Tupolev

Tupolev (Russian: Ту́полев, IPA: [ˈtupəlʲɪf]) is a Russian aerospace and defence company, headquartered in Basmanny District, Central Administrative Okrug, Moscow. Known officially as Joint Stock Company Tupolev, it is the successor of the Tupolev OKB or Tupolev Design Bureau (OKB-156, design office prefix Tu) headed by the Soviet aerospace engineer A.N. Tupolev. The company celebrated its 90th anniversary on October 22, 2012. The Russian government merged Tupolev with Mikoyan, Ilyushin, Irkut, Sukhoi, and Yakovlev as a new company named United Aircraft Corporation.

The capabilities of PSC Tupolev include development, manufacturing and overhaul for both civil and military aerospace products such as aircraft and weapons systems. It is also active with missile and naval aviation technologies. More than 18,000 Tupolev aircraft were produced for the USSR and the Eastern Bloc.

History

Tupolev OKB was founded by Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev in 1922. Its facilities are tailored for aeronautics research and aircraft design only, manufacturing is handled by other firms. It researched all-metal airplanes during the 1920s, based directly on the pioneering work already done by Hugo Junkers during World War I.

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Tupolev Tu-12

The Tupolev Tu-12 (development designation Tu-77) was an experimental Soviet jet-powered medium bomber developed from the successful piston-engined Tupolev Tu-2 bomber after the end of World War II. It was designed as a transitional aircraft to familiarize Tupolev and the VVS with the issues involved with jet-engined bombers.

Development

The Tupolev Tu-73 jet-engined bomber project was suffering delays in early 1947 and Tupolev suggested re-engining the Tu-2 medium bomber with imported British Rolls-Royce Nene jet engines to produce a jet bomber as quickly as possible. Design work began well before official approval was received on 31 May 1947 for one Tu-2S to be converted in the OKB's workshop and another five to be converted at Zavod (Factory) Nr. 23, but construction of the prototype had already begun in early May under the bureau designation Tu-77.

Changes from the standard Tu-2 were minimized to speed production and they consisted of the following: