Tupolev ANT-16
| Company type | Prototype aircraft |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aviation, Military aircraft |
| Founded | 1933 |
| Founder | Tupolev Design Bureau |
| Headquarters | Soviet Union |
| Products | Heavy bomber prototype |
The Tupolev ANT-16, also identified as the TB-4 (Russian: Тяжелый Бомбардировщик, meaning Heavy Bomber), was a heavy bomber prototype developed and evaluated in the early 1930s within the Soviet Union.
Design and development
As a conceptual advancement of the (TB-3), the ANT-16 was created based on the strategic belief that for bombers, payload capacity and size outweighed speed, relying on defensive weaponry for protection.[1] Its bomb bays, measuring approximately 5 by 1.8 by 1.8 metres (16.4 ft × 5.9 ft × 5.9 ft), were unprecedented in size worldwide at that era, presenting considerable engineering difficulties to maintain the airframe's structural integrity.[1]
The only completed prototype took to the air on 3 July 1933, piloted by M. M. Gromov. Testing concluded by 29 September 1933, yielding unsatisfactory performance results. The two engines mounted on top underperformed, while a large portion of the thrust from the engines affixed to the wings was lost due to the wing’s considerable thickness of two meters (6 ft 7 in). Although there was a suggestion to upgrade the propulsion system with Mikulin AM-35 powerplants rated at 933 kW (1,250 hp), this modification never came to fruition.[1] A second aircraft was in progress but remained incomplete[2] after construction ceased on 2 July 1933; components from this unfinished unit were later repurposed for the ANT-20.
Specifications (ANT-16)
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedshavrov - ↑ "The Tupolev Giants". AirVectors. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
Template:Tupolev aircraft Template:Soviet bomber-attack designations