Sukhoi T-3

Last updated
T-3
Sukhoi T-3 and T-7 silhouettes.png
RoleInterceptor
Manufacturer Sukhoi OKB
First flight26 May 1956
StatusPrototype only
Number built3
Variants Sukhoi Su-9

The Sukhoi T-3 was a prototype Soviet fighter aircraft.

Contents

Development

Starting in the early 1950s, the development of the T-3 proceeded in parallel with the S-1 which would eventually become the Sukhoi Su-7. While the S-1 was a conventional swept wing aircraft (S stood for strelovidniy, стреловидный, swept wing), the T-3 had a delta wing with a leading edge sweep of 57° (T stood for treugolniy, треугольный, delta wing). [1] Aside from the wings, the two aircraft shared the basic design as well as the Lyulka AL-7 turbojet engine. Since the T-3 was intended to be an interceptor, it was fitted with the Almaz (Алмаз, Diamond) radar housed in the air intake. The prototype first flew on 26 May 1956.

The T-3 was ordered into production at Factory No.153 but events overtook it when a revised specification was issued for the Interceptor fighter role. Three aircraft were completed and transported by rail to the OKB-51 factory near Moscow, where only one was to fly in as-built condition and all three prototypes were modified for various test programmes, becoming, for example, the T-39, T-49, PT-7, PT-8 and other experimental aircraft. [2] To investigate different radar radome configurations as well as develop radar and missile sub-systems, two of the prototypes were converted to become the PT-7 and PT-8. The PT-7 had a variable intake ramp, while the PT-8 had an extended nose with a translating centerbody. [1] Although not proceeded with, the T-3 served as the basis for what would eventually become the Sukhoi Su-9, forming the backbone of the PVO during the 1960s.

Specifications (T-3)

Data from Green [1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Avionics

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-7</span> Soviet strike fighter aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-7 is a swept wing, supersonic fighter aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in 1955. Originally, it was designed as a tactical, low-level dogfighter, but was not successful in this role. On the other hand, the soon-introduced Su-7B series became the main Soviet fighter-bomber and ground-attack aircraft of the 1960s. The Su-7 was rugged in its simplicity, but its Lyulka AL-7 engine had such high fuel consumption that it seriously limited the aircraft's payload, as even short-range missions required that at least two hardpoints be used to carry drop tanks rather than ordnance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-11</span> Soviet interceptor aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-11 was an interceptor aircraft used by the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-15</span> Soviet interceptor aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-15 is a twinjet supersonic interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union. It entered service in 1965 and remained one of the front-line designs into the 1990s. The Su-15 was designed to replace the Sukhoi Su-11 and Sukhoi Su-9, which were becoming obsolete as NATO introduced newer and more capable strategic bombers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-28</span> Soviet interceptor aircraft

The Tupolev Tu-28 was a long-range interceptor aircraft introduced by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. The official designation was Tu-128, but this designation was less commonly used in the West. It was the largest and heaviest fighter ever in service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-9</span> 1959–1970s Soviet interceptor aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-9 was a single-engine, all-weather, missile-armed interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yakovlev Yak-28</span> Family of Soviet jet combat aircraft

The Yakovlev Yak-28 is a swept wing, turbojet-powered combat aircraft used by the Soviet Union. Produced initially as a tactical medium bomber, it was also manufactured in reconnaissance, electronic warfare, interceptor, and trainer versions, known by the NATO reporting names Brewer, Brewer-E, Firebar, and Maestro respectively. Based on the Yak-129 prototype first flown on 5 March 1958, it began to enter service in 1960.

The Tupolev Tu-125 was an unrealized project to develop a new long-range supersonic bomber for the Soviet Air Force. Development commenced in 1958 to replace the newest Tu-22. The "Tu-125" designation was an internal one used by the Tupolev design bureau. Since the aircraft was never built, it never received a military designation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-9 (1946)</span> Experimental fighter aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-9 was an early jet fighter built in the Soviet Union shortly after World War II. The design began in 1944 and was intended to use Soviet-designed turbojet engines. The design was heavily influenced by captured German jet fighters and it was subsequently redesigned to use a Soviet copy of a German turbojet. The Su-9 was slower than competing Soviet aircraft and it was cancelled as a result. A modified version with different engines and a revised wing became the Su-11, but this did not enter production either. The Su-13 was a proposal to re-engine the aircraft with Soviet copies of the Rolls-Royce Derwent turbojet as well as to modify it for night fighting, but neither proposal was accepted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lyulka AL-7</span>

The Lyulka AL-7 was a turbojet designed by Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyulka and produced by his Lyulka design bureau. The engine was produced between 1954 and 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavochkin La-250</span> Type of aircraft

The Lavochkin La-250 "Anakonda" was a high-altitude interceptor aircraft prototype developed in the Soviet Union by the Lavochkin design bureau in the 1950s. Its nickname "Anaconda" was invented during the flight test and referred to both the elongated body shape as well as the relatively critical flight characteristics of the machine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-15 (1949)</span> Experimental interceptor aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-15 was a prototype Soviet all-weather interceptor which never reached production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi Su-17 (1949)</span> Type of aircraft

The Sukhoi Su-17 was a prototype Soviet fighter. The name was later reused for an entirely different fighter-bomber, see Sukhoi Su-17.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi P-1</span> Type of aircraft

The Sukhoi P-1 was a prototype Soviet interceptor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lavochkin La-200</span> Type of aircraft

The Lavochkin La-200 was a two-seater, swept winged, night/all-weather jet prototype designed as an interceptor and manufactured by the Soviet Union's Lavochkin Design Bureau from 1948.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-75 was the final design of a series of three experimental swept-wing interceptors developed in the Soviet Union in the mid-late 1950s by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau from their Mikoyan-Gurevich I-3 airframe. All the aircraft in the I-3 program were affected by delays in the development of the Klimov VK-3 turbojet engine, its cancellation and ultimate replacement by the Lyulka AL-7F turbojet engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-150 family</span> Prototype interceptor series designed by Mikoyan-Gurevich

The Mikoyan-Gurevich Ye-150 family was a series of prototype interceptor aircraft designed and built by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union from 1955.

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.

The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-7 was a development of the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-3 experimental fighter. Planned as a Mach 2-class aircraft, the I-7 was the second of a series of three experimental fighter aircraft from the Mikoyan-Gurevich design Bureau. Like the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-3, the I-7 was to be one of the components of the automated Uragan-1 then under development by protivovozdushnaya oborona strany, the Soviet defense system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sukhoi T-49</span> Prototype Soviet fighter aircraft

The Sukhoi T-49 was a prototype Soviet fighter aircraft.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Green, William. "The Great Book of Fighters". 2001. MBI Publishing. ISBN   0760311943
  2. Gordon, Yefim. Sukhoi Interceptors. Hinkley, Midland. 2004. ISBN   1-85780-180-6

Further reading