v1.6.0 / chapter 5 of 19 / 01 mar 10 / greg goebel / public domain
* The Lightning Bugs were not the only long-range reconnaissance drones developed in the 1960s. The US developed other, more specialized reconnaissance drones: the Ryan "Model 154", the Ryan and Boeing "Compass Copes", and the Lockheed "D-21", all of which were more or less cloaked in secrecy. The USSR also developed a number of targets and reconnaissance drones. This chapter outlines the history of the Model 154, the Compass Cope, and the D-21, and surveys early Soviet UAVs.
* Although the Model 147s had the range to cover any target in North Vietnam, they did not have the range to fly deep into China and back out again. In particular, the Chinese nuclear development facility at Lop Nor was far out of reach of the Lightning Bugs, and was barely within reach of the Lockheed U-2 spyplane, which had become far too vulnerable to SAMs. US intelligence clearly needed a long-range drone with a high degree of survivability. Such requirements spelled out a completely new design, not a modification of a target drone.
While Ryan worked on the Lightning Bugs, the company pursued advanced drone concepts on a part-time basis. After discussions with the CIA that went nowhere, in early 1966 Ryan pitched their advanced reconnaissance drone concepts to the Air Force. The USAF was interested, and opened up a design competition, with Ryan pitted against North American Aviation. Ryan won the competition in June 1966. The new Ryan design was designated the "Model 154 / AQM-91A Firefly". The basic design concept resembled that of the Model 136 Red Wagon drone that Ryan had proposed earlier in the decade, but which had been turned down in favor of modified Firebees. The name "Firefly" was resurrected for the new drone, though it was also referred to as "COMPASS ARROW" after the program name.
Like the Model 136 Red Wagon, the Model 154 had an engine on its back to reduce its radar and infrared signature as seen from below, as well as twin inward-canted tailfins to conceal the exhaust stream. The Model 154 was a substantially more sophisticated design, however, leveraging off what Ryan had learned since the early 1960s.
The Model 154 had sloped flat sides to deflect radar signals, and was built
using a high percentage of plastic composites, which had lower radar
reflectivity than metal. The aircraft was powered by a General Electric
YJ97-GE-3 turbojet providing 17.8 kN (1,815 kgp / 4,000 lbf) thrust, with the
engine exhaust mixed with cool air to reduce infrared signature. The YJ97
was something of a unique engine, not used in any operational aircraft,
derived from a General Electric demonstrator engine designated the "GE1".
The Model 154 was to carry electronic countermeasures to further improve its
survivability.
RYAN MODEL 154:
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spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 14.5 meters 47 feet 8 inches
length 10.4 meters 34 feet 2 inches
empty weight 1,725 kilograms 3,800 pounds
max loaded weight 2,450 kilograms 5,400 pounds
maximum speed 815 KPH 505 MPH / 440 KT
service ceiling > 23,800 meters > 78,000 feet
range 7,030 kilometers 4,370 MI / 3,800 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
The Model 154 was to be launched by a DC-130 Hercules director aircraft, and
recovered in midair by helicopter. It had a precision-navigation autopilot
system, a reconnaissance payload, and a self-destruct system to ensure that
none of its sensitive gear fell into enemy hands. The primary reconnaissance
payload was an Itek panoramic camera, but in principle it could also carry
infrared cameras or a SIGINT payload. The guidance system was designed to
provide navigation accuracies with an error of no more than half a percent,
meaning that if it flew a thousand kilometers, it would be no more than five
kilometers off. The guidance system proved very tricky, and first powered
flight of a Model 154 did not take place until September 1968.
The test flights were conducted over the US Southwest. The project was a deep black secret, but on 4 August 1969 one of the prototypes decided to stop working and parachuted itself to ground inside the Los Alamos nuclear research complex during lunch hour. Unfortunately, it didn't land in a restricted area, and local newspeople were able to take pictures of the aircraft. The pictures were published in local papers. The Air Force released a statement that the aircraft was a "high altitude target", but though such a statement might have been believed in 1959, it wasn't in 1969.
