After World War II, the Soviet Union and the USA, who had been allies in the war, started moving towards political and military confrontation. The Soviet Union urgently needed a strategic bomber capable of striking at the USA. Thus, the windfall of three battle-damaged B-29s forced to land in Soviet territory was most welcome. The Soviet Union kept them; a huge reverse-engineering effort ensued, resulting in a Soviet copy of the Superfortress (the Tu-4) and a major technology boost to the Soviet aircraft and avionics industries. From then on, the "Soviet Superfortress" evolved independently, some of the Tu-4 versions having no direct U.S. equivalent. These included the Tu-4K missile carrier, a wing-to-wing flight refueling tanker, and the Tu-4T transport. The Tu-4A was the first Soviet nuclear-capable bomber. Experimental versions included engine testbeds, a towed escort fighter program, and more. The book also describes the Tu-4’s production and service history (including service in China―the only nation besides the USSR to operate the type) and touches on the Tu-4’s transport derivatives, the Tu-70 airliner, and the Tu-75 military airlifter. The book is illustrated with many color side views and hitherto unpublished photographs.

Tupolev Tu-4: The First Soviet Strategic Bomber

History

Komissarov, Dmitriy

Gordon, Yefim

Rigmant, Vladimir

Military

Schiffer Military History

Developed in the 1960s/1970s, the Tu-144 was the Soviet Union’s only practical venture into supersonic commercial aviation. Though its career was all too brief, it was a major technological achievement for the Soviet aircraft industry. The book provides in-depth coverage of the “Concordski,” including projected versions, the Tu-144’s production and service history, and a comparison with the Concorde. First flown on the last day of 1968—ahead of the Concorde—the Tu-144 had to undergo a long gestation period before the production version entered service in November 1977. Unfortunately, its career proved to be brief; two accidents and a powerful anti-Tu-144 lobby caused the type to be withdrawn in May 1978. The book describes the Tu-144’s versions (including the Tu-144LL research aircraft developed under a Russian-U.S. program) and touches on the projected military derivatives. It is illustrated with color side views and previously unpublished photographs.

Tupolev Tu‑144: The Soviet Supersonic Airliner

Developed to meet a Soviet Ministry of Defense requirement for a fast bomber that would counter the threat posed by NATO, the Tu-16 was a ground-breaking project. It was the first Soviet medium bomber to feature swept wings, and it was built around a pair of turbojets that were the world’s most powerful jet engines at the time. First flown in 1952, the Tu-16 filled such roles as nuclear bomb delivery, missile strike, reconnaissance, and Electronic Counter Measures. It also served as the basis for the first Soviet jet airliner, the Tu-104. Nearly 1,500 were built for the Soviet Air Force and the Soviet Navy, and the Tu-16 showed remarkable longevity, the final examples being retired in 1993. The type saw quite a bit of combat—from the Six-Days War of 1967 to the Afghan War. The Tu-16 was also produced in China and remains in Chinese service to this day. All known versions are described, as is the Tu-16’s operational career. The book features many hitherto unpublished photos.

Tupolev Tu-16: Versatile Cold War Bomber

The mainstay of the USSRs strike force, this reliable and adaptable weapons platforms roles include electronic and photographic reconnaissance and maritime patrol, AEW, and command and control. Every variant of the Bear family is examined including cockpits, engines, under-carriages, weapons bays, and more. Written with full access to the Tupolev OKB archives.

Tupolev Tu-95/Tu-142 'Bear': Russia's Intercontinental-Range Heavy Bomber

Gordon/Miller

Midland Pub Ltd

The Tu-4 is identified as an example of the Soviets copying Western airplane designs. Three Boeing B-29s fell into Soviet hands at the end of World War II. This book shows the evolution of the "Superfortresski" into the Tu-70 military transport and its airliner version, the Tu-75 and Tu-85 - the last of Tupolev's piston-engined bombers. Also described are the various experimental versions, including the Burlaki towed fighter program, flight refueling tanker and missile carrier versions, and Chinese turboprop-powered AWACS and drone launcher conversions. Operational details include use for transport and paradropping, civil polar research, etc. The book includes many previously unpublished photographs as well as drawings of the rival 102 and 103 bombers designed by Myasischchev.

