Passenger aircraft Su9: characteristics, interior layout, varieties, history of creation. Airplane of bad memory Aircraft su 9

In the early 50s, a large-scale confrontation, which historians would later call the Cold War, only gained momentum. The space era with its spy satellites had not yet begun, so reconnaissance aircraft were engaged in collecting information about the enemy, and the Americans had a significant advantage in creating such devices. They regularly invaded Soviet airspace, operating at high altitudes, and the Soviet air defense forces could do nothing about it. A high-altitude high-speed interceptor aircraft was needed, capable of hitting air targets at altitudes of over 20 km ...

Naturally, the country's leadership knew about these flights, and, of course, such facts could not but cause him anxiety and irritation. Therefore, on August 25, 1956, a government decree was issued, in which all "fighter" design bureaus increase the altitude of promising machines. This call was heard by Soviet aircraft manufacturers - a little more than a year later, the Su-9, the first domestic high-altitude fighter-interceptor, took off. And it wasn't easy fighting machine: the Su-9 aircraft was part of an interception complex, which also included ground-based radar stations and a powerful computer for data processing.

This machine was developed at the Sukhoi Design Bureau and entered service in 1960. The Su-9 interceptor fighter has served the country with faith and truth for more than twenty years, guarding its peaceful sky. It was decommissioned only in 1981 and replaced with more modern MiG-23 and Su-15. The Su-9 fighter became one of the first domestic jet aircraft with a delta wing. The production of the machine was established at the Novosibirsk aircraft plant number 153 and plant number 23 (Moscow). The production of the Su-9 lasted until 1962; in total, about 1,150 aircraft were manufactured. You can also add that the Su-9 has several world records in height and speed. These machines were not supplied for export.

This aircraft should not be confused with another Su-9, which the Sukhoi Design Bureau began to develop during the war years. It was a twin-engine jet fighter-bomber that made its maiden flight in 1946. However, it was never accepted into service, and the only prototype created was decommissioned.

The most striking page in the Su-9's biography is the confrontation with the famous American reconnaissance aircraft Lockheed U-2, which regularly flew over Soviet territory. The Su-9 interceptor participated in the famous story of the downing of U-2, at the helm of which was Henry Powers, but at that time he could not destroy the intruder.

The story about this aircraft would be incomplete without mentioning its high accident rate. Throughout the entire service life of the Su-9 was pursued by plane crashes. It is likely that this machine is the "leader" in the number of pilots lost and the number of emergency situations.

The history of the creation of the Su-9 fighter-interceptor

Work on the creation of the Soviet high-altitude fighter-interceptor began much earlier than the 1956 government decree. In 1953, after a three-year break, the work of the Sukhoi Design Bureau was resumed, and on June 15 of the same year, the Council of Ministers issued a Decree on the creation of new types of front-line fighters with swept and triangular wings and the development of a new AL-7 engine with a thrust of 7700 kg.

In the Sukhoi Design Bureau, work was going on in parallel on two machines: the future Su-7 fighter with a swept wing and the Su-9, which had a triangular wing. The military set the following requirements to it: ceiling - 19-20 km, maximum speed - 1900 km / h, 15 km, the new aircraft had to gain for 5 minutes, and the flight range at this altitude had to correspond to 1600 km.

During this period, the country's leadership and personally Secretary General Khrushchev were seriously concerned about the regular flights of American reconnaissance aircraft in the Soviet airspace. The USSR was a closed country in which it was very difficult for American intelligence to work, so the US special services paid great attention to improving spy aircraft.

In 1957, the Lockheed U-2, one of the most advanced reconnaissance aircraft of the Cold War period, was adopted by the American Air Force. This machine possessed unique aerodynamic characteristics and had a record low fuel consumption, which allowed the U-2 to "hang" in the air for hours and explore vast spaces in depth. Soviet Union... Moreover, this machine had such a flight altitude that the country's air defense could not do anything with it. The fighter-interceptor MiG-19SV ("SV" means "high-speed, high-altitude") could not solve this problem. Roughly speaking, for a long time U-2 Dragon Lady was invulnerable to any means of destruction possessed by the Soviet armed forces ...

