Tupolev 'Aircraft 81'/Tu-14

Aircraft illustrations by Basil Zolotov

After the decision made by Stalin on 14th May 1949 Tupolev turned 'Aircraft 73' into the 'Aircraft 81' medium bomber with wing-mounted VK-1s. In fact the development of this aircraft had been approved by a Council of Ministers Decree on 23rd December 1948 and work on the preliminary design and a mock-up began in January 1949; the latter was inspected on 25th March. The main changes saw the '73's Nenes replaced by VK-1s and the RD-500 removed altogether, which was to prove a better arrangement than the '73's three power units. However, after the project had been reviewed and rejected by the W S the OKB looked at reducing the crew and modifying the defensive gun positions along the lines of the 11-28. This was intended to counter the main reason why 'Aircraft 81' had been turned down, the bureau having continued its work in spite of the uncompromising tone made by the May 1949 Decree towards 'Aircraft 73' and '78'.

New and revised requirements were issued on 20th August with the gun armament reduced from three to two twin 23mm mounts and the crew from five to three. By the end of September the new preliminary design was ready, the tail cannon having increased the aircraft's length; the aircraft's flight characteristics were expected to be unchanged. The original Tu-81 had been officially designated Tu-18 but this redesign was renumbered Tu-14 and the first prototype flew on 13th October having been completed using sub-assemblies from production 'Aircraft 73s' built by Factory 23. State testing was completed on 27th May 1950 and series production at Factory 39 was given the go-ahead during 1949.

By July 1950 the first production aircraft had been rolled out at Irkutsk but this was modified into a Tu-14T torpedo bomber while the next example became the 'Aircraft 89' reconnaissance variant; altogether, five production aircraft were completed from cancelled 'Aircraft 73' airframes. In 1952 the type entered service with the Naval Air Force as the Tu-14T and around 100 were completed. 'Aircraft 89', officially dubbed Tu-16, first flew on 23rd March 1951 but did not begin its State trials because the II-28R reconnaissance variant of Ilyushin's front-line bomber was the type chosen to go into production.

Tupolev 'Aircraft 93'
This was the last proposal to come out of the Tu-14 family and was a projected version of the Tu-14T which the OKB worked on during 1951 and 1952. The original layout and structure were retained and any changes were of a minor nature - the centre fuselage was made fatter to accommodate more fuel plus a longer bay for the aircraft's mine or torpedo load, which brought about the removal of the centre cabin, and the flaps were modified. Two 6,6151b (29.4kN) VK-5 or 9,2601b (41.2kN) VK-7 formed the main powerplant but two SU-1500 rocket motors were available for take-off assistance. The bomb and torpedo load, and the defensive armament, were basically unchanged but work on the '93' stopped after the completion of the preliminary design. Normal take-off weight was expected to be 45,194 lb (20,500kg), maximum speed at 16,404ft (5,000m) VK-5 561mph (902km/h) and VK-7 584mph (940km/h), service ceiling 39,370ft (12,000m) and range 2,175 miles (3,500km).

Variants
    Tu-14 - Light bomber version (not accepted for service).
    Tu-14R - Reconnaissance version (prototype only).
    Tu-14T - Torpedo bomber version.
Specifications (Tu-14)
General characteristics
    Crew: three
    Length: 21.95 m (72 ft)
    Wingspan: 21.69 m (71 ft 2 in)
    Height: 5.69 m (18 ft 8 in)
    Wing area: 67.36 m² (725 ft²)
    Empty weight: 14,930 kg (32,914 lb)
    Loaded weight: 20,930 kg (46,046 lb)
    Max takeoff weight: 25,350 kg (55,866 lb)
    Powerplant: 2 × Klimov VK-1 turbojets, 26.5 kN (5,950 lbf) each
Performance
    Maximum speed: 848 km/h (529 mph)
    Range: 2,930 km (1,820 mi[5])
    Service ceiling: 11,200 m (36,745 ft)
    Wing loading: 311 kg/m² (64 lb/ft²)
    Thrust/weight: 0.3
Armament
    2 × 23 mm NR-23 cannon forward
    2 × 23 mm AM-23 cannon in tail turret
    Up to 3,000 kg (6,610 lb) of bombs, mines or torpedoes
Avionics
PSBN-M navigation radar