In the history of Soviet aviation, the T-4 occupies a special place. It was an ambitious and expensive aircraft project, which was supposed to be a dangerous adversary of American ocean carriers. The creation of the T-4 was marked by a long fierce struggle between domestic design bureaus. Having become an important milestone in the arms race between the USSR and the USA, the plane never got into mass production, remaining an experimental model. T-4 was abandoned due to excessive cost and technological complexity.
Background
The Sotka (T-4) aircraft became the Soviet argument in the fight against American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. In the late 1950s, it became clear that the USSR had nothing to oppose the United States in the field of the navy and strategic aviation. The most serious headache for the Navy was nuclear submarines, which were covered by aircraft carriers. The combination of such ships had an impenetrable defense.
The only thing that could hit an American aircraft carrier was a super-fast rocket with a nuclear charge. But to get her on the ship was not possible due to the fact that he constantly maneuvered. For all these reasons, the leadership of the Soviet army came to the conclusion that it was time to take on the implementation of the project for a new super-fast aircraft. They became "weaving" (T-4). The aircraft had the design name "product 100", which is why it got its nickname.
Competition
A thunderstorm of aircraft carriers was to receive 100 tons of take-off weight and 3,000 kilometers per hour of cruising speed. With such characteristics (and a ceiling of 24 kilometers), the aircraft became inaccessible to American radar stations, and, consequently, anti-aircraft missiles. The State Committee for Aviation Engineering wanted the “weaving” (T-4) to be invulnerable to fighter interceptors.
Several design bureaus participated in the competition for the project of a promising aircraft. All experts expected that T-4s would take up Tupolev’s design bureau, and the remaining design bureaus would participate only for the sake of competition. However, the Sukhoi Design Bureau took up the project with unexpected enthusiasm. The initial working group of specialists was led by Oleg Samoilovich.
Project of Sukhoi Design Bureau
In the summer of 1961, a scientific council was held. The goal is to determine the design bureau that will finally take on the T-4 bomber. "Weaving" was in the hands of the Sukhoi Design Bureau. The Tupolev project was defeated due to the fact that the proposed aircraft was too heavy for the tasks assigned to it.
Alexander Yakovlev also spoke with his brainchild, the Yak-35. In the course of his speech, he opposed Andrei Nikolaevich Tupolev, criticizing his decision to make a plane out of aluminum. As a result, neither competition won. The machine of Pavel Sukhoi seemed more suitable to the state committee.
Engine
Aircraft "weaving" (T-4) was unique in many respects. First of all, its engines stood out for its characteristics. Given the specifics of the machine, they had to work properly in unusual conditions of rarefied air, high temperatures and use unconventional fuel. It was originally planned that the T-4 missile carrier (“weaving”) will receive three different engines, but at the last moment the designers stopped at one thing - RD36-41. Worked on its development in the Rybinsk Design Bureau.
This model was most like another Soviet engine - VD-7, which appeared in the 1950s. RD36-41 was equipped with an afterburner, a two-stage turbine with coolers and an 11-stage compressor. All this made it possible to use the aircraft at the highest temperatures. The engine did almost ten years. This unique device later became the basis for other models that played a large role in Soviet aviation. They equipped Tu-144 aircraft, M-17 reconnaissance aircraft, as well as Spiral orbital aircraft.
Armament
No less important than the engines for the aircraft was its armament. The bomber received X-33 hypersonic missiles. At first, they were also developed at the Sukhoi Design Bureau. However, during the design, the missiles were transferred to the Dubninsky Design Bureau. Armament received the most modern characteristics at that time. Autonomous missiles could move toward the target at a speed 7 times the speed of sound. Once in the area of defeat, the shell itself calculated the aircraft carrier and attacked it.
The terms of reference were unprecedented. For its implementation, the missiles received their own radar stations, as well as navigation systems, consisting of digital computers. The control of the projectile in its complexity was comparable to the complexity of controlling the aircraft itself.
Other features
What else was new and unique to the T-4? “Sotka” is an aircraft, the cockpit of which was equipped with the most modern indicators of tactical and navigational conditions. The crew had television screens at which airborne radars broadcast their data. The resulting picture covered almost the entire globe.
