Tupolev Voron
| Tupolev Voron | |
|---|---|
| Type: | unmanned spy plane |
| Design country: | |
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The Tupolev Voron ( Russian Ворон , common raven ) was a planned supersonic unmanned reconnaissance aircraft from the Soviet manufacturer Tupolev , which took up the concept of the Lockheed D-21 .
history
During the first mission of a Lockheed D-21 on November 9, 1969, the drone reached its target area and was able to photograph the Lop Nor nuclear weapons test site in the People's Republic of China , but did not turn back due to a malfunction of the navigation system and finally crashed in the Soviet Union. The remains were recovered and analyzed by the Soviet aircraft industry. With directive number 57 of March 19, 1971, the Council of Ministers of the USSR instructed OKB Tupolev , which had the cover name MMZ Opyt and was already working with the drones Jastreb-1, Jastreb-2, Reis and StrischHad experience building drones by recreating the D-21 using Soviet materials, engines and equipment. The project was named Woron (raven). It was under the direct direction of Alexei Tupolev , the son of Andrei Tupolev . The Woron was planned as a reconnaissance platform which, in conjunction with other airborne and ground-based reconnaissance equipment, should contribute to a holistic strategic reconnaissance. The autopilot should guide the aircraft along a pre-programmed route using waypoints. The navigation was carried out on an inertial basis . The only payload available for reconnaissance was a high-resolution camera that would have been attached to the underside. The drone was to be launched from a Tupolev Tu-95 . This is comparable to the modification of the D-21, which could be launched from a wing station of a B-52 , but a B-52 could carry a D-21 under each wing, while the Tu-95 had a Voron half sunk in the bomb bay would have been carried. The planned use of the Tupolev Tu-144 bomber as a counterpart to the Lockheed SR-71 / D-21 combination and the later projected bomber, which was then produced as the Tupolew Tu-160 , was also planned. The Woron was to be equipped with an RD-012 engine with 1,350 kp thrust; other sources speak of a 3Ts4 (RD-07K) engine from the OKB-670 by Mikhail M. Bondaryuk. The OKB-670 also used the relatively well-preserved Marquardt RJ43-MA-11 engine of the D-21. After detaching it from the carrier aircraft, the Woron should be accelerated to supersonic speed by the dropping booster with an output of 47,500 kgp. The Voron was only intended for a single mission. After completing their mission, the collected data were to be separated from the rest of the drone in a reusable section containing the reconnaissance technology and parachuted safely to the ground, similar to the procedure for the Jastreb-1 drone.
A ground-based launch of the Woron was also considered, which should be carried out from a semitrailer with the booster. However, this project was soon discarded, as the operational capability would have been far inferior to take-off from a carrier aircraft in terms of range. Work on the Woron project lasted for several years. It never came to be built, but the project resulted in valuable knowledge and useful materials for future supersonic missiles. The reason the Voron was not built is because the Soviet government believed that reconnaissance satellites were a more effective reconnaissance vehicle than the Voron drone.
Technical specifications
| Parameter | Data |
|---|---|
| length | 13.07 m |
| span | 5.8 m |
| height | 2.08 m |
| Wing area | 37 m² |
| Empty mass | 3,900 kg |
| Mass drone | 6,300 kg |
| Mass with booster | 14,120 kg |
| Top speed | 3,500-3,800 km / h |
| Service ceiling | 23,000-26,400 m |
| Range | 4,600 km |
literature
- Jefim Gordon , Sergei & Dmitri Komissarow: US Aircraft in the Soviet Union and Russia . Midland Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-85780-308-2 , pp. 245 f .
- Jefim Gordon & Wladimir Rigmant: OKB Tupolev . Midland Publishing, 2000, ISBN 1-85780-214-4 , pp. 325-327 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ D-21 Drone - Tagboard / Senior Bowl. (No longer available online.) In: spyflight.co.uk. Archived from the original on November 5, 2012 ; Retrieved February 19, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
