Tupolev Tu-14
| Company type | Military aircraft |
|---|---|
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Founded | 1949 |
| Headquarters | Soviet Union |
| Products | Twin-engine light bomber, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft |
The Tupolev Tu-14 (known by NATO as Bosun) and designated Type 35 by the USAF/DOD was a Soviet twin-engine light bomber developed from the unsuccessful Tupolev '73', which had competed unsuccessfully against the Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle'. It served primarily as a torpedo bomber within the mine-torpedo units of Soviet Naval Aviation from 1952 until its retirement in 1959, and reportedly was exported to the People's Republic of China.
Development
The Tu-14 originated from the three-engine '73' design, which featured two Rolls-Royce Nene turbojets mounted under the wings and a single Rolls-Royce Derwent V engine positioned in the tail, arranged similarly to the central engine setup of a Boeing 727. The introduction of the more powerful Klimov VK-1, an enhanced version of the Nene, enabled designers to remove the RD-500—Soviet copy of the Derwent—from the initial plan, internally labeled "81". Another significant modification was incorporating a PSBN navigation radar, necessitating a fifth crew member for operation. This configuration was rejected by the VVS, prompting Tupolev to revise the design by removing both dorsal and ventral turrets and reducing crew size to three: pilot, bombardier-navigator, and tail gunner. The aircraft retained two fixed 23 mm (0.91 in) Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannons in the nose, but the fuselage was redesigned to provide the gunner with a separate pressurized compartment and equipped with a KDU-81 tail turret armed with an additional pair of NR-23 guns.
Prototype assembly commenced in August 1949 using parts from canceled Tu-73S prototypes, completing by October. Manufacturer testing took place between 13 October 1949 and 21 January 1950. State acceptance trials followed from 23 January to 27 May 1950, resulting in approval for production contingent upon resolving issues with the KDU-81 turret, installing ejection seats for pilot and gunner, fitting hot air deicing systems, and modifying the nose gun mount. The first five preproduction units lacked these adjustments as they were built with Tu-73S components due to early production start at the Irkutsk factory. One preproduction aircraft was sent to Moscow for evaluation by Soviet Naval Aviation as a torpedo bomber. The sixth prototype incorporated all required changes including an ejection seat for the navigator requested by Naval Aviation; it underwent evaluation in May 1951 and was recommended for production as the Tu-14T, entering service with Naval Aviation in 1952.
Around 150 units were manufactured and operated within Naval Aviation's mine-torpedo regiments until their withdrawal in 1959. The NATO reporting name assigned was Bosun. Following retirement, several aircraft were repurposed for test programs, including one that assessed ramjet engines.
It has been claimed by one source that up to fifty used Tu-14Ts were transferred to the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force, though this lacks confirmation regarding quantities or dates. Neither Russian sources nor available photographic or documentary evidence support this claim. It is possible that this confusion arose due to mixing up the Tu-14 with Tupolev Tu-16 bombers, deliveries of which to China began in 1958.
The second preproduction Tu-14 was modified into a day/night photographic reconnaissance platform designated "89" by OKB. This conversion involved installing an unpressurized central cabin containing two automatic pivoting cameras, two fuel tanks, an additional bomb bay camera, and an oblique camera mounted in the tail for daytime missions. All camera ports were electrically heated to prevent fogging and icing at altitude. For night reconnaissance, bomb bay fuel tanks and camera were removed and replaced with various flash bombs for target illumination. Additionally, a special camera could photograph the PSBN-M navigation radar screen, while pilot and navigator could record verbal observations using voice recorders. Despite this development, by its first flight on 23 March 1951, VVS had already selected the Il-28R variant of the Il-28 for reconnaissance duties, leading Tupolev not to pursue State acceptance trials for this version.
Variants
- Tu-14 – A light bomber model which was ultimately not adopted for active duty.
- Tu-14R – A reconnaissance variant produced solely as a prototype, also referred to as Tu-89.
- Tu-14T – Designed as a torpedo bomber configuration.
- '81' – The OKB internal designation for the Tu-14 2 × VK-1 experimental model.
- '93' – An OKB code for a planned Tu-14T derivative equipped with VK-5 or VK-7 engines; this version was never constructed.
Operators
- People's Liberation Army Air Force (reportedly)
Specifications (Tu-14 / '89T')
See also
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References
Bibliography
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