Tupolev Tu-28

infobox Aircraft
name = Tu-128
type = Interceptor
manufacturer = Tupolev

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caption =
designer =
first flight = 1959
introduced = 1963
retired = 1992 (Russia)
produced = 1963 - 1970
number built = 188
status = Retired
unit cost =
primary user = PVO Strany
more users =
developed from =
variants with their own articles = The Tupolev Tu-128 (NATO reporting name 'Fiddler') was a long-range interceptor aircraft developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. It remains the world's largest production fighter aircraft.

Design and development

In 1955 the PVO issued a specification for a long-range interceptor aircraft to defend the vast territory of the Soviet Union, which was so extensive that even with a far richer economy it would have been impossible to provide comprehensive land-based air defense. To provide the necessary range and ability to carry a powerful radar and air-to-air missiles, Tupolev developed an aircraft similar to the Tu-105 (Tu-22) bomber. The Tu-102 development aircraft first flew in 1959, with the initial operational version, the Tu-28P ('Fiddler-A'), entering production in 1963. This was replaced in production by the definitive Tu-128 ('Fiddler-B').

Based on the unsuccessful Tu-98 supersonic bomber, it 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. Unlike the Tu-22, there is no internal weapon bay. Weapons were carried on wing pylons, with the fuselage used for enormous fuel tanks. The Tu-28P seated two crew in tandem, with separate canopies.

The Tu-102 was thought by western experts to have a large ventral radar, but the bulge on the belly of the airplane actually carried testing instruments/equipment. The production Tu-28P had a large nose radome for an I-band search radar, known as 'Smerch' ("Tornado"; (NATO reporting name 'Big Nose'), with a detection range of about 50 km (31 miles) and a lock-on range of about 40 km (25 miles). Despite the power of its radar, the aircraft was dependent on ground-control interception to vector pilots to their targets. In later years it often operated in partnership with Tu-126 AEW aircraft. As a pure interceptor the Tu-28P had almost no ECM or defensive avionics, not even a radar-warning receiver (RWR) like the smaller Sukhoi interceptors.

The Tu-128 was a pure interceptor, and with its high wing loading, unsophisticated avionics, and poor visibility, as well as its sheer mass, was doubtless not an agile aircraft. It was intended primarily to combat NATO bombers like the B-52, not to dogfight with smaller aircraft.

Armament of the Tu-128 was four Bisnovat R-4 air-to-air missiles (NATO reporting name AA-5 'Ash'), usually two R-4R with semi-active radar homing and two R-4T infrared-homing missile, with the SARH rounds on the outer pylons and the heat-seekers on the inners. Despite the obsolescence of these missiles, they apparently were never replaced by newer weapons.

Production of the Tu-128 ended in 1970 with total 188 aircraft built. Further 10 of trainers were produced in 1971 and 4 converted from fighters, designated Tu-128UT, with an additional cockpit forward of the normal pilot's cockpit, in place of a radar. Upgrade projects, designated Tu-138 and Tu-148 by the design bureau, were abandoned before much progress was made.

Operational history

The Tu-28's only publicly reported combat operation was destruction of NATO reconnaissance balloons, but, as interceptions of reconnaissance and spy missions were generally not reported, there may have been other incidents that have never been disclosed.

Two-thirds of all produced aircraft remained in service into the 1980s. The Tu-128 was gradually phased out in favor of newer aircraft like the MiG-31, although a few may have been retained as late as 1992.

It appears from Google Maps that two Tu-128 are present at Rzhev airbase, one in a museum.

Variants

;Tu-102:Development test aircraft, one built.;Tu-28P ('Fiddler-A'):First production variant.;Tu-128 ('Fiddler-B'):Definitive production version.;Tu-128UT:Training version with an additional cockpit forward of the normal pilot's cockpit, in place of a radar. 10 built and 4 converted from fighters.;Tu-138:Upgrade project, abandoned in favour of other designs.;Tu-148:Upgrade project, abandoned in favour of other designs.

Operators

;USSR
* Soviet Anti-Air Defense

pecifications (Tu-128)

aircraft specifications

plane or copter?=plane
jet or prop?=jet
crew=Two, pilot and radar operator
length main=27.2 m
length alt=89 ft 4 in
span main=18.1 m
span alt=59 ft 5 in
height main=7.0 m
height alt=23 ft
area main=80 m²
area alt=861 ft²
empty weight main=24,500 kg
empty weight alt=54,000 lb
loaded weight main=40,000 kg
loaded weight alt=88,200 lb
max takeoff weight main= kg
max takeoff weight alt= lb

engine (jet)=Lyulka AL-7F-2
type of jet= turbojet
number of jets=2
thrust main=107.9 kN [afterburner]
thrust alt=24,300 lbf

max speed main=Mach 1.65 at high altitude
max speed alt=1,740 km/h, 1,089 mph
range main=3,200 km
range alt=2,000 mi
ceiling main=18,000 m
ceiling alt=59,100 ft
climb rate main=125 m/s
climb rate alt=24,600 ft/min
loading main=500 kg/m²
loading alt=102 lb/ft²
thrust/weight=0.55

armament=
* Missiles: 4× Bisnovat R-4 air-to-air missiles (usually two radar-guided R-4R and two infrared-homing R-4T)

ee also

aircontent

related=
* Tupolev Tu-22
* Tupolev Tu-98

similar aircraft=
* Lavochkin La-250
* Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25
* Mikoyan MiG-31
* Sukhoi Su-15
* Yakovlev Yak-28
* CF-105 Arrow
* F-101 Voodoo
* F-106 Delta Dart

see also=
* List of fighter aircraft
* List of military aircraft of the Soviet Union and the CIS

References

External links

* [http://airwar.ru/enc/fighter/tu128.html Ту-128] - an aircraft story and description in Russian, with pictures