Tupolev Tu-4: Soviet Superfortress

The establishment of NATO posed the need for the Soviet war machine to create a fast jet bomber capable of reaching targets throughout Western Europe and combatting the carrier task forces with which the US Navy could throw its weight around the world. The basic Tu-16 which first flew in the mid-1950s was developed into nearly 50 versions adopted for various roles, including nuclear-capable bombers, anti-shipping missile strike aircraft, torpedo-bombers and minelayers, numerous reconnaissance and ECM variants, assorted development aircraft for testing new engines, avionics and systems. The Tu-16 even found civil uses as a fast mailplane and a weather research/rainmaking aircraft! The Badger, as the bomber was known to the West, served as the basis for the Soviet Union's first jet airliner, the Tu-104. The nearly 1,500 Tu-16s built in the Soviet Union were an important factor in preventing all-out military confrontation between the East and the West. Since the mid-1950s and until the 1980s the Badger has been a regular picture on the pages of the Western press, snooping around Western naval groups every now and then. The type also had its share of 'hot' wars, getting its baptism of fire in the Six-Day War of 1967. Apart from three factories in the USSR, the Tu-16 was built under license in China as the H-6 and remains in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force. Other foreign users were Egypt, Indonesia and Iraq. All known versions are described and a full account is given of the Tu-16's operational career in the USSR and abroad during the Cold War and in the days after that when many of the surviving Badgers were used as target drones. The book features many previously unpublished photos and a detailed production list.

Tupolev Tu-16 Badger (Aerofax)

Aerofax / Midland Publishing Ltd.

A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft Yefim Gordon &amp; Vladimir Rigmant The origins of the design bureau that was to bear his name can be traced back to the appointment of Andrey Nikolayevich Tupolev as head of the TsAGI's Aviation Department in 1918. Over the years, nearly 300 projects have evolved within the OKB. Nearly 90 reached the prototype construction stage, with more than 40 types put into series production.In the 1930s, the TB-1 (ANT-4) and TB-3 (ANT-6) bombers, the latter being the world's first heavy strategic bomber, paved the way for the long line of large multi-engined aircraft both civil and military for which the OKB is justly famed. Wartime production of the SB and Tu-2 plus the remarkable 'reverse engineering' of the Boeing B-29 that resulted in the Tu-4 led on to the jet Tu-16 and prop Tu-95 bombers. These, in turn were adapted for civil purposes as the Tu-104 and Tu-114 airliners. The supersonic Tu-22 and Tu-22M bombers and the Tu-144 airliner, a move into pilotless aircraft and a host of imaginative but unbuilt projects complete a fascinating work.

OKB Tupolev: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft

Engineering & Transportation

Transportation

Ian Allan Pub

The rapid development of commercial aviation in the 1950s and 1960s, coupled with advancing aircraft technology, led Great Britain and France to pool resources to create the famous supersonic Concorde airliner. As soon as the Soviet government got wind of this program, it tasked the national aircraft industry with an even more ambitious project: the Soviet Union was to create an SST entirely on its own v and ahead of the West; this was a matter of national prestige. Predictably, Andrey N. Tupolev received the assignment to create the airliner that would place the Soviet Union in the lead. At the cost of a tremendous research and development effort, the target was met v designated Tu-144 (and dubbed, rather mockingly, Concordski by the West), the Soviet SST took to the air in December 1968 ahead of its Anglo- French counterpart. This book gives a detailed account of the Tu-144's design and explains the reasons of its premature withdrawal; it also describes the type's recent use in a new-generation SST technology research program held jointly with NASA. It is illustrated with numerous previously unreleased photos and line drawings.

Tupolev Tu-144 - Red Star Vol. 24

Midland Publishing Ltd.

In the early 1950s, OKB Tupolev, the Tupolev design bureau, was instructed by the Soviet government to design a civil airliner with an intercontinental range. Based upon the earlier four-engined Tu-95 strategic bomber, the resulting aircraft was the largest airliner constructed at that time, providing accommodation for up to 220 passengers. The Tu-144 confounded experts by being able to fly at speeds similar to those achieved by jet aircraft, while still using turboprop technology. The Tu-114 set a number of records, including the speed record for a turbo-prop aircraft that still stands 50 years later. A total of 31 Tu-114’s entered service with Aeroflot, operating over long distance internal services and international services to cities from Tokyo to Havana. Gradually replaced from 1971, the last Tu-144 Aeroflot service was withdrawn in 1975. However, a number of the Tu-114’s were subsequently converted into AWACS aircraft as the Tu-126 "Moss" for operation in the Soviet navy.

Tupolev Tu-114: The First Soviet Intercontinental Airliner, Vol. 31 (Red Star)

Midland Publishing

Tupolev Tu-104: Aeroflot's First Jetliner

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