Test flights were halted for a few weeks while procedures were reviewed. The flights then resumed, culminating in long-range evaluations in late 1971. The Model 154 passed with flying colors, exceeding its altitude requirements by a good margin, and proving almost invisible to radar. However, by this time the need for the Model 154 had evaporated. In July 1971, President Nixon began a diplomatic effort to build ties with China, and reconnaissance overflights were cancelled. Satellite reconnaissance capabilities had improved through the 1960s, leading to the first launch of the advanced "Big Bird" satellite on 15 June 1971, which could provide strategic intelligence without provoking the Chinese.
The Model 154 program lingered on for a few more years, but the drones were finally put into mothballs in 1973, and scrapped a few years after that. 28 had been built, including 20 production machines.
* Ryan updated the Model 154 design for a more advanced derivative, the "Model 235", for the USAF COMPASS COPE drone program. The Air Force had initiated COMPASS COPE in 1971, specifying a robot aircraft that could take off and land from a runway like a manned aircraft, eliminating the need for a launch aircraft, and operate at high altitudes for up to 24 hours to perform surveillance, communications relay, or atmospheric sampling.
Boeing was originally selected as a sole source, with the USAF awarding the company a contract for two "YQM-94A" (later "YGQM-94A") demonstrators. However, Ryan then pitched the Model 235 as an alternative, and the next year, 1972, the Air Force agreeably awarded Ryan a contract for two "YQM-98A" (later "YGQM-98A") demonstrators as well.
The Boeing YQM-94A was variously known as the "COMPASS COPE B", "COPE B", or
"B-Gull". It was basically a jet sailplane, with long straight wings, a twin
fin tail, retractable tricycle landing gear, and a turbojet perched in a pod
on its back. The engine was a GE J97-GE-100 providing 23.4 kN (2,390 kgp /
5,270 lbf) thrust.
BOEING YQM-94A COMPASS COPE B:
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spec metric english
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wingspan 27.4 meters 90 feet
length 12.2 meters 40 feet
height 3.86 meters 12 feet 8 inches
loaded weight 6,520 kilograms 14,400 pounds
max speed at altitude 805 KPH 500 MPH / 435 KT
service ceiling > 16,700 meters > 55,000 feet
endurance > 17 hours
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
Speed statistic is approximate.
The COMPASS COPE B was strictly a demonstrator, and so it was radio
controlled, with no autonomous guidance capability. It had a TV camera in
the nose to allow it to be flown from a ground station. Initial flight of
the first demonstrator was in July 1973, but the machine crashed on its
second flight, a few days later. The second demonstrator performed its first
flight in November 1974, and went on to complete the evaluation program.
The Ryan YQM-98A was variously known as the "COMPASS COPE R", "COPE R", or
"R-Tern". Its general configuration was similar to that of the Boeing
COMPASS COPE B, resembling a jet sailplane with a twin-fin tail, retractable
tricycle landing gear, and an engine in a pod on its back. The engine was a
Garrett YF104-GA-100 turbofan, with 18.0 kN (1,835 kgp / 4,050 lbf) thrust.
The COMPASS COPE R had a clear resemblance to the Model 154, though its wings
were straight instead of swept.
RYAN YQM-98A COMPASS COPE R:
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spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 24.75 meters 81 feet 2 inches
length 11.4 meters 37 feet 4 inches
height 2.4 meters 8 feet
loaded weight 6,480 kilograms 14,310 pounds
max speed at altitude 805 KPH 500 MPH / 435 KT
service ceiling 21,300 meters 70,000 feet
endurance > 28 hours
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
Initial flight of the first COMPASS COPE R demonstrator was in August 1974.
However, the Boeing COMPASS COPE B won the competition in August 1976 on the
basis of lower cost, with the company awarded a contract to build
preproduction prototypes of the "YQM-94B" operational UAV. The YQM-94B was
to be bigger, with a length of 15.2 meters (50 feet) and a loaded weight of
7,800 kilograms (17,220 pounds). It was to be powered by a GE TF34-GE-100
turbofan with 26.7 kN (2,720 kgp / 6000 lbf) thrust, similar to the engine
used on the Lockheed S-3A Viking carrier-based antisubmarine aircraft. The
YQM-94B was to have an autonomous navigation system.
