Sukhoi T-4

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_T-4

The Sukhoi T-4, or "Aircraft 100", or "Project 100", or "Sotka" was a Soviet
high-speed reconnaissance, anti-ship and strategic bomber aircraft that did not
proceed beyond the prototype stage. It is sometimes called the Su-100.

In 1963, the Soviet government held a request for proposal among the aircraft
design bureaus, with the aim of developing an aircraft analogous to the North
American XB-70 Valkyrie. The Sukhoi design, with its high cruise speed of 4,200
km/h (2,600 mph) was favored over the designs submitted by Yakovlev and Tupolev
and after a preliminary design review in June 1964, the building of a prototype
was authorized. Development of the T-4 required massive research effort to
develop the technologies necessary, including the manufacturing technologies to
machine and weld the materials necessary to withstand sustained Mach 3 flight.
Nearly 600 patents or inventions are attributed to the program. The first flying
prototype was finally completed in the autumn of 1971. Work continued on an
additional three airframes (one for static testing) through 1975. In 1974, the
Ministry of Aviation Industry ordered work suspended on the T-4 project, which
was officially scrapped on 19 December 1975.

The T-4 had intake ramps similar to the XB-70, was made largely from titanium
and stainless steel, and featured a quadruple-redundant fly-by-wire control
system but also employed a mechanical system as a backup. The aircraft's
droop-nose lowered to provide visibility during takeoff and landing. A periscope
was used for forward viewing when the nose was retracted, and could be employed
at speeds of up to 600 km/h (370 mph). Drogue parachutes were used in addition
to conventional wheel brakes.


Role
Bomber/Reconnaissance

Manufacturer
Sukhoi

Designer
Pavel Sukhoi, Naum Chernyakov (chief designer)

First flight
22 August 1972

Status
project cancelled

Primary user
Soviet Air Force

Number built
4 (only 1 passed test flights)

The first T-4, designated "101", first flew on 22 August 1972. The test pilot
was Vladimir Ilyushin, son of famed aircraft designer, Sergei Ilyushin, and
navigator Nikolai Alfyorov. Testing continued to 19 January 1974. The T-4 flew
only ten times for a total 10 hours and 20 minutes. It is believed to have
reached at least Mach 1.3 at an altitude of 12,000 m (39,000 ft) using four
Kolesov RD36-41 engines. These engines each produced 16,000 kilograms-force (160
kN; 35,000 lbf) thrust with afterburners. The aircraft was designed to achieve
speeds of up to Mach 3.0 with nine tons of weapons (two MKB Raduga Kh-45
missiles) under the wings, but the program was cancelled before the full
performance of the aircraft could be reached.

Aircraft on display

One T-4 survives. Aircraft "101" is on display at the Central Air Force Museum
in Monino near Moscow. The serial numbers of the prototypes were "101" to "106".
Only "101" and "102" were built, while other additional prototypes "103" and
"104" were under construction, and "105" and "106" only existed on draft charts.
Only the "101" completed all the test flights and flew the last test flight
before the project was canceled on 22 January 1974. The rest of the prototypes
were scrapped.

Specifications

General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 44 m (144 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
Height: 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in)
Wing area: 295.7 m2 (3,183 sq ft)
Empty weight: 55,600 kg (122,577 lb)
Gross weight: 114,000 kg (251,327 lb)
Max takeoff weight: 135,000 kg (297,624 lb)
Powerplant: 4 × Kolesov RD-36-41 afterburning turbofan engines, 157 kN (35,000
lbf) with afterburner

Performance
Maximum speed: 3,200 km/h (2,000 mph, 1,700 kn)
Maximum speed: Mach 3
Cruise speed: 3,000 km/h (1,900 mph, 1,600 kn) / M2.8
Ferry range: 7,000 km (4,300 mi, 3,800 nmi)
Service ceiling: 20,000–24,000 m (66,000–79,000 ft)




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