Built in a limited series since 1939, the Petlyakov Pe-8 bomber was a machine with excellent flight and combat characteristics. It is the only Soviet wartime heavy bomber whose characteristics and capabilities are comparable to the more famous "flying fortresses" of the Allies.
Used exclusively for solving strategic problems, the Pe-8 was always in the area of attention of its creators. Design Bureau representatives maintained close contact with the 45th division, regularly got acquainted with the results of combat operations of flight crews and aircraft. They constantly received information from the division's engineering staff, who, in the process of combat operation, identified individual unsuccessful places in the vehicle's design. The leading designers of the Design Bureau listened carefully to their comments, and in most cases these comments were accepted, and the necessary work was carried out on them to improve the design and combat effectiveness of the Pe-8. Over time, all these comments on the Pe-8 prompted the OKB to start working on a deep modernization of the basic design of the aircraft. These works began in the second half of 1943.
Of all the developed projects of deep modernization of the Pe-8, work on the version of the aircraft with the ASh-82FN TK-3 engines has advanced the most. These works were started on a proactive basis in the design bureau of the Kazan aircraft plant No. 124 I. F. Nezval (Nezval headed the Design Bureau during the arrest and after the death of Petlyakov) in the second half of 1943. The idea of the OKB was to carry out a deep modernization of the basic design of the Pe-8 by improving its aerodynamics, the introduction of high-altitude engines from the TC and strengthening the bomber armament. All this was supposed to provide a significant expansion of the combat capabilities of the Pe-8 aircraft. The OKB developed preliminary technical proposals, which were presented to the NKAP. At that time, the proposals for the modernization of the Pe-8 were assessed by the NKAP as very timely.
The relevance of the work was justified by the following factors. In the first half of 1943, our military-political leadership through various channels began to receive information on the latest American high-speed high-altitude long-range bomber B-29, whose flight and tactical characteristics were head and shoulders above all that fought on the fronts of World War II. In addition, under the influence of information received from the United States on the "atomic project" in the USSR, work on the Soviet atomic bomb intensified. What kind of bomb this would be and whether it would be at all was not yet clear. But the fact that she would need a decent aircraft carrier was clear even two years before the first American nuclear explosion. In the specific conditions of the war with Germany, in the end, it was possible to do without equipping our aviation with a large number of long-range four-engine bombers of the "flying fortress" class. But in the conditions of the impending post-war world, with the possible appearance of a nuclear weapon and the future inevitable confrontation with the West, it was decided to urgently engage in a new promising bomber, the characteristics of which would be close to the flight characteristics of the American B-29.
It was thought that the development of a new Soviet "flying fortress" should have been completed by the time the war with Germany ended, and our Air Force would be able to get this machine into service immediately after its end. As part of this direction of work, the NKAP in September 1943 issued the task of the OKB A. N. Tupolev for the preliminary development of the project of the four-engine bomber "64". OKB V. M. Myasishcheva soon began working on similar projects for the 202 and 302 aircraft.
In this series of work that had begun, the proposal of the Nezval Design Bureau to modernize the Pe-8 was not something revolutionary, but it made it possible in a fairly short time to create a good aircraft with a minimum degree of technical risk, of course, not the same as the B-29, but capable of what -that time, until the Tupolev and Myasishchev projects are brought to mind, to provide our long-range aviation with new four-engine bombers. Those. on the whole, the version was repeated, according to which DB-A was created at one time.
Today it is clear that everything turned out according to a completely different scenario. Thus, work on the "64" aircraft encountered difficult to solve problems associated with equipping the new aircraft with modern equipment and weapons. Only by September 1944 was the mock-up of the aircraft "64" ready and the first preliminary inspection of the mock-up was carried out by the customer. Many comments were made, in particular, the customer demanded the installation of an airborne radar station. The second preliminary inspection after modifications took place only in February 1945, and again the customer's comments on the general layout, equipment, weapons, etc. followed. the bar of requirements for a new bomber, as long as these requirements exceeded the practical capabilities of the Soviet aviation industry of that period, especially in terms of equipment and weapons. As a result, in June 1945, Tupolev was ordered to stop developing the 64 aircraft and direct all his efforts to copying the B-29. Myasishchev, who does not have such resources as Tupolev, did not even reach the model stage.