Since the evaluation of the COMPASS COPE prototypes had shown the YQM-98A to be superior to the YQM-94A in some respects, Ryan challenged the award. It did Ryan no good, since the entire COMPASS COPE program was axed in July 1977, apparently because of difficulties in developing the sensor payloads.
* The US pursued another path towards advanced reconnaissance drones in parallel with the Model 154. In the early 1960s, Lockheed had developed the Mach 3 "A-12" spyplane, which quickly evolved into the famous "SR-71 Blackbird" strategic reconnaissance aircraft. After the destruction of Powers' U-2 over the USSR in 1960, concepts for an A-12 drone were proposed. Kelly Johnson, in charge of Lockheed's secret "Skunk Works" that had built the A-12, thought the A-12 itself would be too big and complicated to make a useful drone, but felt that the design and technology could be leveraged into a smaller aircraft that could perform the same mission. The small drone could be launched by the A-12. The ideas congealed into a formal study for a high-speed, high-altitude drone begun in October 1962. The study was financed by a special USAF "black projects" fund. The drone itself was given the preliminary designation of "Q-12", and was a very deep secret.
Kelly Johnson wanted to power the Q-12 with a ramjet engine built by Marquardt for the Boeing BOMARC long-range SAM. Marquardt's plant was close to Lockheed's, helping ensure security, and the two companies had collaborated on several programs in the past. Conversations with Marquardt engineers indicated the BOMARC ramjet could be used, though the engine, ultimately designated the RJ43-MA-11, needed some work, since it wasn't designed to burn for much longer than it took a BOMARC to hit a target a few hundred kilometers away. In fact, the Q-12's engine had to operate for at least an hour and a half, much longer than any ramjet built to that time.
The Q-12 was not designed to be recoverable in order to limit its weight and cost. Instead, it would eject its nose section, containing the camera payload and the expensive guidance system. The nose section would descend by parachute for recovery.
A mockup of the Q-12 was ready by 7 December 1962. Radar tests indicated that it had an extremely low radar cross section. Wind tunnel tests also indicated the design was on the right track. However, the CIA was not enthusiastic about the Q-12, mostly because the agency was overextended at the time with U-2 missions, getting the A-12 up to speed, and covert operations in Southeast Asia. In contrast, the Air Force was interested in the Q-12 as both a reconnaissance platform and a cruise missile, and the CIA finally decided to work with the USAF to develop the new drone. Lockheed was awarded a contract in March 1963 for full-scale development of the Q-12.
The major initial problem confronted by the design engineers was launch of the Q-12 from the A-12 mother ship. The Q-12 was to be carried on the back of the A-12, with an uncomfortably small amount of clearance between the A-12's fins, and the potential for disaster during separation of the drone from the mother ship was obvious.
* The design was finalized in October 1963, and the designations were changed. The drone was now known as the "D-21", while the A-12 launch aircraft was known as the "M-21". "M" stood for "Mother" and "D" stood for "Daughter". The project now had the codename "Tagboard".
The production UAV, the "D-21A", looked like a stovepipe with a cone in its
inlet, with a tailfin and wings running the length of the stovepipe that gave
the drone something of the look of a sweptback manta ray. It was mostly made
of titanium, with some elements made from radar-absorbing plastic composites.
LOCKHEED D-21A:
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spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 5.8 meters 19 feet
length 13 meters 42 feet 10 inches
launch weight 5,000 kilograms 11,000 pounds
maximum speed 4,300 KPH 2,700 MPH / 2,300 KT
service ceiling 29,000 meters 95,000 feet
range > 5,550 KM > 3,450 MI / 3,000 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
The reconnaissance payload and guidance systems were carried in a "Q-bay"
about 1.9 meters (six feet) long. These systems were built into a module
that plugged neatly into the bay and was known as a "hatch". As per the
original design concept, the hatch would be ejected at the end of the
mission, and the aircraft would then blow itself up with a self-destruct
charge. The hatch would be snagged out of the air by a C-130 Hercules, a
technique that had been refined by the Air Force to recover film canisters
from reconnaissance satellites.
