On June 21, 1958, the first prototype of the Soviet heavy long-range supersonic bomber Tu-22 (at that time, just Project 105 machines) took to the skies. This plane is one of the symbols of the Cold War, it became a serious argument in the confrontation with NATO and a real threat to the troops of the North Atlantic Alliance. Serial production of the bomber continued in the USSR until December 1969, during which time 311 aircraft of this type were assembled in various modifications. The aircraft was in service with the Russian Air Force until 1994.
The Tupolev Tu-22 bomber was a response to the rapidly changing nature of air warfare in the mid-1950s and was seen as a supersonic replacement for the Tu-16 bomber, just as the American B-58 Hastler bomber was intended to replace the B-47 Stratojet subsonic aircraft. At an early stage of work on the OKB-156 project, Tupolev studied the requirements not for a specific aircraft, but for a number of sufficiently large supersonic aircraft that could serve as a tactical strike aircraft, medium and heavy bomber, long-range interceptor. These directions began to converge into one in 1954. And the project to create a new supersonic aircraft received government approval on August 10, 1954.
Work directly on the Tu-22 aircraft (project "105") in the Tupolev design bureau began on August 15, 1955, D. Makarov was the chief designer. By August 1957, the first prototype of the airframe was ready. By the summer of 1958, engines were mounted on the prototype of the bomber, and static tests of the aircraft were started. On June 21, 1958, the prototype took to the skies for the first time, on that day the plane was flown by the crew of test pilot Yuri Alasheev. Since 1957, the Design Bureau has been working in parallel on the second prototype - the project "105A". This aircraft assumed major changes in terms of aerodynamics (the design used the "area rule"). In the future, it was the second prototype that turned into a serial long-range supersonic bomber Tu-22.
Tu-22
Very high hopes were pinned on the new aircraft in the Soviet Union, therefore, even before the first flight, it was decided to launch the bomber into serial production under the designation Tu-22; it was planned to assemble the aircraft at the Kazan aircraft plant. Due to the protracted and very difficult tests, during which aircraft crashed and pilots died, a rather peculiar situation developed. The aircraft was already mass-produced in Kazan and even entered military units (since 1962), but it was still not adopted for service. During the ongoing tests, an endless series of improvements to the new machine was carried out, the designers worked very hard on the control system. Ultimately, on flying machines and in serial construction, eight complexes of improvements were carried out, which included dozens of works on a variety of systems. Only by the end of 1968 it was decided to adopt the Tu-22R, Tu-22K, Tu-22P and Tu-22U aircraft, while the completion of the entire ARC K-22 complex continued.
Tu-22R, Tu-22U and Tu-22P were the first to pass the entire range of tests. The hardest part was the process of fine-tuning the Tu-22 as part of the ARK K-22, over which both the OKB and the customer fought. It was possible to completely solve all the problems with this aviation missile system only in the early 1970s. The complex was put into service in February 1971. The great merit in fine-tuning all the modifications of the Tu-22 built in the USSR belonged to the test pilots and engineering personnel of the Air Force Research Institute of the Air Force.
Design and features of Tu-22
In order to fit into the rather strict limitations of the technical specifications in terms of dimensions, the aircraft crew was decided to be reduced to three people (pilot, navigator and operator), who were located in a common pressurized cabin. The cockpit canopy was made narrow, wedge-shaped. It had minimal drag, but significantly limited the pilot's view. The decision on a crew of three became one of the most controversial, as shown by the further operation of the bomber. Not all pilots could master this complex, heavy and high-speed aircraft. In Long-Range Aviation, and, perhaps, in the entire world aviation, it was almost the only heavy (with a landing weight in the region of 60 tons and a landing speed of 320-330 km / h) serial aircraft with "single" control - without "right "(Second pilot) and without a second navigator.
Also, on the aircraft of the 105A project, the main landing gear began to retrace into the wing gondolas, as was done on the Tu-16. This decision made it possible to increase the volume of the bomb compartment, which was very important for the bomber. But along with this, there was a forced decrease in the area of wing mechanization, which significantly worsened the takeoff and landing characteristics of the aircraft. All this delayed the process of testing and improvements.
The serial supersonic long-range bomber Tu-22 was an all-metal monoplane of a classic layout with a low swept wing. The fuselage of the aircraft had an almost circular cross-section and was designed taking into account the "area rule". The power plant consisted of two turbojet engines, which were placed on either side of the keel. The aircraft has a tricycle landing gear, its main struts were retracted into special gondolas. In the central part of the fuselage there was a spacious bomb compartment that could hold up to 12 tons of various bombs, including FAB-5000 or FAB-9000. It was also possible to use special bombs (nuclear bombs) or air-to-surface missiles from the plane on the Tu-22K and Tu-22KD models. The aiming of the means of destruction at the target was provided with an optical bomber sight or a surveillance and aiming radar. The aircraft's navigation and radar equipment made it possible to operate it in any weather conditions.