The situation was so intolerable that in 1956 an extended meeting of the CPSU Central Committee was convened on this issue, to which the military and representatives of the country's military-industrial complex were invited. The result of this meeting was another decree, which prescribed a significant increase in the altitude of promising fighters. In particular, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was supposed to increase the ceiling of S-1 (this is the future Su-7) and T-3 (Su-9) to 21 thousand meters by installing a new AL-7F-1 engine on these aircraft and reducing their weight. To do this, it was planned to remove several secondary systems from the car.

The installation of a new engine, which had a larger diameter, required a significant redesign of the tail section of the aircraft. Also on the plane, the area of \u200b\u200bthe ailerons was slightly reduced, and the wing received the so-called influx, which was supposed to improve aerodynamic performance machines at high angles of attack. The design of the high-altitude fighter was completed by December 1956, after which the blueprints were transferred to Novosibirsk at plant # 153.

The start of test flights was delayed due to the lack of a new AL-7F-1 engine, its prototype was received only on October 1, 1957. In the shortest possible time, it was installed and on October 10, the future Su-9 took off for the first time. Already during the third flight, the car managed to reach an altitude of 21 thousand meters, and a little later a speed of 2200 km / h. This was immediately reported to Khrushchev personally.

But the altitude and speed characteristics alone were not enough, the aircraft also needed an effective radar station, and this became a serious problem. At that time, in the USSR, only one organization, NII-17, was engaged in the creation of radar for aircraft, but all the options for radars that it could offer did not suit aircraft builders. They did not fit either in terms of their characteristics, or were too heavy. Therefore, the radar station TsD-30 was installed on the fighter, which was originally developed for cruise missiles, but was almost ideally suited for the Su-9 both in its characteristics and in terms of weight and dimensions.

April 16, 1958 saw the light of another government decree related to the future aircraft. It ordered the creation of an interception complex on its basis, which, in addition to the fighter itself with radar and missiles, would also include the "Air-1" guidance and control system. This decision significantly increased the combat effectiveness of the interceptor aircraft. Information about air targets was collected by ground radars and then transmitted to the guidance center. There, the data was processed by a powerful analog computer, and only then was it transmitted to the interceptor aircraft. From the ground, the pilot received instructions about the speed and course required for successful interception of the target. And only at a distance of 8 km the target was captured by the aircraft's own radar.

Refinement of the Su-9 was difficult, especially since the designers had a tough deadline: to hand over the aircraft for state tests until the third quarter of 1958. The creators of the machine had to face a whole range of problems, previously unknown to anyone, because in many ways this aircraft was unique. The work of the air intake of the aircraft required serious debugging, it was done by trial and error. It was very difficult for the pilot to use the aircraft's rocket armament at maximum speeds. On October 20, 1958, the first Su-9 disaster happened: during a test flight, the engine stalled, during a forced landing, the pilot died. The pilots had to work at previously unknown heights, so a new pressure helmet GSH-4 was created for them. His unsatisfactory performance also caused a lot of inconvenience to the pilots.

State tests of the machine began on December 3, 1958. On July 20, 1959, a second crash occurred, which also led to the death of the pilot. Its reasons were never found. In total, during the state tests, 407 flights were carried out, on April 9, 1960, the commission signed an act on the compliance of the machine with all the required characteristics. On October 15, 1960, the interception complex was put into service.

Aircraft operation

It should be noted that the Su-9 began to enter the combat units even before its official acceptance into service. In 1960, this machine was already in service with thirty air regiments. However, even after passing the entire set of tests, the new aircraft still remained "raw", only by 1963 the main problems of the fighter were solved. For a quick response to the remarks of the military, special brigades were even created at the plant, which traveled around the country and eliminated problems right in the combat units.

Another problem was that the Su-9 began to enter the troops without a "twin", that is, without a training aircraft with dual control. They were made much later, when the Su-9 had already been mastered by the pilots. Although, it was given a dear price: for the absence training aircraft the pilots had to pay with their lives. At first, aerobatics were prohibited to pilots on the Su-9, but it was allowed only in 1967.

