300kg (2,866 Ib) at sea level, rising to 1,550kg (3,417 Ib) at 12km (39,370ft). Airframe modifications included adding an extended and drooped outer leading edge to the wing (though the chordwise extension
was not as large as in the later Yak-28 family), converting the horizontal tail into one-piece stabiliators, fitting the rearranged tankage, and replacing the nose radar by a metal nose. The two NR-30 cannon were retained. The RD-9AK engines were replaced by the spe­cially developed RD-9AKE, with a combustion chamber and fuel system specially tailored for high altitudes; thrust was unchanged at 2,800kg (6,173 lb). Yakovlev hired VGMukhin to join the OKB’s large test-pilot team be­cause he had tested the mixed-power Mikoy – an Ye-50 with a similar S-155 rocket engine. He opened the test-flying programme on 26th April 1956. Service ceiling of the Yak-27V was found to be 23.5km (77,100ft), and level speed above 14km (45,900ft) about 1,913km/h (l,189mph, Machl.8).

Yakovlev had been fortunate in having members of this prolific twin-jet family in se­ries production at four large factories, No 99 at Ulan-Ude, No 125 at Irkutsk, No 153 at Novosi­birsk and No 292 at Saratov. Unfortunately, by 1964 no new orders were being placed and the end was in sight. In that year, right at the end of the development of the family, Yakovlev tried to prolong its life by undertak­ing a major redesign. He sent his son Sergei to study the variable inlets and engine installa­tion of the rival Su-15, and he also carefully studied the MiG Ye-155, the prototypes for the MiG-25. All these were faster than any Yaks, and they had engines in the fuselage. Ac­cordingly, whilst keeping as many parts un­changed as possible, the Yak-28-64 was created, and this single flight article, callsign Red 64, began flight testing in 1966. The en­gines remained the R-l 1AF2-300, as used in most Yak-28s (and also, as the R-l 1F2-300, in many MiG-21s), with dry and afterburning ratings of 3,950kg (8,708 Ib) and 6,120kg (13,492 Ib) respectively. Instead ofbeing hung under the wings they were close together in the rear fuselage, fed by vertical two-dimen­sional inlets with variable profile and area. Drop tanks could be hung under the inlet ducts on the flanks of the broad fuselage. This wide fuselage added almost a metre to the span (from 11.64m, 38ft 2%in, to 12.5m, 41ft), and removing the engines from the wings en­abled the ailerons to be extended inboard to meet the flaps. Armament comprised four guided missiles, two from the K-8 family (typ­ically an R-8M and an R-8T) and two R-3S copies of the American Sidewinder. To Yakovlev’s enormous disappointment, the huge sum spent by the OKB in developing this aircraft was wasted. Its performance was if anything inferior to that of the Yak-28P, and handling was unsatisfactory to the point of being unacceptable.

Top: Yak-36 c/n 38, with rocket pods.

Yakovlev Experimental Jet FightersYakovlev Experimental Jet FightersTwo views of Yak-36 experimental VTOL aircraft.

In 1960 Yakovlev watched the Short SC. l cavorting at Farnborough and became capti­vated by the concept of SWP (Russian for VTOL, vertical take-off and landing). Though he received funding for various impressive Yak-33 studies in which batteries of lift jets would have been installed in a supersonic at­tack aircraft, he quickly decided to build a simple test-bed in the class of the Hawker P.1127, with vectored nozzles. No turbofan existed which could readily be fitted with four nozzles, as in the British aircraft, but, after funding was provided by the MAP and the propulsion institute CIAM, K Khachaturov in the Tumanskii engine bureau developed the R-27 fighter turbojet into the R-27V-300 with a nozzle able to be vectored through a total angle of 100°. Rated initially at 6,350kg (14,0001b), this engine had a diameter of 1,060mm (3ft 5%in) and so it was a practical proposition to fit two close side-by-side in a small fuselage. Of course, the engines had to be handed, because the rotating final nozzle had to be on the outboard side. This was the basis for the Yak-36 research aircraft, intend­ed to explore what could be done to perfect the handling of a jet-lift aeroplane able to hover. To minimise weight, the rest of the air­craft was kept as small as possible. The en­gines were installed in the bottom of the fuselage with nozzles at the centre of gravity, fed directly by nose inlets. The single-seat cockpit, with side-hinged canopy and later fit­ted with a seat which was arranged to eject automatically in any life-threatening situa­tion, was directly above the engines. The small wing, tapered on the leading edge and with -5° anhedral, was fitted with slotted flaps and powered ailerons. Behind the engines the fuselage quickly tapered to a tailcone, and carried a vertical tail swept sharply back to place the swept horizontal tail, mounted
near the top, as far back as possible. The tailplane was fixed, and the elevators and rudder were fully powered. For control at low airspeeds air bled from the engines was blast­ed through downward-pointing reaction-con­trol nozzles on the wingtips and under the tailcone and on the tip of a long tubular boom projecting ahead of the nose. The nose and tail jets had twin inclined nozzles which were controllable individually to give authority in yaw as well as in pitch. The landing gear was a simple four-point arrangement, with wingtip stabilizing wheels, of the kind seen on many earlier Yak aircraft. The OKB factory built a static-test airframe and three flight ar­ticles, Numbered 36, 37 and 38. Tunnel test­ing at C AHI (TsAGI) began in autumn 1962, LII pilot Yu A Garnayev made the first outdoor tethered flight on 9th January 1963 and Valentin Mukhin began free hovering on 27th September 1964. On 7th February 1966 No 38 took off vertically, accelerated to wingborne flight and then made a fast landing with noz­zles at 0°. On 24th March 1966 a complete transition was accomplished, with a VTO fol­lowed by a high-speed pass followed by a VL. The LII stated that maximum speed was about l,000km/h, while the OKB claimed U00km/h (683mph). Both Nos 37 and 38 were flown to Domodedovo for Aviation Day on 9th July 1967. Later brief trials were flown from the helicopter cruiser Moskva.

