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Sturgeon's House

Aerospace Pictures and Art Thread


LostCosmonaut

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ot49uWp.jpg

 

wa4oY0z.jpg

 

This is the Tupolev TU-80, which was essentially a TU-4 (B-29) that had undergone a comprehensive drag-reduction program to extend range.  The engine nacelles and wings were redesigned to make the aircraft more streamlined, and several of the gun turrets were made retractable in cruise flight to cut down on drag.  Even with these improvements, the aircraft could not manage a trans-Pacific flight with an atom bomb, so development was stopped.

 

Tu-85front.jpg

 

This is the TU-85, Tupolev's next design, and despite what Wikipedia says this was a clean-sheet, new design.  Again, this design proved incapable of unrefueled trans-Pacific atomic bombing raids.  Additionally, experience from the Korean War showed that piston-engined bombers were easy prey for jet-engined fighters.  This would be the last piston-engine bomber design from the Tupolev OKB.

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0ZGjItN.jpg

 

This is an SU-30SM "Flanker C".  In this picture the FOD screens are raised, the GSh-301 muzzle is clearly visible, and the bird is looking very war-y.  This variant has been used in the ongoing Russian intervention in Syria.  Flanker variantology is a confusing mess, but the SU-30SM is the one with the cropped vertical stabilizers, tandem seats and canards from the Irkut company.  A competing design, SU-30M2 is produced by rival factory KnAAPO:

 

10_Red_-_RF-95621_Sukhoi_Su-30M2_Russian

 

This design has tandem seats, but no canards and square-tipped fins.

 

SU-30SM is generally credited with a more sophisticated avionics fit than SU-30M2.

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