Sukhoi S-6
| Sukhoi S-6 | |
|---|---|
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| Type: | Front bomber |
| Design country: | |
| Manufacturer: | |
| First flight: |
Never |
| Commissioning: |
Never |
| Number of pieces: |
0 |
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The Sukhoi S-6 ( Russian Сухой С-6 ) was a design for a two-seat tactical bomber (front bomber) that was developed in the Soviet Union . The construction of the Su-15U served as the starting point . The further development of the project leads from the S-6 to the T-6-1 and via the T-6-2 to the Su-24 .
history
In the mid-1960s, the Soviet front-line aircraft were looking for a successor to the now outdated Jak-28 and Il-28 . The Sukhoi experimental design office was also aware that a new aircraft was needed for this task. The political leadership of the Soviet Union at that time was of the opinion that there was only a need for ICBMs , anti- aircraft missiles and interceptors. Projects for bombers, ground attack planes or fighter-bombers were not considered necessary. For this reason, chief designer Yevgeni Felsner and Oleg S. Samoilowitsch mainly worked on the S-6 in their spare time, and the necessary resources were obtained by presenting the S-6 project to the authorities as a modernization of the T-58 (Su -15 program name by Sukhoi).
parameter
The S-6 was to be equipped with the Puma weapons computer system, with the Orion pulse Doppler radar and the relief monopulse ground follower radar . These systems later found their way into the Su-24. Two R-21F-300 with 46.1 kN (70.6 kN with afterburner ) thrust were planned as engines. These engines were modified Tumanski R-11F-300 . The S-6 should reach a top speed of 1400 km / h at sea level and 2500 km / h in transit flight.
The starting point was the Su-15U trainer version of the Su-15. The weapons system officer's seat was provided in the rear cockpit of the S-6 . Despite the high level of automation of the flight and operation of the weapon system, both of these things were too much work for the pilot for the planned supersonic low- speed flight . Compared to the Su-15, the rear fuselage would have been a bit more angular and the radius of the upper transition from the fuselage flanks to the fuselage back would have been smaller than for the Su-15. The air brakes were located on the back of the fuselage next to the vertical stabilizer and above the afterburner section of the engines. A fuselage bulge ran continuously behind the cockpit, which ended at the end of the vertical tail unit in the braking parachute container. The S-6 was intended as a low- wing aircraft with delta wings and a swept elevator. When the S-6 project and the T-6 project with the fixed wings ended, both had delta wings. Based on the further development of the Su-15 fighter aircraft, as with the Su-15, the change to a double delta wing would probably also have been made.
The S-6 was to have a two-wheeled nose landing gear, while the single-wheeled main landing gear would have been pulled into the fuselage. The radome should be somewhat flattened and designed with a larger radius in the upper area, due to the larger antenna of the weapon radar, which would have been installed above that of the terrain tracking radar. A striking feature of the S-6 could have been its shovel-shaped combined laser / infrared sensor, which also included data transmission for the Ch-24 anti-radar missiles. This would have been attached to the underside of the bow immediately after the radome on a beam that was swept forward. The most striking visual feature of the S-6 would have been its air inlets. First studies were based on rectangular air inlets that were drawn further forward at the top than the inlet lips, the shape of the air inlets roughly corresponded to that of the MiG-25 , later the unique design was chosen in which the inlet lips were attached further forward than the upper inlet edge. To put it casually, it looked as if the air intakes àla MiG-25 were mounted on the head.
Project progress up to the Su-24
The course of the project of the S-6 was continued up to a model in its original size as well as the development of the subsystems (in particular the weapon system Puma-S) and the model was inspected by the responsible authorities of the military. The S-6 was able to meet the initial requirements with regard to range, weapon loading and field airfield capability with the start-up missiles; it beat Mikoyan's heavier competitor project, which was based on the MiG-25.
However, the military then also demanded a larger weapon load. Thereupon Sukhoi brought in the less advanced project T-58M. In contrast to the S-6 with only one weapon station on the fuselage, the T-58M had over four weapon stations on the fuselage. Due to the greater weight, the main landing gear of the T-58M was equipped with two wheels each so that it could also operate on unpaved slopes. In principle, the T-58-M design was identical to the Su-15, but differed in a longer fuselage. The extension corresponded roughly to the length of the second cockpit. The main landing gear with two wheels each, the same radar system as the S-6, a continuous bead from the cockpit to the brake screen container on the back of the fuselage and semicircular air inlets with adjustable diffusers . Visually, the design T-58-M was similar to the La-250 .
But even this draft could not meet the requirements of the military with regard to maximum speed and weight on the one hand and the STOL capability for operation on makeshift slopes. The required performance of the radar system could also not be achieved with the antenna size limited by the cross-section of the fuselage. At that time, the use of vertical jet engines appeared to be a promising solution to shorten the take-off and landing distance in both east and west. Sukhoi himself gained experience with the T-58WD technology platform (a Su-15 prototype equipped with three Kolessow RD-36-35 lifting engines ). That is why the S-6 and T-58-M projects have been radically revised. The fuselage was widened to accommodate the lifting engines, this made a larger radome possible, in which the larger radar antennas could be found. The sensor, which was attached to the carrier under the radome of the S-6, could now be installed in the bow. This widening of the fuselage made it possible to place the pilot and weapons officer side by side in the same cockpit. This increased the crew's work efficiency.
This only culminated in the T-58-M project, which, in contrast to the T-58-M draft, had semicircular air inlets, but no diffuser cones. Eventually, test aircraft named T-6-1 were built. These had rectangular air inlets, as they were used on the Su-24. Suchoi also had good experiences with the further development of the Su-7 arrow-wing aircraft with the introduction of swivel-wing wings , which led to the production of the Su-17 . Based on this experience, prototypes were also built without lifting engines, but with swivel blades, which were given the designation T-6-2. Swing vane mechanisms as well as lifting drives add weight. Hoist engines, on the one hand, use more internal space (thus less space for fuel) and use more fuel for take-off and landing than comparable taxiways with swivel blades at maximum span setting. For these reasons, the T-6-2 prototypes prevailed over the T-6-1 and went into series production as the Su-24.
The existence of the S-6 project, the T-58-M project and also the T-6-1 prototypes were not known to the West at the time. Sometimes these are associated with the name Sukhoi Su-19 . The "Sukhoi Su-19" was the name assumed by the Pentagon for the production version of the Su-24, when its existence became known in the West, but its official name was not yet public.
Armament
The S-6 had an on-board cannon GSh-6-23 , two weapon stations on each wing, one weapon station under the fuselage, and two more brackets behind on the fuselage. The outer wing stations and those under the fuselage could be used to accommodate additional tanks. The rear fuselage stations could only be used for launch rockets or unguided free-fall bombs. The weapons provided were conventional free-fall bombs , heavy unguided air-to-surface missiles , multiple launchers with unguided air-to-surface missiles, Ch-24 anti-radar guided weapons and tactical nuclear weapons. The total weapon load was 3000 kg.
literature
- Jefim Gordon , Keith Dexter: Sukhoi Su-24 Fencer, Soviet Swing-Wing Bomber . Aerofax, England 2005, ISBN 978-1-85780-202-3 , pp. 6-8 .
- Jefim Gordon, Dmitri Komissarow: OKB Sukhoi . Midland Publishing, England 2010, ISBN 978-1-85780-314-3 , pp. 279-280 .
- Jefim Gordon, Dmitri Komissarow: Sukhoi Su-24, Famous Russian Aircraft . Crecy Publishing Ltd., Manchester England 2016, ISBN 978-1-85780-370-9 , pp. 10-14 .