The M-21 was a two-seat version of the A-12, with a pylon on the fuselage centerline between the tailfins to carry the drone in a nose-up attitude. A periscope allowed the back-seater, or "Launch Control Officer (LCO)", to keep an eye on the D-21. Two M-21s were built, along with an initial batch of seven D-21s for test flights.
The first flight of the M-21 and D-21 combination was on 22 December 1964. The D-21 remained attached to the M-21 throughout the flight, since it was simply to study aerodynamics and other systems issues. Refining the scheme until an actual release seemed possible proved troublesome, and the first launch was not until 5 March 1966. The release was successful, though the drone hovered above the back of the M-21 for a few seconds, which seemed to one of the flight crew like "two hours". Kelly Johnson called it "the most dangerous maneuver we have ever been involved in, in any airplane I have ever worked on." The D-21 itself crashed after a flight of a few hundred kilometers.
This was still not too bad for the first flight of such an advanced machine, but the CIA and the Air Force remained unenthusiastic about the program. Kelly Johnson conferred with Air Force officials to see what he could do to tune the project more closely to the service's needs. Among other things, Johnson suggested launching the D-21 from a B-52 bomber and using a solid rocket booster to get the drone up to speed.
A second successful launch took place on 27 April 1966, with the D-21 reaching its operational altitude of 27,400 meters (90,000 feet) and speed of Mach 3.3, though it was lost due to a system failure after a flight of over 2,200 kilometers (2,200 NMI). This was regarded as very satisfactory progress. The successful tests sharpened the interest of the program's government backers, and by the end of the month a contract for 15 more D-21s had been placed.
A third successful flight took place on 16 June 1966, with the D-21 flying through its complete mission, though the hatch wasn't released due to an electronics failure. However, a launch attempt on 30 July ended in disaster. The D-21 collided with the M-21 on release, destroying both aircraft. The two crewmen ejected and landed at sea. The pilot, Bill Park, survived, but the LCO, Ray Torick, drowned when his pressure suit leaked.
* All the fears about launching the D-21 from an A-12 had been proven justified, and Kelly Johnson immediately cancelled any more launches from the M-21. However, he felt that the B-52 launch scheme was still practical, and the D-21 program remained alive and well.
Adapting the D-21 for launch from a B-52 was not trivial. The drones had to be broken down, modified, and reassembled to allow fitting the attachment points on top to link the drone to the B-52's pylon and the points on the bottom to link the drone to its solid-rocket booster. The modified drone was designated the "D-21B". The booster was no little RATO pack: it was a solid-fuel rocket with a length of 13.5 meters (44 feet 4 inches) and a weight of 6.025 tonnes (13,290 pounds), making it longer and heavier than the drone itself. The booster had a single small tailfin on the bottom to ensure that it flew straight. The tailfin folded to ensure ground clearance. The booster had a burn time of about a minute and a half, and a thrust of 121.4 kN (12,380 kgp / 27,300 lbf).
Two B-52Hs were modified to launch the D-21Bs. They were given two very large underwing pylons to carry the drones, replacing the smaller pylons used for the B-52's Hound Dog cruise missiles. Two independent LCO stations were added at the rear of the bomber's flight deck, along with command and telemetry systems; a stellar navigation system to ensure that the drones were launched from well-defined coordinates to reduce flight guidance error; and a temperature control system to keep the drones at a stable temperature before launch.
First attempted launch of a D-21B was on 28 September 1967, but the drone accidentally fell off the B-52's pylon; its booster lit, but the D-21B went straight into the ground. Kelly Johnson called the incident "very embarrassing." Three more launches were performed from November 1967 through January 1968. None were completely successful, so Johnson ordered his team to conduct a thorough review before renewing launch attempts. The next launch was on 30 April 1968, and was also a failure. The Lockheed engineers went back to the drawing board once more, and on 16 June 1968 they were rewarded with a completely successful flight. The D-21B flew a test mission at the specified altitude and course over its full range, with the hatch recovered successfully, though it didn't have a camera payload.
