_ SOVIET /RUSSIAN AIRCRAFT WEAPONS Since World War Two MIDLAND© 2004 Yelm Gocdon (Original ranslaion by Dmitry Komssarow ISBN 1 05780 1961 Publshed by Midland Publishing 4 Watling Orv, Hinckoy, LE103EY, England Tol:01485 254.490 Fax: 01455 254 495 mai: midlandbooks @compuserve.com mor ctandcountessuperstore.com Milan Pubishing is an imprint ot lan Allan Publishing Lts Worldwide csiroution (except North Americ) Midland Counties Publications 4 Watling Orv, Hinckey, LET0 EY, Englang Telephone: 01485 254 460 Fax: 01455 253 737 E-mail: milandbooks/@compuserve com ‘neve miclandcountessuperstore.com North American rade deibation: Specially Press Publishers & Wholesalers ne. 20065 Grand Avenue, North Branch, MIN 55058, USA Tol'651 277 1400. Fax: 651 277 1203 Toll tee telephone: 800 695 4585 wor speciatypress.com “Tie page: Su-251 82 Rec! armed with four Kh-25 missles prepares to attack a ground target. Aviapanorama Below: A Kh-297 airto-surace missile belches tertfic flames with shock diamonds © 2008 Micand Publishing Design concept ans layout by Palygon Press Lis (Moscow, Russia) Une drawings by Oleg Put makoy, Polygon Press and from Yen Gorcon archive Tis book is ilustated with photos by Yetim Gordon, Victor Drushiyakov, Wyacheslay Maryniuk, Sergey Skrynakov, Peter Davison Marcus Fiber, Waclaw Holy, Martin Novak, ASK. MG, AVPK Sukto, Tupolev JSC, MKB Ragga, ‘Zvezda Sela, GMKB Vympel, NPO Baza’, TAR TASS, as wel a rom Jane's Ai the Works Aircrat, M-Hobby magazine, Lonicwo magazine, the archives of Yetim Gordon and the Russian fwation Researen Tus. Printed in England bylan Alan Printing Lid Fiverdene Business Park, Molesey Rod, Hersham, Surrey, KT12 4G Al ights reserved. No part ofthis publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmit in any form of by any means, electronic, mecharical or hoto-copied, permission ofthe publishes, prototype, 302 Blue (c/n 79871010302), during the latter's state acceptance tials, streaks away a couple of, CONTENTS Introduction Chapters 1 'Shoot ‘em Down’ The Air-to-Air Missiles. 2 Guided Death from the Skies 3. Moving Mud! The Unguided Rackets 4 Bombs Away Soviet/Russian Aircraft Weapons in Colour 1conds after being launched by the SuOKNInrecent years Midland Publishing and sev- tralother Western publishers have released Quite alarge number of books charting the {evelopment history of various SoviewRuss- Jan aircraft - primary military types, of ‘ourse, However, a monograph devotedtoa ‘specific combat aircraft leaves no room for a {etalled description ofthe means it uses to ‘complete ts objective, namely the weapons which the arrat can carry. The following felerence book is an attempt at making up forthis unfortunate omission. Before embarking on a detailed analysis ‘ofthe post-war Soviet aircraft weapons and thelr specications it makes sense to take a brit look at the beginnings - the history of featypltless combat aircraft development Inthe Soviet Union which began in the late 1800s. The development and operational use of ‘various kinds of guided weapons during the ‘Second World War was largely made possi bie by the prewar research and develop iment work not only in Germany (which was thefistiouse such weapons) butalsoin the USA, Great Britain and the Soviet Union. In the ltr nation, workin ths field somehow ‘continued in spite of the repressions that ‘lamedthe ves (oratleast the freedom and [abity io wor) of many leading specialists at ‘he det Propulsion Research Institute (ANI! ‘$28 note on its history in Chapter 3) which “Specialsedin rocket weapons development. IPetuding guided missies. The patiod of 1937-1940 saw soveral ‘Sxperimental remote-controlied ~ of, in the ‘Soviet terminology of the time, telemechan feel = aircrat (TMS, telemekhanicheskiy sanolyet) and gliding torpedoes. being Ieveloped in the USSR. The first prototype ‘ithe TB-3 Bomba (Bomb) radio-controlled lacratt developed by A. G. Chachikian ~ a Ming bomb’ version of the obsolescent ‘Tupolev TE-3 (ANT) heavy bomber — suc {essily complete its state acceptance tr 15 in early 1941. Concurrently two other Ang bombs’ derved by Chachikian from Aproisonl drawing of the SNARS-250 homing _aktoais mise the fist of kind to be Geroped inthe Soviet Union. The radar-homing “yer shown nee itropucrion INTRODUCTION the TB-3 and the Tupolev SB (ANT-40) fast bomber were undergoing checkout tests at the Flight Research Institute (Lil ~ Lyotno. issledovatel'skiy insttoot) in Ramenskoye east of Moscow as their remote control sys- tems were being calibrated. (The LIl was a test and research establishment within the framework of the People’s Commissariat of Aircraft Industry (NKAP - Narodnyy komis- sariaht aviatsionnoy promyshilennost), which became the Ministry of Aircraft Industry (MAP - Ministerstvo aviatsionnoy promysh- lennosti) in 1947.) At about the same time a remote-controlied SB developed by engi eer Neopalimyy and @ remote-controlled Polikarpov UT2 primary trainer developed by engineer Nikol’skiy were being tested in Leningrad, with state acceptance tals slated for July-August 1941 Plans were in hand to launch production of telomechanical target drones and bombers, but these plans were foiled by the ‘outbreak of the Great Patriotic War on 22nd June 1941, The advance of the Wehrmacht and the danger that Leningrad could be besieged by the Germans (which itwas, and the siege lasted 900 days) compelled the ‘customers ~ that i, the Red Army Air Force and the Soviet Navy -to put the manufacture of six telemechanical aircraft prototypes at plant No.379 on hold, the remote control equipment being evacuated to Kazan’ ‘The two remote-controlled TB-3s which had already passed their trials were handed ‘over to the Red Any Air Force Research Institute (NIL WVS KA ~ Naoochno.issle- dovatel'skiy institoot Voyenno-vozdoosh- rnykty see! Krasnoy armi) for use in actual ‘combat, but the institute was not in a hurry to use them. (The institute was later renamed GK Nil WS - Gosoodarstvennyy krasnaznamyonnyy Naoochno-issledova- ee —— 7 tel'skiy institoot”Voyenno-vozdooshrykh see! State Red Banner Air Force Research Institute, thatis, awarded the Order of the Red Banner) The Soviet military showed no par: ticular interest in the new type of weapons. The only occasion when a remote-con: {rolled TB-3 ‘ying bomb’ was used in action in January 1942 ended in failure. The objec: tive was a railway junction in the town of ‘Vyaz'ma west of Moscow; the TB-3 was can. trolled from a suitably equipped I'yushin DB-3 bomber and escorted by fighters. Near the target, however, the formation came Under anti-aircraft artillery fire. A shell burst Ing near the DB-3 ripped away a piece of fuselage skin, destroying the guidance antenna and rendering the ‘fling bomb’ uncontrollable; the TB-3 disappeared into Clouds and flew on until itran out of fuel and crashed. SI, the Soviet miltary did not give upon remote-controlled aerial weapons systems altogether at this stage, and we will come back to this subject a litle later. ‘After the Second World War the world political situation was not so sunny for the ‘Soviet Union, to say the least. The one-time allies in the ight against Nazism had turned ‘potential adversaries’; miltary technologies were making rapid progress on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and the Cold War that started soon after the end of the hostilities Quickly escalated into an arms race. Now the Soviet military were compelled to consider dotensive weapons systems as well as offensive ones (or ‘weapons of retaliation’ a they liked to put i) - especially since the USA now had a large fleet of nuciear-capa ble strategic bombers. New guided air-to- surface, surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles had to be developed: this turned out to be a major task and more than a decade passed [