The need for intelligence behind enemy lines in the mid-fifties, during the start of the confrontation between the USA and the USSR for a dominant position in the world, determined the importance of creating unmanned aircraft. Now independently piloted equipment is in service with many countries of the world and its number is growing. But few people know that the Soviet Union, which developed such well-known reconnaissance vehicles as TU-123, TU-143, TU-141, was the birthplace of the “smart” aircraft that are still in use.
How did it all start?
The primitive use of unmanned vehicles in the form of balloons for delivering bombs by Austrian troops to besieged Venice was dated 1849. After half a century, Nikola Tesla designed and put into practice a radio-controlled ship. And in 1910, several instances of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) were built and tested by the American military engineer C. Kettering, but they did not find practical use.
The thirties were marked by the development of self-propelled reusable equipment in the UK. In parallel with this invention, in the Soviet Union, designer Nikitin created a torpedo bomber-glider and even designed a torpedo with a flight range of 100 km, but everything remains on paper. In 1940, German scientists created a cruise missile, first used in combat, and a jet engine.
And only after the Second World War does the unmanned arms race between the Warsaw Pact countries and NATO begin, thanks to which the UAVs used so far have appeared, including the TU-143 Flight.
The predecessor of UAV "Flight"
In 1956, the Warsaw Treaty Organization introduced allied forces into Hungary to suppress anti-communist ideas. In the same period, a secret department “K” was created in Tupolev Design Bureau, whose task is to develop “C” products. A year later, the USSR Council of Ministers for Aviation Affairs received a telegram under the heading "Secret" on the readiness to conduct flight tests of products "C" in the fourth quarter of 1958.
Under the encrypted product hid the creation of UAVs. The idea of development belonged to A.N. Tupolev. The secret item was a metal monoplane with arrow-shaped wings. Soon, a project was prepared on a shock unmanned complex capable of delivering nuclear weapons to a distance of 10 thousand km, but it was not implemented by order of N.S. Khrushchev.
Self-piloting reconnaissance vehicle “Hawk” TU-123, which became the predecessor of the TU-143, made its first flight in 1961. Unlike a strike aircraft, it had reconnaissance equipment in the bow of the structure, and not a nuclear warhead.
Imperfections of the "Hawk" and the order of the "Flight"
The first drawback identified during the TU-123 tests was non-heat-resistant photolocks, which were covered with cracks at an airplane speed of 2700 km / h. Soviet engineers solved this problem by purchasing Brazilian quartz sand under the pretext of its use in medical equipment. It was from such raw materials that heat-resistant glass was obtained, and then high-quality images.
The second drawback was the imperfect construction of the Hawk, which during operation retained only the instrument compartment, the remaining parts of the UAV were disposable. The country's leadership understood the need to develop a salvaged unmanned reconnaissance complex. He will later be christened the “Flight” TU-143. The history of the creation of the UAV begins with the entry of the allied forces into Czechoslovakia and the statement by the leaders of the USSR of a new assignment of Design Bureau Tupolev to build a rescue reconnaissance unmanned vehicle.
Creating a Flight
Work on the implementation of a new state order in the field of UAVs was quick. Two years later, the "Flight" has already made its first flight. After 4 years of testing and improvement, in 1976, the complex was adopted by the USSR Army. Effective tactical reconnaissance was described in the TU-143 troops. The production of prototypes in the amount of 10 pieces was implemented in Bashkiria in 1973. Soon the serial production of the new complex began. Over 10 years (until 1980), a total of 950 pieces were manufactured.
The release of the complex was implemented in two varieties: the first - with photo equipment; the second is from the television. In addition, the UAV was equipped with radiation reconnaissance equipment. In 1985, on the basis of the Flight, Tupolev engineers created a target that also successfully passed state tests.
Invulnerability by air defense - this is a feature of TU-143. In service with 6 countries was the "Flight": USSR, Iraq, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Syria, Romania. Today he has remained in Ukraine and in Russia.
Destination
During a tactical flight, the reconnaissance complex performed aerial photography with data stored on film. To solve operational problems, television equipment was used in TU-143. Both types of reconnaissance operations could be carried out in the daytime. The distance determining the depth of penetration of UAVs in the rear of the enemy is characterized by indicators of 60-70 km.
Functions of the Flight complex:
- Starting from a self-propelled gun at a wind speed of not more than 15 m / s.
- Flight control using an automated on-board system (ABS).
- Ability to program flight paths.
- Collection and preservation of intelligence using photo and television equipment.
- The ability to determine the radiation environment.
- Data delivery to a given point and via a radio channel to ground command posts.
TU-143: design description
UAV "Flight" has unique properties in terms of radio visibility. L.T. Kulikov, one of the main designers, suggested making special protective equipment. The keel, the tips of the wings, the parachute container, the bow of the aircraft are made of non-metallic materials. This made it possible to achieve invulnerability of the intelligence complex.
Structurally, the fuselage of the device consists of four compartments: bow, airborne equipment, fuel tank, engine nacelle with a parachute container. In the bow of the complex is reconnaissance equipment. The compartment is made of fiberglass and provides for the presence of a photolock.
The UAV lands due to the tricycle landing gear. The front support is hidden in the second compartment, and the other two are released from the wing consoles. The brake and landing parachutes are designed to damp horizontal and vertical landing speeds.
Exploitation
The intelligence complex was used in the Afghan and Lebanese war. After the collapse of the USSR, a large number of UAVs remained in Ukraine.
In 2001, there was a tragic incident using the TU-143 for training purposes as a target. The TU-154M airliner then crashed, which killed about 80 people. The reason was an unintentional hit by a missile designed for the Flight drone.
You can see TU-143 (copies) preserved as exhibits in such places:
- Aviation Museum in Kiev.
- Museum of military equipment and weapons Spadshchansky forest.
- In the city of Khmelnitsky.
- Prague Aviation Museum.
- Museum them. Sakharov.
- The central airfield of Moscow.
- Air Force Museum in Monino.
TU-143: LTH
- Weight - 1230 kg.
- Length - 8.06 m.
- Height - 1,545 m.
- Wingspan - 2.24 m.
- The wing area is 2.9 m 2 .
- Minimum flight altitude - 10 m.
- Flight time is 13 minutes.
- Engine type - TRD TR3-117.
- Depth of action - 95 km.
- The maximum speed is 950 km / h.