For self-defense, the aircraft was provided with a 23-mm automatic aircraft gun HP-23, which had a radar sight, it was remotely controlled and provided protection for the rear hemisphere. Due to the complexity of using the cannon against attacking enemy aircraft, it was gradually decided to switch to firing special PIKS and PRL jamming projectiles in the direction of the detected air targets. Also, additional protection to the aircraft was provided by various electronic warfare devices.
Tu-22PD at Engels airbase
Since 1965, Tu-22 aircraft were equipped with RD-7M2 turbojet engines designed by P. A. Kolesov. In non-afterburner mode, the engine developed a thrust of 11,000 kgf, and during afterburner it produced 16,500 kgf. These engines were enough to accelerate the aircraft to supersonic speed, the maximum speed with them increased to 1600 km / h. The aircraft's fuel system consisted of 32 soft rubber unprotected tanks, which were located in the wing box and fuselage. Aviation kerosene T-1 or TS-1 was used as fuel. The maximum refueling was up to 44.3 tons. 176 built aircraft were equipped with the system of refueling in the air of the "hose-cone" type.
The Tu-22 bomber became the first aircraft in our country to receive a centralized pressurized fueling system. Centralized refueling of the aircraft was carried out through the refueling neck located on the left plane. If necessary, to reduce the landing weight, the crew could drop up to 28 tons of fuel in just 15 minutes through special drain valves under the wing and in the aft fuselage.
Despite the titanic efforts of the designers, the Tu-22 distinguished itself by the presence of a mass of various shortcomings. The first series of this bomber, due to the reverse of the ailerons, had restrictions on the maximum flight speed - no more than Mach 1, 4. After the appearance of the flap ailerons, these restrictions were removed from the Tu-22. At the same time, the difficulty of piloting a combat vehicle, poor visibility from the cockpit and a fairly high landing speed - up to 320 km / h, made very high demands on the skills of pilots, and during landing more than once this became the cause of disasters. Also, for basing the aircraft, only a first class runway with a runway length of at least 2,700 meters was needed, which in the event of a full-scale war could lead to certain problems with basing. A controversial decision was the fact that during an emergency exit from the plane, the seats of the crew members were ejected down. This excluded the possibility of rescuing pilots at low flight altitudes.
Tu-22U after landing
And if it looked good enough as a long-range bomber Tu-22, as a missile carrier it was much weaker. For the simple reason that it could carry only one X-22 Tempest air-to-surface missile, and this was clearly not enough. With the rapid improvement of air defense systems, this called into question the entire concept of the aircraft. That is why the use of Tu-22K / KD missile carriers armed with X-22 missiles against targets of the "air strike group" type was planned to be carried out by groups of aircraft up to a full air division. Attacks could be carried out according to various schemes - from a frontal strike from one direction to the separation of carrier aircraft into three groups with their formation in two waves (in range) and the use of jamming planes already launched in the forefront of missiles.
It was important that, despite all the shortcomings, the Tu-22 was the country's first supersonic jet bomber in long-range aviation. The experience of its design and subsequent operation came in handy when creating a much more advanced strategic missile carrier Tu-22M. At the same time, in terms of its tactical and technical characteristics, the Tu-22 had a number of advantages over its American counterpart - the B-58 bomber, which was designed at the same time to solve almost the same combat missions. In addition, the Tu-22 was able to "outlive" its overseas competitor.
Combat use of the Tu-22 bomber
In parts of the Long-Range Aviation of our country, the aircraft was operated until 1994. He managed to take part in the Afghan war. Aviation regiments armed with these bombers participated in bombing attacks on clusters of mujahideen and carried out aerial reconnaissance. At the same time, the crews flew from airfields located on the territory of the USSR, performed the assigned combat mission and returned back. They operated at high altitudes, out of the reach of MANPADS and other enemy anti-aircraft weapons. A modification of the Tu-22PD (electronic warfare aircraft) was used at the last stage of the war. For example, 4 Tu-22PD aircraft from Ozernoye in the period from October 1988 to January 1989 accompanied Tu-16 and Tu-22M bombers, providing jamming to Pakistani F-16 fighters. In January 1989, they were replaced by other 4 aircraft from the 203rd regiment from Baranovichi, having completed their task, in February 1989 they returned home.