The troubles were not over yet, however. The next two launches were failures, followed by another successful flight in December. A launch near Hawaii in February 1969 to simulate an actual operational flight was a failure as well, but the next two flights, in May and July, were both successes.
Tagboard now appeared ready for operational flights. The first operational mission, part of a program designated "Senior Bowl", was on 9 November 1969, with a D-21B sent to observe Lop Nor. The Chinese never spotted the stealthy drone, but it disappeared and was not recovered. Once again, the Lockheed engineers went back to the drawing board. Another test flight was conducted on 20 February 1970, and was successful. However, the next operational mission was not until 16 December 1970. The D-21B made it all the way to Lop Nor and back to the recovery point, but though the hatch was dropped as planned, it did not deploy its parachute and was destroyed on impact.
The third operational flight, on 4 March 1971, was even more frustrating. Once again, the D-21B made it all the way to Lop Nor and back again, and properly discarded the hatch. The hatch actually deployed its parachute, but the midair recovery failed, and a destroyer that tried to pick the hatch out of the sea simply ran it down. The hatch sank and was lost.
The fourth, and as it turned out last, flight of the D-21B was on 20 March 1971. It was lost over China on the outbound leg, apparently having been shot down. In July, the D-21B program was cancelled. Although the program had suffered from more than its fair share of bugs, it appears the main reasons were the same as those that led to the cancellation of the Model 154 Firefly: Nixon's rapprochement with China and operational introduction of the Big Bird reconnaissance satellite.
* When Ben Rich, Kelly Johnson's successor at the Skunk Works, visited Russia in the 1990s after the fall of the USSR, a contact gave him a package that contained parts of the D-21 that had disappeared on the first operational flight. It had crashed in Siberia. The Soviets had apparently been puzzled as to what it was, but it appears that they also obtained the wreckage of the D-21 lost on the fourth operational flight. The Tupolev design bureau reverse-engineered the wreck and came up with plans for a Soviet copy, named the "Voron (Raven)", but it was never built.
38 D-21s were built, with 21 expended. The other 17 were put in mothballs at the Davis-Montham Air Force Base "boneyard" near Tucson, Arizona. Since the base is open to the public, the exotic D-21s were eventually spotted and photographed, leading to wild speculations as to their nature that were inflamed by misinformation generated by the Air Force. For example, they were described as test machines used in development of the A-12 / SR-71. The full details didn't come out until 1993, when an author named Jay Miller published a book titled LOCKHEED'S SKUNK WORKS: THE FIRST 50 YEARS that gave a reasonably complete account of the D-21 project. The mothballed drones were passed off to the US National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA), which took four, and to a number of air museums.
In the late 1990s, NASA considered using their D-21s to test a hybrid "rocket-based combined cycle (RBCC)" engine, which operates as a ramjet or rocket, depending on its flight regime. However, this idea was abandoned, with NASA preferring to use a derivative of the agency's X-43A hypersonic test vehicle for the experiments.
The Seattle Museum of Flight was one of the museums that received a D-21. The museum also had an A-12, and museum volunteers built a pylon to allow mounting a D-21 on its back. The combination is the central exhibit in the main display area and is one of the most spectacular sights available at any air museum.
* The first Soviet drone to reach operational service was the Lavochkin "La-17", designed by Semyon Lavochkin's design bureau. Work on the La-17 was initiated in 1950. Flight tests began in 1953, with prototype drones carried on a Tupolev Tu-4 four-engine bomber, which was a direct Soviet copy of the US Boeing B-29. Production of the La-17 began in 1956.
The La-17 was a jet drone of all-metal construction, with straight flight surfaces, and a jet engine carried in a nacelle under the fuselage. The initial variant, which was just known as the "La-17", was air-launched, and powered by a Bondaryuk RD-900 ramjet with 7.85 kN (800 kgp / 1,760 lbf) thrust. There was a "windmill" type electric generator in the nose of the drone to provide electric power. The La-17 was directed by radio control and simply "bellied in" to land, with the engine taking the abuse of the touchdown; the ramjet was strictly expendable and easily replaced. The drone could carry signature enhancement devices.