The plane's main problem was its engine. Its operational reliability was low, and very often it was he who let the pilot down. In the early 60s, the cases of pilots leaving the plane precisely because of engine failure became widespread, but only after a few years this problem was partially solved. And it's good if the engine failed at high altitude, then the pilot managed to eject. Stopping the engine during takeoff was usually fatal for the pilot, because at that time the means of rescuing the pilot from the ground did not yet exist. However, often the reason emergencies there was also a human factor ...

Another problem of the Su-9 was the low efficiency of its engine. There was enough fuel for literally 35-40 minutes of flight. This was enough to climb 20 thousand meters, after which it was necessary to descend back. To solve this problem, two suspended fuel tank with a capacity of 180 liters each.

At the same time, the Su-9 had good flight characteristics. It could withstand heavy overloads, it was very difficult to enter a spin, behaved predictably when landing, was distinguished by good controllability and had an excellent view from the cockpit.

A further development of the ideas embodied in the Su-9 can be called the Su-11 interceptor fighter, the operation of which began in 1964. These cars are very similar in their own way. appearance, and in terms of flight performance. However, the Su-11 eliminated many of the problems that plagued the pilots on the Su-9. In particular, the Su-11 was equipped with a new AL-7F2 engine, which eliminated the main problem of the Su-9. Both of these aircraft remained the highest and fastest in the Soviet Air Force until 1970, when the MiG-25 fighter-interceptor began operation.

Combat use of the Su-9

Almost immediately after it was put into service, the Su-9 was deployed to combat the enemy's high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft.

The Su-9 interceptor fighter took part in the destruction of the American Lockheed U-2, at the helm of which was Henry Powers. It is well known that the reconnaissance plane was shot down by an S-75 anti-aircraft missile system, but few people know: Soviet fighters also participated in the interception of this intruder. Including the Su-9, which was controlled by the pilot Captain Mentyukov. He drove the fighter from the factory to his combat unit, so he had no weapons. For the same reason, the pilot did not have a pressurized suit. Despite this, the plane was sent to intercept. Mentyukov was ordered to catch up with the intruder and ram him. Without a waterproof suit, this meant certain death for the pilot. However, the attack did not succeed, the radar on the Su-9 refused. By the way, when the U-2 was destroyed by an anti-aircraft missile, a MiG-19 fighter-interceptor was shot down, another only miraculously managed to avoid defeat.

Su-9s also took part in other episodes of the Cold War. They acted very effectively against high-altitude reconnaissance balloons that were launched over Soviet territory. In the late 1960s, two Su-9s participated in the interception of two Iranian intruders. A rocket was even launched, but it did not hit any of the targets.

The Su-9 set the world record for flight altitude - 28857 meters. Also on this machine, a record for level flight altitude was set.

Description of the design of the Su-9

The fighter is made according to the normal aerodynamic configuration, with a bow air intake and one engine. The fuselage of the Su-9 is of the semi-monocoque type, the aircraft was controlled by one pilot.

It should be noted that the tail unit and fuselage of the Su-9 are absolutely identical to another fighter created by the Sukhoi Design Bureau - the Su-7. These aircraft differed only in the shape of the wing: the Su-7 had a swept wing, and the Su-9 had a triangular wing.

The fuselage of the vehicle can be roughly divided into three parts: tail, cockpit compartment and nose. The latter housed an air intake equipped with a central movable cone. Following the nose was the pilot's pressurized cabin and the nose landing gear niche. In the area of \u200b\u200bthe cockpit, the air intake was divided into two sleeves, which were connected immediately behind it. The canopy consisted of an armored visor and a sliding part made of heat-resistant glass. Instrumentation and fuel tanks were located behind the cockpit.

The engine compartment was located in the rear of the vehicle, and the tail unit, consisting of an all-turning stabilizer and a keel with a rudder, was also located here.

The triangular wing of the aircraft was attached to the fuselage at four points, its sweep angle along the leading edge was 60 °. The wing mechanization consisted of an aileron and a flap.

The power plant of the fighter consisted of an AL-7F-1 engine with an afterburner and a two-position nozzle. Later, more advanced AL-7F-100, -150 and -200 engines were installed on the Su-9, which differed from the basic version in their increased resource.

The Su-9 had a retractable tricycle landing gear with a front strut. The aircraft was also equipped with a braking parachute.

