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Subject: Tupolev Tu-28/Tu-128
Date: 1 Sep 2018 07:08:55 -0700
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupolev_Tu-28
The Tupolev Tu-28 (NATO reporting name Fiddler) 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.
Iosif Nezval of Tupolev Design Bureau led development of the new interceptor
aircraft. The work began in 1958, based on an existing single prototype of the
unsuccessful Tu-98 supersonic bomber. The military designation of the
interceptor was at first Tu-28, but it was changed in 1963 to Tu-128, identical
to the designation used by the OKB.
The Tu-128 had a broad, low/mid-mounted swept wing carrying the main landing
gear in wing-mounted pods, and slab tailplanes. Two Lyulka AL-7F-2 turbojet
engines were mounted in the fuselage. The two-man crew of pilot and navigator
were seated in tandem.
The Tu-128, with its maximum weight of 43 tonnes, was the heaviest fighter to
enter service. It was a bomber-interceptor with high wing loading,
unsophisticated but reliable avionics and poor visibility. It was not an agile
aircraft. It was intended to combat only NATO bombers like the B-52, not engage
in dogfights with smaller aircraft.
The interceptor made its initial public appearance in the 1961 Tushino air
parade. Western experts, unaware that the bulge on the belly carried testing
instruments, mistook it for a large ventral radar for a mixed interceptor/AWACS
role. The production version lacked the bulge and had a large nose radome
housing a radar, known as RP-S Smerch, having a detection range of about 50 km
(31 mi) and a lock-on range of about 40 km (25 mi).
Armament of the Tu-128 was four Bisnovat R-4 air-to-air missiles (known as K-80
during development; NATO reporting name AA-5 'Ash'). Usually two of them were
R-4Rs with semi-active radar homing and two were R-4T infrared-homing missiles,
with the former on the outer pylons and the latter on the inner underwing
pylons. There was no internal weapons bay.
Production of the Tu-128 ended in 1970 with a total of 198 aircraft having been
built.
Role
Interceptor
Manufacturer
Voronezh Aircraft Production Association
Design group
Tupolev
First flight
18 March 1961
Introduction
1964 (or 1966)
Retired
1990 (Russia)
Status
Retired
Primary user
Soviet Air Defence Forces
Number built
198 (including 10 trainers)
Developed from
Tupolev Tu-98 bomber prototype
The Tu-128's only publicly reported combat operation was the destruction of NATO
reconnaissance balloons. The aircraft remained in service until 1990. Through
the 1980s, units armed with the Tu-128 converted to the Mikoyan MiG-31.
Specifications (Tu-128)
General characteristics
Crew: two, pilot and radar operator
Length: 30.06 m (98.62 ft)
Wingspan: 17.53 m (57.51 ft)
Height: 7.15 m (23.46 ft)
Empty weight: 24,500 kg (54,013 lb)
Loaded weight: 40,000 kg (88,185 lb)
Maximum g-loading: 2.5 g
Maximum fuel load: est. 13,600 kg (30,000 lb)
kgf; 16,370 lbf) each
Thrust with afterburner: 99.1 kN (10,100 kgf; 22,270 lbf) each
Performance
Maximum speed: when armed 1,665 km/h (1,035 mph; est. 1.5 Ma) when unarmed 1,920
km/h (1,193 mph)
Range: 2,565 km when armed (1,595 mi)
Endurance: above 3 hours
Service ceiling: 15,600 m when armed (51,184 ft)
Maximum ceiling: 20,000 m (65,617 ft)
Armament
Hardpoints: 4
*
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