The original La-17 was effective but left something to be desired. Air launch was expensive and logistically clumsy, making simulations of "mass attacks" with drones difficult at best, and the ramjet engine was thirsty, resulting in such short endurance that if a fighter pilot missed the drone on his first pass, it would have run out of fuel before he could come around again. To address these problems, Lavochkin engineers came up with a ground-launched variant with a turbojet powerplant, the "La-17M", which performed its initial flights in 1959 and went into service in 1960. The La-17M was launched using a RATO booster under each wing root, from a four-wheel towed launcher derived from the carriage for a standard 100 millimeter antiaircraft gun.
The drone was powered by a Mikulin RD-9BK turbojet with 19.1 kN (1,950 kgp /
4,300 lbf) thrust; the RD-9BK was a derated, non-afterburning, and simplified
version of the RD-9B engine used on the MiG-19 fighter. There were teardrop
fairings on the wingtips -- not for radar enhancement devices, but for
compressed air that would be fed to the engine to improve the flight ceiling.
Flight endurance improved from the 40 minutes of the La-17 to 60 minutes. As
with the La-17, the La-17M bellied in to land.
LAVOCHKIN LA-17M:
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 7.50 meters 24 feet 7 inches
length 8.44 meters 27 feet 9 inches
launch weight 3,065 kilograms 6,758 pounds
maximum speed 900 KPH 560 MPH / 485 KT
service ceiling 17,000 meters 55,770 feet
endurance 60 minutes
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
Early production La-17Ms were strictly radio-controlled and didn't have an
autopilot; they were quickly replaced by the "La-17MA", which did. Later
production featured the RD-9BKR engine, with the same performance as the
RD-9BK but with some minor changes to permit low-level operation, and the
service life improved from 15 to 30 hours. Later machines also featured an
improved landing control system that caused the UAV to "nose up" before
touchdown, as well as a landing skid under the engine nacelle. These two
refinements permitted landings with much less risk of engine damage. These
machines were designated "La-17MM" and went into service in 1964.
A number of old ramjet-powered La-17s were updated for ground launch, with the twin RATO boosters and some airframe reinforcements. These drones were redesignated "La-17n".
* Early on, there was some work to use the ramjet-powered La-17 as the basis for an air-launched reconnaissance drone, but because of the deficiencies of the early La-17, it didn't happen. However, a ground-launched battlefield reconnaissance drone based on the La-17MM, the "La-17R", was introduced in 1962. It featured a nose stretched by 54 centimeters (22 inches) to accommodate a reconnaissance payload. Ultimately a number of different payloads were developed, including high resolution or wide area film cameras, a real-time TV camera, and a radiation monitoring instrument. The La-17R didn't have the wingtip compressed air pods for high altitude operation fitted to the La-17M. An improved version of the La-17R, the "La-17RM", was introduced in 1965, featuring some of the refinements of the La-17MM target drone.
The evolution of the target and reconnaissance variants of the La-17 progressed along two paths, with the result that commonality between the two branches of the family diverged. In order to rationalize production and logistics, a target drone designated the "La-17UM" and a reconnaissance drone designated the "La-17RU" were manufactured that were designed for the maximum parts commonality.
* These were the last La-17s built by the Lavochkin OKB, but not the last La-17s built in the USSR. The Lavochkin OKB became more and more involved in the development of space systems and the production of La-17s proceeded on "autopilot" into the late 1970s -- until availability of RD-9BK engines dried up, meaning that it was no longer possible to build the La-17 as it was.
A group of aerospace organizations then came up with the "R11K", an expendable non-afterburning version of the Tumanskiy R11F-300 turbojet, used on first-generation Mikoyan MiG-21 fighters, and the La-17 was redesigned to be fitted with this engine. The Sokol OKB began production of this reengined La-17 in the late 1970s; as far as the armed services went, it was still an La-17MM, but it had an internal OKB designation of "La-17K". The R11K engines were rebuilds of retired R11F-300 engines. The La-17K remained in production into the early 1990s. It lingers in Russian service.