The fuel system included fuselage and wing tanks, their total capacity was 3060 liters. On later series cars, it was increased to 3780 liters. In addition, two additional outboard tanks could be installed on the Su-9.

The control was carried out using an irreversible booster and hydraulic systems.

In the cockpit there was a KS ejection seat and a canopy emergency release system. To ensure normal operating conditions for the pilot, the Su-9 cockpit was equipped with an air conditioning system that maintains a temperature range of 10 to 20 degrees Celsius.

The Su-9 had only missile armament. The plane had no cannon armament at all. At the end of the 60s, they tried to install a cannon container on the car, which was suspended instead of one of the fuel tanks. However, as a result of such a replacement, the flight range was significantly reduced, so they decided to abandon the use of containers. This decision significantly reduced the combat capabilities of the vehicle in close maneuvering combat. The sight of the RP-9 fighter also caused a lot of complaints from the pilots.

Initially, the armament consisted of four RS-2US missiles, guided by a radio beam. Later, the UR R-55 with a thermal seeker was additionally included in the fighter's arsenal. Also, the aircraft's armament system included an onboard radar and a complex of control and recording equipment. The fighter could make both single missile launches and fire in a salvo consisting of two or four missiles.

Literature

Su-9 (Su-11)

Among the jet aircraft built in the early post-war years, a single-seat front-line fighter - a light bomber of the design team headed by P.O. Sukhim - occupied a special place. The aircraft, called the Su-9, differed from other machines of that period in that its turbojet engines were installed not in the fuselage, but on pylons under the wing, equipped with original aerodynamic sliding brakes. Su-9 ("K") - single-seat front-line fighter and light bomber - low-wing, all-metal construction, fuselage cross-section - oval with wing fairings provided with flaps. The wheels of the landing gear were retracted into the center section to the axis of the aircraft, the nose into the fuselage. The pilot's seat is ejectionable. To reduce the mileage after landing, the designers for the first time in our country provided for the use of a special braking parachute, and to reduce the takeoff run - starting powder boosters. With two RD-10 engines (900 kg thrust), the Su-9 with a total take-off weight of 6380 kg showed in tests carried out in 1946, the speed at the ground is 847 km / h, at an altitude of 8 thousand m - up to 900 km / hour. Armament - one N-37 cannon or two - NS-23, two NR-23, bombs - two FAB-250 or one FAB-500. The flight duration in the economy mode is -1 hour 40 minutes, the ceiling is over 12.5 km. In August 1947, the Su-9 took part in the air parade in Tushino. In the same 1947, the design team prepared for testing an experimental version of a fighter-bomber, with a slightly larger span and wing area, called the Su-11. It was the first Soviet aircraft with a turbojet engine of an original domestic design. The design of the aircraft - as in the Su-9, but with a significant difference in the scheme - the engines were raised and placed in the wing, for which its spars in these places were bent upward in an arc around the engine. With the same dimensions, the Su-11 was equipped with more powerful TR-1 engines, each with a thrust of 1,300 kg, which were installed in the wing. The speed of the fighter-bomber increased to 940 km / h, the ceiling to 13 km. The aircraft was produced in 1947, tests were completed in April 1948. It was not built in the series due to the fact that the factories were occupied with other orders, as well as due to defects in the Cradle's engines, which were not yet serial. SU-13 (CD) - like the Su-11, but the horizontal tail is swept. Differences in flight performance are minor. RD-500 engines with thrust 1590 kgf. The project was developed in 1947, the aircraft was under construction, but was not completed and not tested.

Maiden flight year - 1946
Crew - 1
Engine (number) - RD-10 (2)
Takeoff power, kg - 900
Aircraft length, m - 10.55
Wingspan of the aircraft, m - 11.2
Wing area, sq. - 22.2
Takeoff weight, kg - 6100
Maximum speed at the ground, km / h - 1047
Practical ceiling, m - 12000
Flight range, km - 1200
Landing speed, km / h - 150
Takeoff run, m - 350
Payload, kg - 1634
Armament - 1xH-37, 2xH-23 (400 rounds), bombs

On October 10, 1957, the Su-9 fighter-interceptor made its maiden flight. He became the record holder for both altitude and flight speed. Record performance demanded from the pilots a long-term development of the machine, which had been on the guard of the state for more than 20 years.