As a result, by the end of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, our aviation was left without a modern four-engined bomber. The search for a way out began. Around the beginning of 1945, there were proposals to revive the serial production of the Pe-8 in a modernized version. But this proposal was rejected in connection with the beginning of large-scale work on copying the B-29, on which all forces were thrown. Thus, the country was left without a modern strategic bomber for more than 2 years. But the situation could have been completely different, since by the beginning of 1944, the blueprints for a deeply modernized version of the Pe-8 were transferred for manufacturing to the plant number 22. But back to the beginning …
The design and construction of a modified Pe-8 long-range heavy bomber with an increased bomb load, powered by ASh-82FN TK-3 engines, were ordered in accordance with NKAP order No. 619 of October 18, 1943. By the end of 1943, the first studies on the topic were completed.
A draft design was prepared for the aircraft. Compared with the serial Pe-8, the project included the following changes.
1. A new layout of the front of the fuselage in order to position both pilots side by side, while simultaneously moving their cockpit forward to improve visibility to the sides. This created better conditions for the joint work of pilots, greatly simplified the installation of aircraft and engine control, and reduced the number of instruments and some equipment. In connection with the removal of the pilots forward, the navigator's cabin also changed. Its length was reduced, navigators were brought closer to the nose of the aircraft, which significantly improved the view. In the nose of the fuselage was installed a large-caliber machine gun 12, 7 mm on a ball bearing, with a cone of fire at 60 degrees, served by the assistant navigator.
2. Increasing the length of the bomb compartment to the size that would accommodate: 1 FAB-5000 bomb, 2 FAB-2000 bombs, 6 FAB-1000 bombs, 9 FAB-500 bombs, 16 FAB-250 bombs, 32 FAB-100 bombs. The increase in the capacity of the bomb compartment was achieved by lengthening it forward and towards the rear of the fuselage, with the addition of a corresponding number of beams with bomb racks. In this regard, the place of the radio operator was changed, he was placed behind the first pilot, next to the flight mechanic.
3. Improving the aerodynamics of the aircraft by: reducing the midsection of the fuselage; reduction of the midsection of the tunnels of water radiators and landing gear fairings; complete retraction of the landing gear and tail wheel; lowering the level of the dorsal turret; blind riveting throughout the airframe of the aircraft; airframe sealing (not to be confused with a pressurized fuselage). As you can see, in terms of the number of changes, including geometry, the fuselage of the new machine had practically nothing to do with the fuselage of the serial Pe-8.
4. Increasing the strength of the center section spars, wing consoles, fuselage and landing gear based on the flight weight of 37,500 kg, which made it possible to transport twice as many bombs as compared to the Pe-8 (4000 kg per 5000 km).
When designing the OKB, it was planned to use two types of engines: gasoline engines with direct injection of the ASh-82FN type with a TK-3 turbocharger or diesel engines M-31 (a project for the further development of the M-30). With these engines, the "modified Pe-8" was supposed to have the following flight and tactical data with a flight weight of 30,000 kg:
With M-31 engines with a flight weight of 37,500 kg, with 1,000 kg of bombs with a fuel reserve of 11,800 kg, the gjktnf range of the aircraft was equal to 7,500 kv; with 8000 kg of bombs and a fuel supply of 4800 kg - 2700 km. With ASh-82FN engines with TK-3, the range with the same bomb loads and fuel reserves of 11,000 kg with a flight weight of 33,500 kg and 8,000 kg with a flight weight of 37,500 kg was 5300 km and 3150 km, respectively.
The suspension of bombs, depending on the caliber, could be carried out in the following quantities and combinations:
In terms of composition and placement, the defensive machine-gun and cannon armament of the aircraft corresponded to the Pe-8 4M-82.
The modernization carried out in comparison with the serial Pe-8 4M-82 produced in 1943 gave the following advantages.
1. With an equal bomb load, one modified Pe-8 could replace two serial ones.
2. Placing the main part of the bombs inside the fuselage, as well as other aerodynamic improvements, reduced fuel consumption per kilometer by 10%.
