Tupolev Tu-14

Last updated
Tu-14
IMG-20201202-WA0019-01.jpg
NATO identification model Tu-14
Role Torpedo bomber
Manufacturer Tupolev
First flight13 October 1949 [1]
Introduction1952
Retired1959
Primary user Soviet Naval Aviation
Number builtAbout 150
Developed from Tupolev '73'

The Tupolev Tu-14 (NATO reporting name: Bosun) [2] (USAF/DOD reporting name: Type 35), [2] 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 1952–1959 and exported to the People's Republic of China.

Contents

Development

The Tu-14 had its origin in the three-engined '73' design which used a pair of Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets under the wings and a single Rolls-Royce Derwent V in the tail, in an installation much like that of the central engine of a Boeing 727. The availability of the Klimov VK-1, a more-powerful version of the Nene, allowed the RD-500, Soviet version of Derwent, to be deleted from the preliminary design, which was given the internal designation of "81". The other major change was the addition of a PSBN navigation radar which required a fifth crewmember to operate. This was rejected by the VVS and Tupolev reworked the design to eliminate the dorsal and ventral turrets and reduce the crew to only three, the pilot, a bombardier-navigator, and a tail gunner. It retained the two fixed 23 mm (0.91 in) Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon in the fuselage nose, but the design of the fuselage was changed to give the gunner his own separate pressurized compartment and a KDU-81 tail turret armed with another pair of NR-23 guns. [3]

Construction of the prototype began in August 1949, using components from the canceled Tu-73S prototypes, and was completed in October. The manufacturer's tests were conducted between 13 October 1949 and 21 January 1950. Its State acceptance trials lasted from 23 January to 27 May 1950 and it was accepted for production, provided that the problems with the KDU-81 turret were resolved and that ejection seats were provided for the pilot and gunner, a hot air deicing was to be fitted and the gun mount in the nose revised. The first five preproduction aircraft did not incorporate these changes as they were built using Tu-73S components, after the factory in Irkutsk had prematurely begun production of that bomber. One of these was sent to Moscow where it was evaluated by Soviet Naval Aviation for use as a torpedo bomber. The sixth aircraft did incorporate all these changes as well as the navigator's ejection seat requested by Naval Aviation, and it was evaluated in May 1951. It was recommended for production as the Tu-14T and entered service in 1952 with Naval Aviation. [4]

About 150 were produced and served with the mine-torpedo regiments of Naval Aviation until 1959. It was given the NATO reporting name Bosun. After it was withdrawn from service, several were used for various test programs, including one evaluating ramjet engines. [4] Up to 50 used Tu-14Ts were delivered to the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force although quantities and dates cannot be confirmed. [5]

The second preproduction Tu-14 was converted into a day or night photographic reconnaissance aircraft with the OKB designation of "89". The conversion was fairly minor and involved an unpressurized central cabin that housed two automatic pivoting cameras, two fuel tanks and another camera fitted in the bomb bay and another camera for oblique photography was mounted in the aircraft's tail for the daylight photography role. All cameras and their viewports were electrically heated to prevent misting and icing at altitude. For night photography, the fuel tanks and camera in the bomb bay were removed and a variety of flash bombs were carried to illuminate the targets. In addition, the screen of the PSBN-M navigation radar could be photographed by a special camera and both the pilot and navigator could record their own observations using a voice recorder. [6] However, the VVS had already decided to use the Il-28R reconnaissance version of the standard Il-28 by the time that the "89" first flew on 23 March 1951 and Tupolev decided not to submit it for State acceptance trials. [6]

NATO identification model Tu-14 IMG-20201202-WA0015-01.jpg
NATO identification model Tu-14
NATO identification model Tu-14 IMG-20201202-WA0017-01.jpg
NATO identification model Tu-14
NATO identification model Tu-14 IMG-20201202-WA0021-01.jpg
NATO identification model Tu-14

Variants

Operators

Flag of the Soviet Union.svg  Soviet Union
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China

Specifications (Tu-14 / '89T')

Data from [8]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

Avionics
PSBN-M navigation radar

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilyushin Il-28</span> Russian bomber aircraft family

The Ilyushin Il-28 is a jet bomber of the immediate postwar period that was originally manufactured for the Soviet Air Forces. It was the Soviet Union's first such aircraft to enter large-scale production. It was also licence-built in China as the Harbin H-5. Total production in the USSR was 6,316 aircraft, and over 319 H-5s were built. Only 187 examples of the HJ-5 training variant were manufactured. In the 1990s hundreds remained in service with various air forces over 50 years after the Il-28 first appeared. The only H-5s in service currently are approximately 80 aircraft which operate with the Korean People's Air Force. The Il-28 has the USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 27" and ASCC reporting name "Beagle", while the Il-28U trainer variant has the USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 30" and NATO reporting name Mascot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-85</span> Prototype strategic bomber aircraft based on Tu-4

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 turboprop powered Tupolev Tu-95 bomber which could cover the same range at a far higher speed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-80</span> Prototype for a longer-ranged version of the Tu-4 bomber

The Tupolev Tu-80 was a Soviet prototype for a longer-ranged version of the Tupolev Tu-4 bomber, an unlicensed, reverse engineered copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. 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-75 was a military transport variant of the Tu-4 bomber, an unlicensed, reverse engineered copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. The Tu-75 was similar to the Tu-70 airliner, both using a new, purpose-designed fuselage. The first Soviet military machine of this class, it was equipped with a rear fuselage loading ramp. It was not placed into production because the VVS decided it would be cheaper to modify its existing Tu-4s for the transport mission and to use its existing Lisunov Li-2 and Ilyushin Il-12 transports.