Elusive spy

The conversation about the relevance and timeliness of the creation of the Su-9 interceptor fighter should begin with a story about the American Lockheed U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.

Development of the American began shortly after the start of the Cold War. He was to become one of the main suppliers of intelligence information, making long flights over the most interesting regions of the USSR from the point of view of military infrastructure. Fly without meeting a real threat of being shot down by air defense forces.

Accordingly, when creating the aircraft, the highest priority was given to such parameters as flight altitude, range and the presence of fixing and recording equipment with high resolution.

The designers brilliantly solved the task set before them, making the aircraft unique in terms of aerodynamics and record-breaking low fuel consumption. In flight, he is able to fly for a long time with the engine off in glider mode. To lighten the weight and optimize the layout of the recording equipment, we had to use eccentric design techniques. For example, due to the highly elongated nose and the presence of the pilot in the spacesuit, the runway is not visible during takeoff from the cockpit. And the pilot is guided by the accompanying car.

Landing also requires high preparation pilot, since the U-2 uses a bicycle-type chassis. When running on a runway, it is necessary to maintain balance by working the flaps. When the speed drops to a certain limit, the plane falls onto the wing, which ends with a titanium brake ski.

The result is an aircraft with a ceiling of 21,300 meters and a range of 5,600 kilometers. Flight duration without PTB is six and a half hours.

The U-2 made its first reconnaissance flight in June 1956. And since then it has become a big headache for the Soviet leadership, revealing the location of the most important military-industrial facilities. It was as a result of the deep flight of U-2 that American intelligence learned about the location of the Baikonur cosmodrome. He also recorded the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba.

Overweight fight

The Sukhoi Design Bureau was instructed to create a high-altitude interceptor as soon as possible, which would be capable of detecting and destroying U-2. He was required to fly at an altitude exceeding 20 thousand meters, and at the same time have a record speed.

The second requirement involved the use of a powerful engine, which would make the car heavier and lower its ceiling. We managed to partially cope with this problem by obtaining permission from the customer to remove secondary systems. In order to reduce the weight of the aircraft to the required level, it was necessary to equip it with a new type of avionics, lighter and more compact. There were no particular options. So, for example, the radar for aircraft was produced by NII-17 MAP. But they did not suit the designers of the high-altitude interceptor. And then it was decided to use the radar for cruise missiles TsD-30, which was suitable for its radar characteristics, and in size and weight.

After the Su-9 made its first flight on October 10, 1957, its fate was repeatedly revised, and it itself underwent modernization and refinement.

In April 1958, a decree of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, which prescribed the creation of an interception complex on the basis of the Su-9. It was supposed to include the ground guidance and control system "Air-1" and Su-9, armed with guided air-to-air missiles. This interception system was the first in the Soviet Union.

This decision significantly increased the combat capabilities of the fighter. "Vozdukh-1" was a network of ground-based radars, data from which were sent to the guidance center. An analog computer calculated the coordinates of the target and, correlating them with the position of the interceptor aircraft, gave on board information about the course and speed of the Su-9 necessary for successful interception. Su-9, approaching the target at a distance of 8 km, captured it with its radar.

One of the Su-9 testers in interaction with the ground guidance system was a military pilot, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, and future cosmonaut Georgy Timofeevich Beregovoy.

During the tests of the Su-9, both pilots and designers had a chance to encounter such flight modes and the operation of aircraft systems that no one in the country had yet encountered. Since the car was the highest (20,000 m) and the fastest (2250 km / h). Launching rockets at maximum speed required tremendous skill from the pilots. The afterburner operation of the air intake was debugged by trial and error, when it was necessary to work on the verge of surging. During the flight run-in of the Su-9, in connection with work at previously unknown heights, it was also necessary to run in the first hermetic helmet GSH-4, which created a lot of inconvenience.

Asymmetric response to an American spy

The high-altitude interceptor, so relevant for the country's air defense, began to arm the units in 1959. In total, more than 1,100 aircraft were produced by 1962. At the same time, not a single Su-9 was sold abroad.