3. The increase in maximum speed by 13% made it possible for the aircraft to solve a number of new tactical tasks.
4. The location of the main crew in front of the engines, in addition to improving visibility, greatly improved the conditions for its work in flight.
The model of the modified aircraft was built by January 15, 1944 and represented the nose of the F-1 fuselage and the middle fuselage part of the center section up to the connector with the F-3. The layout reflected the equipment of the navigator's cabin, the equipment of the pilot's compartment, the equipment of the mechanic's console, radio equipment, the radio operator's workplace, the location of the bomb racks, the dimensions of the main bomb compartment and hatches for light bombs.
The prototype commission, appointed by the Order of the GU IAS KA of February 3, 1944, chaired by General IAS A. A. Lapina reviewed the layout and approved the main equipment and its placement by the corresponding protocol of February 8, 1944. The specific requirements of the equipment rearrangement commission were met in the presence of the mock-up commission.
Consideration of the project of the modified Pe-8 4M-82FN TK-3 in the NKAP and the subsequent resolution of the GKOK on February 20, 1944 required further revisions of the project. In particular, after the discussion of the NKAP, it was finally decided to install the TC. In addition, a requirement was added (at the suggestion of Nezval) to increase fire protection from the front from below.
The modified Pe-8 was put into production at factory # 22 at the end of 1943. The aircraft was given the factory designation aircraft "T". For the car, the OKB issued 4483 working drawings for pilot production. The drawings were worked out by the technological department, production schedules for the manufacture of individual aircraft units were drawn up, documentation was issued for the manufacture of the necessary additional equipment. By the beginning of the spring of 1944, part of the new slipways, as well as a number of parts for the new machine, had already been manufactured.
However, by the Decree of the GKOK dated March 5, 1944, the production of Pe-8 at plant No. 22 was discontinued, at the same time the plant stopped further work on the manufacture of the modified Pe-8. Work was underway on the machine not as a version of the modernization of the Pe-8, perhaps the project would have the opportunity to be embodied in metal.
I. F. Nezval always clearly understood that working only on the modification of the Pe-8 would not solve the post-war equipping of Soviet long-range aviation with new modern technology. To get a qualitatively new machine, new equipment and new weapons systems were needed. All this, combined with modern solutions for the airframe and power plant, could give the desired effect. Therefore, Nezval considered the work on the modified Pe-8 and as preparatory work for the creation of a new heavy long-range high-speed bomber of the B-29 class. He and his design bureau intended to work out the layout of a new promising post-war bomber on these projects (optimal placement of the crew, equipment, defensive small arms and cannon weapons, the composition and placement of bomber weapons, to work out a three-wheeled chassis, etc.). At the end of 1944, work on the project of such a bomber in the OKB was already underway. In the first half of 1945, the design bureau was in full swing, on its own initiative, the design of an already completely new aircraft. A preliminary design was drawn up and work began on the technical design.
Nezval constantly turned to the Deputy People's Commissar for Experimental Aircraft Construction A. S. Yakovlev with a request for the official issuance of a new assignment by the OKB, taking into account the work done on promising heavy machines, and if there is no such work, then return them to the Tupolev Design Bureau. Soon it happened that way. In the second half of the year, the Nezval Design Bureau transferred to A. N. Tupolev, and the team came to grips with the B-4 (Tu-4), and work on the subject of Nezval's new bombers was discontinued. If you look at the table below with the flight characteristics of four-engine bombers, you will notice that Nezval's project was second only to the B-29, surpassing other "flying fortresses" in all respects. Yes, and the B-29, it was inferior only in maximum speed and quite insignificantly in bomb load. At the same time, the "T" aircraft had a significantly greater range and rate of climb. Thus, Nezval's plane had every chance of becoming the main and quite modern "strategist" of the USSR for the period up to 1949.
References:
Rigmant V. Pe-8 bomber // Aviation and Cosmonautics.
Rigmant V. "Flying Fortress" of the Red Army Air Force.
Shavrov V. B. The history of aircraft designs in the USSR 1938-1950
Simakov B. L. Aircraft of the Country of Soviets. 1917-1970.
Astakhov R. Long-range bomber "64".
Rigmant V. Under the signs "Ant" and "Tu".