The crew of the car consisted of a navigator-operator and a pilot. People were placed in a cabin, which was divided into two compartments by a transverse leaky partition. The layout of the T-4 cab was distinguished by several features. There was no familiar flashlight. In a supersonic cruise flight, the survey was carried out using a periscope, as well as the side and upper windows. The crew worked in spacesuits in case of emergency depressurization.
Original solutions
The most important tragedy of Russian Miracle (T-4, Sotka) is that this project was hacked, despite the fact that the most fantastic and ambitious ideas of aircraft designers were embodied in it. For example, such a solution was the use of a deflectable nose of the fuselage. Experts agreed to this option due to the fact that the protruding flashlight in the pilot's cabin at a huge speed of 3 thousand kilometers per hour became a source of tremendous resistance.
The design bureau team had to fight hard for their own bold idea. Against the deflected bow were the military. They were convinced only thanks to the great enthusiasm of test pilot Vladimir Ilyushin.
Construction of prototypes
The test and assembly of the chassis, as well as the development of design documentation, were entrusted to the bureau under the leadership of Igor Berezhnoy. The creation of the aircraft took place in extremely tight deadlines, so the main developments were carried out directly in the Sukhoi Design Bureau. During the design of the machine, specialists had to solve problems associated with a defect in the turn-turn system. Before starting the tests, an additional check of the upgraded chassis was carried out.
The first experimental car was called "101". The side of its fuselage was assembled in 1969. Designers conducted pressure testing and leak testing of cabs and instrument compartments. Another two years were required for the assembly of various systems, as well as testing of aircraft engines.
Test
The first prototype T-4 ("weaving") appeared in the spring of 1972. On flight tests in his cockpit sat pilot Vladimir Ilyushin and navigator Nikolai Alferov. Inspection of a new aircraft was constantly delayed due to summer fires. Burning forests and peat bogs caused zero visibility in the sky above the airfield. Therefore, the tests began only at the end of 1972. The first nine flights showed that the aircraft has good control, and the pilot did not need too much attention to complex technical details. The take-off angle was easily maintained, and the separation from the ground was smooth. The acceleration rate was quite good.
For designers it was important to check how quietly the sound barrier would be passed . The machine overcame him calmly, which was precisely recorded by the instruments. In addition, the new remote control has demonstrated trouble-free operation. Small flaws also appeared: malfunctions of the hydraulic system, jamming of the chassis, small cracks in steel tanks with fuel, etc. Nevertheless, the whole machine met all the requirements set for it.
The supersonic bomber T-4 ("weaving") made the most favorable impression on the military. The army ordered 250 vehicles, which were planned to be prepared for the five-year period of 1975-1980. It was a record big batch for such an expensive and modern car.
Unclear future
An experimental batch intended for testing was built at the Tushino Engineering Plant. However, its capacity was not enough to produce the aircraft in series. Only one enterprise in the country could handle such an order. It was the Kazan Aviation Plant, which at the same time was the main production base for the Tupolev design bureau. The appearance of the T-4 meant that the design bureau was losing the enterprise. Tupolev and his patron Petr Dementyev (Minister of Aviation Industry) did everything to prevent this.
As a result, Sukhoi was literally squeezed out of Kazan. The pretext for this was the release of a new modification of the Tu-22. Then the designer decided to release at least part of the aircraft in the same Tushino. In high offices, they have been arguing for a long time about what the future of the T-4 model (“hundred”) awaits. From a paper signed by Defense Minister Andrei Grechko in 1974, it followed that all tests of the experimental model should be suspended. This decision was lobbied by Peter Dementiev. He persuaded the Minister of Defense to close the program and start production of wings intended for the MiG-23 machine at the Tushino plant.
End of project
On September 15, 1975, aircraft designer Pavel Sukhoi died. T-4 ("weaving") was his brainchild in every sense of the word. Until the last day of his life, the head of the design bureau did not receive a clear answer from officials about the future of the project. After his death, in January 1976, the Ministry of Aviation Industry issued an order according to which the “Product 100” program was finally closed. In the same document, Peter Dementyev emphasized that the cessation of work on the T-4 is done in order to concentrate funds and forces on the creation of the Tu-160 model.
The experimental sample, which was used during flight tests, was sent to the Moninsky Museum for eternal parking. In addition to being one of the most ambitious projects of Soviet aviation, time has shown that the T-4 was extremely expensive (about 1.3 billion rubles).