The adoption of this machine into service was very difficult. Firstly, with excellent flight qualities, this machine had significant control features. From other jet fighters, the Su-9 differed in a rapid set of speed, which created problems with a relatively timely, at speeds up to 600 km / h, retracting the landing gear during takeoff. It had an unusually large increase in pitch at high altitudes. Due to the peculiarities of the engine, there was a large set of rules that had to be followed strictly when intercepting a target. Moreover, for each target (depending on its speed) and at different altitudes, these rules were different.

A huge problem for "fresh" pilots arose when landing a fighter. A sharp movement of the engine control lever led to a rapid drop in thrust with all the ensuing sad consequences.

In addition to the problem of retraining pilots, there was another problem: the plane, which was massively introduced in parts, was not brought to mind. Already in the units, the units were replaced, which had undergone the necessary revision. Therefore, at the manufacturing plant, brigades were formed that moved between the air defense regiments, troubleshooting and installing new components on the aircraft.

By the end of 1963, the situation had returned to normal. And the pilots mastered the new car, and the car itself stopped giving unpleasant surprises.

As for the main task assigned to the Su-9, it was happily forgotten in the 60s. There was only one case of a Soviet high-altitude interceptor meeting with an American U-2 reconnaissance aircraft. It happened on May 1, 1960. Pilot Igor Mentyukov, overtaking a fighter from the factory and having no weapons for this reason, decided to ram at an altitude of 20,000 m. A heroic decision, which required not only courage, but also remarkable health, since the pilot was without a pressurized suit. However, the maneuver, fortunately for those close to Mentyukov, failed due to an error of the ground guidance operator and a malfunction of the on-board radar. In 1960, as mentioned above, this kind of malfunction was almost in the order of things.

And the reconnaissance aircraft piloted by Francis Powers, who later served a couple of years in the Vladimir Central, was sorted out with the help of the S-75 Dvina anti-aircraft missile system. Subsequently, it was this complex that shot down several U-2s.

Despite the value specified in the aircraft flight characteristics maximum height, by test pilots it was significantly exceeded. At the beginning of the 60s, the Su-9 set a world altitude record of 28857 m. As well as an absolute world record for the altitude of an established horizontal flight, 21270 m. A world speed record was also set on a 500-kilometer closed route - 2337 km / h.

The Su-9 was in service with the country's air defense units until 1981.

LTH Su-9

Length - 18 m

Height - 4.82 m

Wing span - 8.54 m

Wing area - 34 sq. m

Sweep angle - 60 degrees

Empty weight - 7675 kg

Normal takeoff weight - 11442 kg

Power plant - 1xTRDF AL-7F-1

Engine thrust - 1 × 6800 kgf

Afterburner thrust - 1 × 9600 kgf

Maximum speed at altitude - 2230 km / h

Practical range - 1350 km

Range with PTB - 1800 km

Service ceiling - 20,000 m

Climb rate - 200 m / s

Armament - 6 air-to-air missiles RS-2US or K-55 at 6 suspension points.

A snapshot at the opening of the article: all-weather fighter-interceptor Su-9 / Photo: Vitaly Arutyunov / RIA Novosti

In the 60s and 70s of the last century, an interceptor with a triangular wing, which was at that time the main aircraft of the air defense aviation of the Soviet Union, stood guard over the air borders of our Motherland.

History of creation

In the 50s, another round of the Cold War unfolded, spy planes, inaccessible to our fighters, roamed our airspace with impunity, collecting the necessary information. The Soviet leadership, knowing about the facts of violation of the state border, set the task for the Sukhoi Design Bureau to increase the altitude of the interceptor under construction to 21 thousand meters.

At that time, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was developing a project T-3 - an interceptor aircraft with a triangular wing. He first took off on May 26, 1956. During the tests, the car reached a speed of 2100 km / h and a practical ceiling of 18 thousand meters. To fulfill the government's task to increase the altitude, changes were urgently made to the project - the design was changed to accommodate the new AL-7F1 engine and some systems were dismantled, thereby reducing the weight of the machine.