From the Yak-3 6 were derived the Yak-36M, Yak-38, Yak-38U and Yak-38M, all of which saw service with the A-VMF (Soviet naval avi­ation). This inspired the OKB to produce the obvious next-generation aircraft, with fully su­personic performance. A design contract was received in 1975. Yak called the project Izdeliye (Product) 48, and it received the Ser­vice designation Yak-41. Seldom had there been so many possible aircraft configura-

Yakovlev Experimental Jet Fighters

tions, but at least this time funds were made available for the necessary main engine. With much help from CIAM, this was created as the R-79V-300 by the Soyuz bureau, led after Tu – manskii’s death in 1973 by Oleg N Favorskii, and from 1987 by Vasili K Kobchenko. The R-79 was a two-shaft turbofan with a bypass ratio of 1.0, with a neat augmentor and a fully variable final nozzle joined by three wedge rings which, when rotated, could vector the nozzle through 63° for STO (short take-off) or through 95° for VTO (vertical take-off). Rat­ings were 11,000kg (24,250 Ib) dry, 15,500kg (34,171 Ib) with maximum augmentation and 14,000kg (30,864 Ib) with maximum augmen­tation combined with maximum airbleed for aircraft control. The reason the nozzle vec­tored through 95° was because, immediately behind the cockpit, the Yak-41 had two Ry­binsk (Novikov) RD-41 lift jets in tandem whose mean inclination was 85°. Their noz­zles had limited vectoring but, at this mean position, in hovering flight they blasted down and back so the main engine had to balance the longitudinal component by blasting down and forwards. Sea-level thrust of each RD-41 was 4,100kg (9,040Ib); thus, total jet lift was about22,200kg (48,942 Ib), but in fact the Yak – 41 was not designed to fly at anything like this weight. Compared with its predecessors it was far more sharp-edged and angular. The wing had a thickness/chord ratio of 4.0 per cent, and leading-edge taper of 40°. The outer wings, which in fact had slight sweepback on the trailing edge, folded for stowage on air­craft carriers. The leading edge had a large curved root extension, outboard of which was a powerful droop flap. On the trailing edge were plain flaps and powered ailerons. The wing had -4° anhedral, and was mount­ed on top of a wide box-like mid-fuselage, from which projected a slim nose and cock-

pit ahead of the large variable wedge inlets which led to ducts which, behind the lift engines, curved together to feed the main en­gine. The latter’s nozzle was as far forward as possible. Beside it on each side was a narrow but deep beam carrying a powered tailplane and a slightly outward-sloping fin with a small rudder. Unlike most military Yak jets the Yak-41 had a conventional tricycle landing gear. In hovering flight recirculation was min­imised by the open lift-bay doors, a hinged transverse dam across the fuselage ahead of the main gears, a large almost square door hydraulically forced down ahead of the main engine nozzle, and a long horizontal strake along the sharp bottom edge of the fuselage on each side. Fuselage tanks held 5,500 litres (1,210 Imperial gallons) of fuel, and a 2,000 litre (440 Imperial gallon) conformal tank could be scabbed under the fuselage. Flight and engine controls were eventually inter­linked and digital, the hovering controls com­prising twin tandem jets at the wingtips and a laterally swivelling nozzle under the nose (which replaced yaw valves at the tip of each tailcone). An interlinked system provided automatic firing of the K-36LV seat in any dan­gerous flight situation. In 1985 it was recog­nized that such a complex and costly aircraft ought to have multi-role capability, and the new designation Yak-41 M was issued for an aircraft with extremely comprehensive avion­ics and weapons. Equipment included a 30mm gun and up to 2.6 tonnes (5,732 Ib) of ordnance on four underwing pylons. The OKB received funding for a static/fatigue test aircraft called 48-0, a powerplant test-bed (48-1) and two flight articles, 48-2 (callsign 75) and 48-3 (callsign 77). Andrei A Sinitsyn flew ’75’ as a conventional aircraft at Zhu – kovskii on 9th March 1987. He first hovered ’77’ on 29th December 1989, and in this air­craft he made the first complete transition on 13th June 1990. Maximum speed was 1,850km/h (1,150mph, Mach 1.74) and rate of climb 15km (49,213ft) per minute. In April 1991 Sinitsyn set 12 FAI class records for rapid climb with various loads, and as the true des­ignation was classified the FAI were told the aircraft was the ‘Yak-141’. In September 1992 48-2 was flown to the Farnborough airshow, its side number 75 being replaced by ‘141’. A year earlier the CIS Navy had terminated the whole Yak-41 M programme, and the appear­ance in the West was a fruitless last attempt to find a partner to continue the world’s only programme at that time for a supersonic jet – lift aircraft. Apart from publicity, all today’s Yakovlev Corporation finally received for all this work was a limited contract to assist Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike Fighter.

Opposite: Yak-41 M with Yak-38M.

Подпись:Подпись:Подпись:Подпись:Yakovlev Experimental Jet FightersПодпись:Yakovlev Experimental Jet FightersПодпись: Yak-141 inboard profileYakovlev Experimental Jet FightersThis page, top: Yak-141, No 75 on carrier.