Soviet aircraft industry was an essential part of the USSR’s campaign for global dominance in the twentieth century. Thanks to the thick fog of secrecy that enveloped it throughout the Cold War, it has long inspired the fascination of analysts and enthusiasts in the West; until the collapse of the USSR in 1991, details of Soviet aircraft were often a matter of conjecture. This book aims to uncover fully the mystery surrounding this topic. Drawing on original and previously unpublished information obtained directly from the former USSR, Soviet Aircraft Industry examines the unique characteristics of Soviet-designed aircraft—particularly military types, which were the cause of great concern to the West. Further, by virtue of the industry’s central role throughout Soviet history, this book provides a rare and important perspective into the broader theme of Russia’s great communist experiment.
This text offers previously elusive information on state-of-the-art Russian metallurgic technology of titanium alloys. It details their physical, mechanical, and technological properties, as well as treatments and applications in various branches of modern industry, particularly aircraft and aerospace construction. Titanium Alloys: Russian Aircraft and Aerospace Applications addresses all facets of titanium alloys in aerospace and aviation technology, including specific applications, fundamentals, composition, and properties of commercial alloys. It is useful for all students and researchers interested in the investigation and applications of titanium.
Seventy years have passed since the Second World War yet the books and articles still keep coming in a never-ending stream discussing the question of what role the deliveries of arms and materials by Soviet allies played in the victory of the Red Army. In Russia, the American Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter along with the Studebaker US6 truck and canned stewed meat became the symbols of Allied help to the USSR during the Second World War. Other aircraft which arrived to the country under the Lend-Lease program are less known but also made a valuable contribution to the victory. The author of this book for the first time has assembled a huge volume of information related to the delivery of aviation equipment from the UK and USA. Based on documents from Russian and foreign archives, museums, and veterans' recollections, the author has made a qualitative and quantitative appraisal of the influence of these deliveries upon the Soviet war effort and airpower during the conflict. The book details the routes of the aircraft deliveries to Russia, the modifications which were done in order to suit the demands of the Russian climate and specifics of their front-line use, as well as the process of the new aircraft being mastered by the units of the Red Army Air Force. The first foreign aircraft arrived in the Soviet Union with No. 151 Wing RAF in 1941, and their use expanded rapidly - they took part in the counteroffensive near Moscow, the battles for Stalingrad and the Kursk salient, and operations of the war up to the battle for Berlin and the capitulation of Japanese forces in the North China. The author includes the results of the combat assessments of the aircraft, which were done at the Scientific Testing Institute of the Air Force, as well as reports from front-line regiments, and multiple combat episodes, detailing the views of the Soviet designers and pilots on the British and American aircraft. A separate chapter provides information about the aircraft which were not officially delivered but appeared in the Soviet Union accidentally. For the first time an attempt has been made to assess the influence of the deliveries of material and equipment upon the Soviet aviation industry and war effort. The author's impressive text is supported by nearly 700 color and b/w photographs, 100 color aircraft profiles, plus maps, charts etc.
Shrouded in secrecy, output from the Chinese aviation industry was, until recently, largely unknown in the West. This first-ever book on Chinese military aircraft offers comprehensive insight into the Chinese aviation industry, including secret projects and China's aircraft in overseas service. Provides a full description of all aircraft types including the Shaanxi Y8, the Chengdu JF-17 (FC-1) light fighter, which is now entering service with the Pakistan Air Force, the Shenyang J-10, and the KJ-2000 AWACS aircraft based on the Il'yushin IL-76. Numerous color profiles and three-view drawings are also included, along with the logos of production enterprises and design institutions. Virtually every photograph is previously unpublished outside of China.
Born in the 1930s, the Soviet Air Force's long-range bomber arm (known initially as the ADD and later as the DA) proved itself during the Second World War and continued to develop in the immediate post-war years, when the former allies turned Cold War opponents. When the strategic bomber Tu-4 was found to be too 'short-legged' to deliver strikes against the main potential adversary - the USA, both Tupolev and Myasishchev OKBs began the task by creating turbine-engined strategic bombers. By the Khrushchev era in the mid/late 1950's the Soviet defence industry and aircraft design bureaux set about adapting the bombers to take air-launched missiles for use against land and sea targets and in 1962 the DA fielded its first supersonic aircraft - the Tu-22 Blinder twinjet, which came in pure bomber and missile strike versions. The Brezhnev years saw a resurgence of strategic aviation with the Tu-22M Backfire 'swing-wing' supersonic medium bomber entering service in the mid-1970s followed in 1984 by the Tu-95MS Bear-H and Tu-160 Blackjack which were capable of carrying six and 12 air-launched cruise missiles respectively. Soviet Strategic Aviation in the Cold War shows how the DA's order of battle changed in the period from 1945 to 1991. Major operations including the air arm's involvement in the Afghan War, the Cold War exercises over international waters in the vicinity of the 'potential adversary' and the shadowing of NATO warships are covered together with details of Air Armies, bomber divisions and bomber regiments, including their aircraft on a type-by-type basis. Over 500 photos, most of which are previously unpublished in the West, are supplemented by 61 colour profiles, colour badges and line drawings of the aircraft and their weapons, making this an essential reference source for the historian and modeller alike.
In the light of new archival material the editors take a fresh look at Russian aviation in the twentieth century. Presenting a comprehensive view of Russian aviation, from its genesis in the late czarist period to the present era, the approach is essentially chronological with a major emphasis on the evolution of military aviation. The contributions are diverse, with appropriate attention to civilian and institutional themes.
The Russian aircraft industry has, over the years, produced a staggering number of aircraft, large and small, for civil and military purposes. These aircraft have been powered by an equally extraordinary number of engines, built in Russian factories to both native and foreign designs. This detailed study of the piston aero engines produced by Russian factories form the birth of flight to the present is a tour de force of historical research, which has used many resources and archives not previously known in the west. The book includes every piston engine built from an original Russian design or copied from a foreign design; from engines used in the first Russian flying machines to microlight engines still I production. Each is written with its history, specifications and details of use.
This book surveys all the Soviet/Russian aircraft that either remained “paper projects” (the work progressed no further than the design documents or even merely a design proposal) or were abandoned at the prototype construction stage. Over many years, the authors have unearthed a mass of unpublished material on these aircraft projects including the Isayev/Shevchenko bi-monoplane fighters with retractable lower wings developed in the 1930s, early Soviet jet fighter projects of the Second World War period, and the twin-boom fighters and attack aircraft developed by Semyon M. Alekseyev in the late 1940s. Wherever possible, images of the aircraft are shown, including pictures of models, and line and cutaway drawings from the project documents, giving the readers the maximum available information on Soviet aircraft projects developed over a large time scale. The book is richly illustrated with numerous photos, drawings, and diagrams, as well as color side views of the unbuilt aircraft, which will be of interest not only to the numerous Soviet/Russian aviation enthusiasts but also to scale modelers.