* It does not appear that the La-17 family was widely exported, though La-17RM reconnaissance drones were provided to Syria in the 1980s. The Chinese also obtained the La-17 and in fact built it themselves, though not under a license agreement. In the late 1950s, a number of La-17s had been handed over to the People's Republic of China. Stocks began running low in the later half of the 1960s, when relations with the USSR were generally poor, so an effort was begun to reverse-engineer the La-17 and build it in China. The resulting product, the "Chang Kong (Blue Sky) 1" or "CK-1", was introduced to service in 1977. It was powered by the WP-6 engine, which was a Chinese copy of the RD-9B, with the drone featuring some system changes from the original La-17s used as a pattern. It also featured a parachute recovery system.
The CK-1 was quickly followed by the "CK-1A", which had underwing pods for additional kit. A "CK-1B" was introduced into service in 1983 that was optimized for low-level flight and had non-jettisonable underwing fuel tanks. It was followed by the "CK-1C", with a much improved control system to provide much more maneuverability, as well as reinforcement to withstand maneuvering stresses.
* In the 1990s, the Russian Sokol organization developed an improved target drone, designated the "Dan", roughly in the class of the Beech Streaker. The Dan has straight flight surfaces and an engine mounted on the back rear. It is catapult-launched and recovered by parachute. Length is 4.65 meters (15 feet 3 inches), span is 2.68 meters (8 feet 10 inches), launch weight is 345 kilograms (760 pounds), and endurance is about half an hour. It is in service with Russian forces.
* In the later half of the 1950s, both the US and the USSR worked on long-range cruise missiles for nuclear attack. Neither side actually fielded any of the big cruise missiles developed in this era, but the Soviets did put a reconnaissance drone based on one into service.
The Lavochkin OKB worked on a transcontinental-range cruise missile named the "Burya (Storm)", while the Myasishschev OKB worked on a similar concept named the "Buran (Blizzard)", neither of which reached operational status. The Tupolev OKB worked in parallel on a shorter-ranged ground-launched cruise missile with the OKB designation of "Tu-121". Design began in 1957, with initial prototype flights in 1959.
The Tu-121 program was cancelled in favor of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) in 1960, but within a few months it was resurrected as a long-range Mach 2+ reconnaissance drone, the "Tu-123 Yastreb (Hawk)", sometimes referred to as the "DBR-1". Since the Tu-121 cruise missile prototypes had already been flying, it wasn't too difficult to build Tu-123 prototypes, and initial test flights were in 1961. It was introduced to service in 1964.
The Tu-123 was in the form of a big dart. It was conceptually somewhat similar to the US D-21 except that it was ground-launched. It carried both film cameras and SIGINT payloads. The Tu-123 was launched with twin RATO boosters off of a heavy truck trailer, and powered by a Tumanskiy KR15-300 expendable afterburning turbojet in flight, with 98 kN (10,000 kgp / 22,000 lbf) dry thrust and 147 kN (15,000 kgp / 33,000 lbf) afterburning thrust.
The Tu-123 was expendable, parachuting its payload to the ground for
recovery. The KR15-300 engine would lead to the R15 engine used on the
twin-engine MiG-25 "Foxbat" interceptor. About 52 Tu-123s were built in all.
There are rumors that they performed a few sorties over Western Europe.
TUPOLEV TU-123 YASTREB:
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spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 8.41 meters 27 feet 7 inches
length 27.84 meters 91 feet 4 inches
height 4.78 meters 15 feet 8 inches
empty weight 11,450 kilograms 25,250 pounds
launch weight 35,610 kilograms 78,520 pounds
maximum speed 2,700 KPH 1,675 MPH / 1,460 KT
service ceiling 22,800 meters 74,785 feet
range 3,200 KM 2,000 MI / 1,720 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
The lack of recovery capability was unsatisfactory, leading to work beginning
in 1964 on the "Tu-139 Yastreb 2", with test flights beginning in the late
1960s. It looked much like the Tu-123 but had elegantly curved "ogival"
wings and tricycle landing gear. It actually landed using an enormous
parachute, with solid-rocket boosters attached to the parachute, the rockets
being lit at the last moment to kill drop velocity. However, reconnaissance
versions of the MiG-25 Foxbat seemed like a better idea, and the Tu-139
program was axed in the early 1970s. The Tu-123 itself persisted in service
into the early 1980s, when it was completely replaced by the MiG-25.