The Tupolev Tu-70 was a Soviet passenger variant of the Tu-4 bomber, an unlicensed, reverse engineered copy of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress. Designed immediately after the end of World War II, it used a number of components from Boeing B-29s that had made emergency landings in the Soviet Union after bombing Japan. It had the first pressurized fuselage in the Soviet Union and first flew on 27 November 1946. The aircraft was successfully tested, recommended for serial production, but ultimately not produced because of more pressing military orders and because Aeroflot had no requirement for such an aircraft. A military cargo aircraft version was the Tupolev Tu-75.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-91</span> Type of aircraft

The Tupolev Tu-91 was a two-seat Soviet attack aircraft built during the 1950s. It was initially designed as a carrier-borne aircraft, but was converted into a land-based aircraft after Joseph Stalin's death in 1953 cancelled the aircraft carriers being designed. Two prototypes had been built and production had been approved by the Soviet Navy when it was inspected by the General Secretary, Nikita Khrushchev, in 1956. He remarked how ridiculous the Tu-91 looked and the program was cancelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-22</span> Soviet supersonic heavy bomber

The Tupolev Tu-22 was the first supersonic bomber to enter production in the Soviet Union. Manufactured by Tupolev, the Tu-22 entered service with Long-Range Aviation and Soviet Naval Aviation in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Myasishchev M-4</span> Soviet strategic bomber and tanker aircraft

The Myasishchev M-4 Molot was a four-engined strategic bomber designed by Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev and manufactured by the Soviet Union in the 1950s to provide a Long Range Aviation bomber capable of attacking targets in North America.

The Tupolev ANT-7, known by the VVS as the Tupolev R-6, was a reconnaissance aircraft and escort fighter of the Soviet Union. The R-6 traces its roots back to early 1928 when the Soviet Air Force needed a long-range multirole aircraft. The requirements were that it could be used for long-range transport, defensive patrolling, reconnaissance, light bombing and torpedo attack.

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

The Tupolev TB-1 was a Soviet bomber aircraft, an angular monoplane that served as the backbone of the Soviet bomber force for many years, and was the first large all-metal aircraft built in the Soviet Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev TB-3</span> Soviet heavy bomber aircraft

The Tupolev TB-3, OKB designation ANT-6, was a monoplane heavy bomber deployed by the Soviet Air Force in the 1930s and used during the early years of World War II. It was one of the world's first cantilever wing four-engine heavy bomber. Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, the TB-3 performed bomber and transport duties throughout much of World War II. The TB-3 also saw combat as a Zveno project fighter mothership and as a light tank transport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ilyushin Il-30</span> 1949 bomber aircraft prototype by Ilyushin

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 Tupolev MTB-1 was a patrol flying boat built in the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s. It was a refined version of the unsuccessful Chyetverikov MDR-3. The revised design retained the MDR-3's hull, but added a newly designed, full-cantilever wing, a new tail, and a new engine installation featuring two tractor and one pusher unit. Trials began in March 1934 but the prototype was destroyed during one takeoff.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-12</span> Experimental Soviet medium bomber

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 an interim aircraft to familiarize Tupolev and the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) with the issues involved with jet-engined bombers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev MTB-2</span> Soviet flying boat

The Tupolev MTB-2, also known as the ANT-44, was a Soviet four-engine flying boat built in the late 1930s. Two prototypes were built; performance was satisfactory, but the design was overtaken by the fielding of long-range, land-based bombers by Soviet Naval Aviation and cancelled in 1940.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev ANT-35</span> Type of aircraft

The Tupolev ANT-35 was a 1930s Soviet twin-engined light transport monoplane that entered service with Aeroflot in 1937 as the Tupolev PS-35.

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

The Tupolev Tu-1 was a prototype Soviet night fighter variant of the Tupolev Tu-2 medium bomber that first flew after the end of World War II. It was cancelled when its experimental Mikulin AM-43V engines reached the end of their service life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev Tu-8</span> Type of aircraft

The Tupolev Tu-8, OKB designation '69', was a long-range variant of the Soviet Tupolev Tu-2 medium bomber that first flew after the end of World War II. It was canceled when it proved to be unstable, structurally unsound and its generators were not strong enough to fully power its gun turrets. With the advent of jet-powered bombers, Soviet military planners decided that it simply was not worth devoting the necessary resources to fix its numerous problems.

The Tupolev ANT-41 was a prototype Soviet twin-engined torpedo-bomber of the 1930s. A single prototype was built, which was destroyed in a crash. No production followed, with the Ilyushin DB-3 serving as a torpedo bomber instead.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tupolev '73'</span> Type of aircraft

The Tupolev '73',, was a Soviet trijet medium bomber of the late 1940s. It lost out to the Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle'.

References

  1. Duffy & Kandalov, p. 105
  2. 1 2 "Designations of Soviet and Russian Military Aircraft and Missiles". designation-systems.net. Archived from the original on 2022-12-21. Retrieved 2022-06-03.
  3. Gordon & Rigamant, pp. 126–127
  4. 1 2 Gordon & Rigamant, p. 128
  5. Gunston, p. 142
  6. 1 2 Gordon & Rigamant, p. 129
  7. Duffy & Kandalov, p. 202
  8. Gunston, pp. 140–142

Bibliography