For its time, the Tu-22 was sufficiently well protected, primarily by electronic countermeasures. On March 23, 1983, a Soviet Tu-22 went off course during an exercise and accidentally entered Iranian airspace. The plane flew with the electronic warfare system turned on, so the Iranian fighters that flew to intercept it could not aim missiles at it and almost entered into an air battle with each other. Then the plane crossed the airspace of Afghanistan, where Soviet fighters Su-22 and MiG-23 were flying to intercept the "intruder". Soviet interceptors also came under the influence of the electronic warfare system, and the Tu-22 intruder then calmly landed at the Mary airfield in Turkmenistan. The aircraft's invulnerability largely compensated for its accident rate and made the Tu-22 a very dangerous enemy for NATO and a weighty argument for the USSR during the Cold War.
In addition to the USSR, Tu-22 aircraft were also operated by the Libyan and Iraqi Air Forces. It is known that Baghdad actively used this bomber throughout the Iran-Iraq war. The aircraft were used to deliver powerful missile and bomb strikes against various targets in Iran, including the use of FAB-5000 and FAB-9000 aerial bombs. They struck not only at airfields, troops and infrastructure of Iran, but also at surface targets. On the night of March 18-19, 1988, four Iraqi Tu-22Bs, each of which carried 12 FAB-500 bombs, succeeded in destroying two Iranian supertankers Anaj (displacement 316,739 tons) and Sanandaj (displacement 253,837 tons), which stood at the oil terminal on the island of Khark, while the ground infrastructure was seriously destroyed. By the end of the war, out of 12 Tu-22 bombers, Iraq had 8 vehicles, 5 of which were in an operational state. For 8 years of the conflict, Baghdad has lost only 4 aircraft of this type.
During the serial production of the Tu-22 bomber, 311 aircraft were assembled in various modifications (bomber - Tu-22A and Tu-22B, missile carrier Tu-22K, reconnaissance aircraft - Tu-22R, jammer Tu-22P, training aircraft Tu-22U). More than half of these aircraft received a hose-cone refueling boom from the Tu-16N or ZMS-2 tanker aircraft and were designated Tu-22KD, Tu-22RD, Tu-22PD and Tu-22UD, respectively.
Tu-22KD
The Tu-22 bomber was very difficult to maintain and operate by the aircraft, and this concerned both technical and flight aspects. Over 30 years of active operation of the aircraft, more than 70 out of 311 bombers built out of 311 were prematurely retired (crashed, burned on the ground, completely out of order) for various reasons. More than 20 percent of the park was lost. It is not surprising that in the USSR Air Force the plane had different nicknames - "awl" for the original shape of the hull and "cannibal" for the high accident rate. There were cases when the crews refused to fly on the Tu-22, at that time it was the most emergency vehicle in the Soviet Air Force. The Tu-22K missile carrier was especially difficult to operate and fly. Only a first-class pilot could become the commander of such an aircraft. The Tu-22 was also difficult to maintain. For the flight, the plane had to be prepared for 3, 5 hours, and the preliminary preparation of the bomber took a full working day. Repair and maintenance of the engines of this machine, which were located at a sufficiently high height above the ground, were quite inconvenient.
In the Russian Long-Range Aviation, these aircraft continued to fly until August 1994, when the last Tu-22 of the two regiments left the territory of Belarus, flying to the cutting base in Engels, where they were disposed of. Despite all the difficulties in operation and a rather large accident rate, the experience gained during the creation of the Tu-22 allowed Soviet designers to create a new supersonic missile carrier Tu-22M, which, despite the similar name, in fact was already a completely different aircraft. The modernization of this Tu-22M3 supersonic missile carrier is still in service with the Russian Air Force.
Flight performance of Tu-22KD (missile carrier):
Overall dimensions: length - 42.2 m, height - 9.45 m, wingspan - 24.6 m, wing area - 162.2 m2.
Empty weight - 43.6 tons.
Normal takeoff weight - 69 tons.
Maximum takeoff weight - 92 tons.
Power plant - 2 TRDF VD-7M2, thrust 2 x 11,000 kgf or 2 x 16,500 kgf (with afterburner).
The maximum flight speed is 1640 km / h.
Practical flight range - 4550 km (subsonic speed), 1750 km (supersonic speed).
Service ceiling - 13,500 m.
Takeoff run - 2700 m.
The length of the run is 1900 m.
Armament: automatic cannon NR-23, bomb load - up to 12,000 kg, it is possible to use various types of free-fall bombs, as well as nuclear bombs (1 pc) or X-22 air-to-surface guided missile (1 pc).
Crew - 3 people.