* Tupolev followed the Yastreb with two other lines of reconnaissance UAVs, beginning with the "Tu-141 Strizh (Swift)" medium-range UAV, and the "Tu-143 Reys (Flight)" tactical UAV.
The Tu-141 was a relatively large, medium-range reconnaissance UAV. Work began in the late 1960s, with test flights beginning in late 1974 and introduction to service in 1979. About 152 were built, including prototypes. It was not exported, but examples did fall into the hands of Soviet successor states after the fall of the USSR.
The Tu-141 was another dartlike machine, with a rear-mounted delta wing,
forward-mounted canards, and a KR-17A turbojet engine, providing 19.6 kN
(2,000 kgp / 4,400 lbf) thrust, mounted above the tail. The wingtips folded
for handling. The Tu-141 could carry a range of payloads, including film
cameras, infrared cameras, and imaging radar. A target drone variant was
considered but not built.
TUPOLEV TU-141 STRIZH:
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spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 3.875 meters 12 feet 8 inches
length 14.33 meters 47 feet
launch weight 5,370 kilograms 11,840 pounds
cruise speed 1,000 KPH 620 MPH / 540 KT
service ceiling 6,000 meters 19,700 feet
range 1,000 KM 620 MI / 540 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
Work on the Tu-143 began in the late 1960s, with flight trials beginning in
1970 and introduction to service in 1976. The Tu-143 strongly resembled the
Tu-141, but was substantially scaled-down and designed with "stealth" in
mind. It was a short-range tactical reconnaissance system and had a
low-level flight capability. It was truck-launched with a RATO booster;
recovered by parachute with a solid-rocket assist system, touching down on
tricycle retractable landing pads; and powered by an Isotov / Klimov TR3-117
turbojet with 5.79 kN (590 kgp / 267 lbf) thrust. The initial version
carried film cameras, but later versions carried a TV or radiation detection
payload, with data relayed to a ground station over a radio datalink.
TUPOLEV TU-143 REYS:
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spec metric english
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
wingspan 2.24 meters 7 feet 4 inches
length 8.06 meters 26 feet 5 inches
height 1.54 meters 5 feet 1 inch
launch weight 1,230 kilograms 2,710 pounds
maximum speed 950 KPH 590 MPH / 515 KT
service ceiling 5,000 meters 16,400 feet
range 200 KM 125 MI / 110 NMI
_____________________ _________________ _______________________
Soviet forces liked the Tu-143, and it was used operationally during the
Afghan conflict in the 1980s. It was acquired by Czechoslovakia, Romania,
and Syria. The Syrians apparently used it to conduct reconnaissance missions
over Israel. A target drone version, the "M-143", was introduced in 1985.
There was consideration of a variant to disperse propaganda leaflets -- along
the lines of the US "bullshit bomber" Lightning Bugs -- but it never was
built.
The Tu-143 was followed into service in 1987 by the similar but improved "Tu-243 Reys-D", with a 25 centimeter (10 inch) fuselage stretch, to provide greater fuel capacity and about twice the range; an uprated TR3-117 engine with 6.28 kN (640 kgp / 1,410 lbf) thrust; and improved low-altitude guidance.
In the early 1990s, the Tupolev organization began work on the "Tu-300 Korshun", which resembles its predecessors, but is effectively a new design. It is fitted with a nose antenna dome and nose fairings for modern sensors and electronic systems. It features a larger inlet, suggesting that it uses turbofan propulsion. It was designed as a strike UAV or "uninhabited air combat vehicle (UCAV)" -- a subject addressed in more detail later -- and features internal weapons bays, along with a single centerline pylon for an external munition. It uses twin RATO boosters. Other details remain classified, and its service status is unclear.
