Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270

Mikoyan-Gurevich

Industry	Aerospace, Defense
Founded	1939
Headquarters	Soviet Union

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The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-270 (internal designation Ж ("Zh") within Mikoyan-Gurevich's system, and known by the USAF/DoD as Type 11) was developed in response to a 1945 requirement by the Soviet Air Forces for a rocket-powered interceptor tailored to point-defence missions. Its design lineage traces back to earlier Soviet rocket aircraft such as the Korolyov RP-318, which was first flown on February 20, 1940, and the more recent Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1. Only two units of the I-270 were constructed, both of which were lost in accidents, resulting in the termination of the program.

File:I270 1.JPG

Scale model of the I-270

Flights

During the early years of World War II, specifically in 1942, the BI-1 prototype—nicknamed The Devil's Broomstick—completed its initial flights. The I-270 incorporated several design elements from the BI-1, including a streamlined, tapered fuselage, a bubble canopy, wing configuration, and a dual-chamber bipropellant rocket engine. However, it was notably larger than the BI-1 and featured short, strengthened wings derived from the RP-218 design, along with an elevated T-tail arrangement. This tail configuration had been demonstrated on aircraft like the Tupolev ANT-8 to provide improved landing control compared to the BI-1's conventional fighter tail layout. While the BI-1 likely influenced the I-270’s development, the latter bears closer resemblance to a Soviet adaptation of the German Me 263, sharing comparable fuselage shape, canopy style, and landing gear setup, but adding a traditional stabilizer atop the vertical tail absent in the German model.

The Soviet legacy in rocketry—rooted in early pioneers such as Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and advanced by figures like Sergei Korolev—enabled the realization of rocket-powered fighters. The RD-2M engine powering the I-270 was an evolution featuring dual combustion chambers based on Leonid Dushkin’s design used in the 1941 BI-1 rocket aircraft. This lineage can be traced back to Korolev’s early 1930s project "06" and his RP-318 rocket plane developed in 1936.

Glide tests began in December 1946 when the first prototype was released into flight while being towed by a Tupolev Tu-2, with ballast installed instead of an engine. Powered flight tests commenced with the second prototype in early 1947 but ended prematurely after it sustained irreparable damage during a hard landing. Soon after, the first prototype was also lost due to a landing mishap. By this time, advances in turbojet technology had surpassed earlier stages seen at project inception, and surface-to-air missile systems had rendered point-defence interceptors obsolete. Consequently, the Soviet Air Force opted to discontinue development of the I-270.

Operators

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• Soviet Air Forces