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The Tupolev Tu-85 was a Soviet prototype strategic bomber based on the Tu-4, an unlicensed reverse engineered copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. It was the ultimate development of the B-29 family, being over 50% heavier than its progenitor and had nearly double the range. Only two prototypes were built before the program was cancelled in favor of the Tupolev Tu-95 bomber which was much faster and had the same range.
The Tupolev Tu-80 was a Soviet prototype for a longer-ranged version of the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber, built after World War II. It was cancelled in 1949 in favor of the Tupolev Tu-85 program which offered even more range. The sole prototype was used in various test programs before finally being used as a target.
The Tupolev Tu-91 was a Soviet carrier-borne attack aircraft. It was built only in prototype form, and was converted into a land-based aircraft after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953 cancelled the aircraft carriers being designed.
The Tupolev Tu-14, was a Soviet twinjet light bomber derived from the Tupolev '73', the failed competitor to the Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle'. It was used as a torpedo bomber by the mine-torpedo regiments of Soviet Naval Aviation between 1952–59 and exported to the People's Republic of China.
The Yakovlev Yak-23 was an early Soviet jet fighter with a straight wing. It was developed from the Yak-17 in the late 1940s and used a reverse-engineered copy of a British engine. It was not built in large numbers as it was inferior in performance to the swept-wing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. Many Yak-23s were exported to the Warsaw Pact nations and remained in service for most of the 1950s, although some were still in use a decade later.
The Yakovlev Yak-15 was a first-generation Soviet turbojet fighter developed by the Yakovlev design bureau (OKB) immediately after World War II. It used a reverse-engineered German Junkers Jumo 004 engine. Along with the Swedish Saab 21R, it was one of only two jets to be successfully converted from a piston-powered aircraft and enter production. 280 aircraft were built in 1947. Although nominally a fighter, it was mainly used to qualify piston-engine-experienced pilots to fly jets.
The Ilyushin Il-30 was a Soviet turbojet-powered tactical bomber designed as a higher-performance, swept wing version of the Ilyushin Il-28, in the late 1940s. Its thin wing and engine nacelles necessitated the use of tandem landing gear, the first Soviet aircraft to do so. It was apparently canceled before the prototype made its first flight, although sources disagree with this.
The Beriev Be-6 was a flying boat produced by the Soviet Beriev OKB. It was capable of accomplishing a wide variety of missions, such as long-range maritime reconnaissance, coastal and supply line patrols, torpedo/bombing strikes, mine-laying, and transport operations.
The Yakovlev Yak-25 was a Soviet military aircraft, an early turbojet-powered fighter aircraft designed by the Yakovlev OKB. The designation was later reused for a different interceptor design. Tasked by the Council of Ministers in a directive issued on 11 March 1947, with producing a straight winged fighter similar to the earlier Yak-19, but powered by a Rolls-Royce Derwent V, OKB-115 swiftly produced the Yak-25, which blazed several trails as the first Soviet fighter with a fully pressurised cockpit, air conditioning, jettisonable canopy, and hydraulic airbrakes on the fuselage amongst other innovations.
The Yakovlev Yak-30 was an experimental Soviet interceptor from the late 1940s. Derived from the Yak-25, from which it differed primarily in having wings sweptback 35° at quarter chord, the Yak-30 retained the fuselage, tail surfaces and undercarriage of the earlier fighter.
The Tupolev Tu-12 was an experimental Soviet jet-powered medium bomber developed from the successful piston-engined Tupolev Tu-2 bomber after the end of World War II. It was designed as a transitional aircraft to familiarize Tupolev and the VVS with the issues involved with jet-engined bombers.
The Il-54 was a transonic bomber developed in the USSR in the 1950s. Only two examples were built before the project was abandoned.
The Ilyushin Il-46 was a jet-engined bomber produced in the USSR during 1951-2, as the result of a directive to redesign the Il-42 project. The revised specification was for an aircraft with twice the range and 1 1/2 times the bomb load, with a prototype ready to be submitted for state acceptance trials in July 1952. The Ilyushin design bureau set about designing two versions of the same aircraft, the straight-wing (Il-46) and the swept-wing (Il-46S), with as much as possible common to both aircraft. To meet the schedule for state acceptance trials Ilyushin built only the straight-wing version, fearing that the design, manufacture and flying characteristics of the swept-wing aircraft might cause delays.
The Tupolev '102' and Tupolev '101' were 1950s projects for a turboprop airliner and assault transport by the Tupolev Design Bureau. The aircraft designs were almost identical but the '101' had a rear loading ramp and tail barbette for two Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon. The internal arrangement also differed with the '101' cabin being unpressurised apart from the flightdeck and a small cabin for ten passengers, whilst the '102's pressurised cabin was in one section, configured for 40 passengers.
The Lavochkin La-160, known as Strelka (Arrow), was the first Soviet swept-winged jet fighter research prototype. It was designed and manufactured by the Lavochkin Design Bureau from 1946. USAF reporting name - Type 6
The Alekseyev I-21 was a Soviet twin-engined jet fighter, built in the late 1940s. Two prototypes were constructed with the designation of I-211, of which one was converted into the I-215 with more powerful engines. A third aircraft was built to evaluate the bicycle landing gear arrangement for use in other aircraft. The fighter was not accepted for production as it was inferior to the swept-wing fighters like the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15.
The Alekseyev I-212 was a twin-engined, jet fighter designed in the USSR in 1947 at OKB-21. It was a two-seat variant of the I-21 designed in response to a requirement for a very long-range fighter issued by the Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily (VVS),, in 1946. Intended as an escort fighter, it was also designed for use as a night fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. No prototype was built, although some parts may have begun building before the project was completed.
The Yakovlev Yak-140 was a Soviet prototype lightweight supersonic fighter developed during the 1950s. The prototype was completed in 1954, but it was denied authorization to enter flight testing and the program was cancelled in 1956.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-3 was the first of three interrelated fighter prototype programs developed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union in the mid/late 1950s – starting with the I-3, continuing with the I-7 and finally evolving into the I-75. On several occasions airframes were rebuilt and/or reused, both within a program or in a succeeding program. All the aircraft in the I-3 program were affected by delays in the development of the Klimov VK-3 afterburning bypass turbojet engine, and its cancellation and replacement by the Lyulka AL-7F turbojet engine.
The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-350, was a Soviet Cold War-era experimental fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet aircraft able to maintain supersonic speed.
References
- Gunston, Bill. “The Osprey Encyclopaedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995”. London, Osprey. 1995. ISBN 1-85532-405-9
- Gordon, Yefim. & Gunston, Bill “SovietX-Planes”. Hinkley, Midland. 2000. ISBN 1-85780-099-0