At the end of 1956, the project was completed with modifications and all working documentation was received at aircraft factory... In the spring of 1957, the modified one was tested in flight. Now the aircraft, together with ground guidance and detection stations, was positioned as an intercept complex. A number of radar stations tracked the target, then the computer processed its parameters and gave data to the interceptor, which captured the target onboard radar from a distance of nine kilometers.

Having high characteristics in terms of speed and altitude for that time, it presented some difficulties in retraining for the flight crew. Launching rockets demanded skill and concentration from the pilot, despite the excellent aerodynamics, the aircraft had its own characteristics in control.

Practical use in the troops has highlighted a number of shortcomings - this is a small supply of fuel in the tanks and, as a result, a small combat radius, and also limitations for flights due to weather conditions.

Despite these shortcomings, already in 1960, it entered service in thirty-one units and was used exclusively in the USSR air defense aviation, the machine did not even enter the allies under the Warsaw Pact.

Design features

The traditional aerodynamic design of a high-altitude interceptor includes a mid-swept delta-wing monoplane with a turbojet engine and a tail unit with an all-turning stabilizer.

The triangular wing with a sweep 530 provided high performance at high speeds. But for this I had to pay a very high takeoff speed - 360 km / h. The wing design has four attachment points to the fuselage, the wing itself is equipped with a mechanization consisting of flaps and ailerons.

In the bow of the hull there was an air intake with a cone, inside which the radar antenna was hidden. There was also an anti-surge device, which consisted of four flaps. Further, a sealed cockpit was located, and under it was a niche into which the front landing gear was removed.

The cockpit was covered by a canopy consisting of two parts: a movable one made of organic glass with high temperature resistance and a fixed visor made of armored glass. The pilot's seat was ejectionable, the cockpit was equipped with an air conditioning system that maintains a temperature regime acceptable for normal life.

The power plant consisted of an AL-7F1 turbojet engine (later AL-7F1-100) with an afterburner and a nozzle having two positions. The fuel supply was located in the wing and fuselage tanks located behind the instrument compartment of the aircraft body and contained 3780 liters.

Equipped with a tricycle landing gear with a front strut. The main supports were retracted into the wing perpendicular to the flight, and the front support into a niche under the pilot's pressurized cabin.

Aircraft characteristics

Technical

• Wing area - 34 m 2
• Plane length - 18.055 m
• Aircraft height - 4.82 m
• Wingspan - 8,536 m
• Unloaded aircraft weight - 7765 kg
• Maximum takeoff weight - 12512 kg
• Fuel capacity in tanks - 3780 l
• Engine - AL-7F-1
• The maximum thrust with the afterburner is 9600 kgf.

Flight

• The maximum speed is 12 thousand meters. - 2230 km / h
• Range with PTB - 1800 km
• Range without PTB - 1350 km
• Dynamic ceiling - 20 thousand m
• Climb rate - 200 m / s
• Takeoff distance - 1200 m
• The length of the landing distance is 1250 m.

Armament

• Suspension points - 6
• Guided missiles - 4 x RS-2US and 2 x K-55.

May 1, 1960 American spy plane U-2 invaded USSR airspace for reconnaissance purposes. One of the planes taking part in the interception was. But the most interesting thing is that this plane flew from the factory to the place of permanent deployment and had no weapons, and the pilot was without a pressurized suit. But having received the order to ram the reconnaissance aircraft, the pilot Mentyukov did not hesitate to intercept, at high altitude this ram threatened him with inevitable death. The pilot was saved by an accident - the onboard radar failed, and the guidance operator could not bring him to the interception point. The spy plane was shot down by the ZRK-75 "Dvina".

The aircraft actively participated in the interception of high-altitude balloons that were sent into our airspace. In one of the cases, he shot down a balloon that was drifting at an altitude of more than 26 km with a rocket, it began to lose altitude abruptly and was destroyed from the cannon of another aircraft.

Four world records were set on the plane - two in height by pilot S.V. Ilyushin and two in speed by pilots B.M. Andrianov and A.A. Koznov.

In the 60s, the aircraft as part of the flight provided air cover for the Baikonur cosmodrome, stationed at the Krainy airfield.

Serial production of aircraft lasted until 1962, and the fighter was in operation until 1981, after which it was removed from service. A total of 1150 vehicles were produced.