Company
History
Tupolev OKB was founded by
Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev
in 1922. Its facilities are
tailored for aeronautics
research and aircraft design
only, manufacturing is
handled by other firms. It
researched all-metal
airplanes during the 1920s,
based directly on the
pioneering work already done
by Hugo Junkers during World
War I.
During World War II, the
twin-engined, all-metal Tu-2
was one of the best
front-line bombers of the
Soviets. Several variants of
it were produced in large
numbers from 1942. During
the war it used wooden rear
fuselages due to a shortage
of metal.
This
was succeeded by the
development of the
jet-powered Tu-16 bomber,
which used a sweptback wing
for good subsonic
performance.
As turbojets were not fuel
efficient enough to provide
truly intercontinental
range, the Soviets elected
to design a new bomber, the
Tu-20, more commonly
referred to as the Tu-95.
It, too, was based on the
fuselage and structural
design of the Tu-4, but with
four colossal Kuznetsov
NK-12
turboprop engines providing
a unique combination of
jet-like speed and long
range. It became the
definitive Soviet
intercontinental bomber,
with intercontinental range
and jet-like performance. In
many respects the Soviet
equivalent of the Boeing
B-52 Stratofortress, it
served as a strategic bomber
and in many alternate roles,
including reconnaissance and
anti-submarine warfare.
The
Tu-16 was developed into the
civil Tu-104, which was for
some time the only
jet-powered airliner due to
the temporary grounding of
the De Havilland Comet. The
Tu-95 became the basis of
the unique Tu-114
medium-to-long-range
airliner, the fastest
turboprop aircraft ever. One
common feature found in many
large subsonic Tupolev jet
aircraft is large pods
extending rearward from the
trailing edge of the wings,
holding the aircraft's
landing gear. These allow
the aircraft to have landing
gears made up of many large
low-pressure tires, which
are invaluable for use on
the poor quality runways
that were common in the
Soviet Union at the time.
For example the Tu-154
airliner, the Soviet
equivalent of the Boeing
727, has 14 tyres, the same
number as Boeing's far
larger 777–200.
Even before the first
flights of the Tu-16 and
Tu-20/Tu-95, Tupolev was
working on supersonic
bombers, culminating in the
unsuccessful Tu-98. Although
that aircraft never entered
service, it became the basis
for the prototype Tu-102
(later developed into the
Tu-28
interceptor) and the Tu-105,
which evolved into the
supersonic Tu-22 bomber in
the mid-1960s. Intended as a
counterpart to the Convair
B-58 Hustler, the Tu-22
proved rather less capable,
although it remained in
service much longer than the
American aircraft. Meanwhile
the "K" Department was
formed in the Design Bureau,
with the task of designing
unmanned aircraft such as
the Tu-139 and the Tu-143
unmanned reconnaissance
aircraft.
In the 1960s A. N. Tupolev's
son, A. A. Tupolev, became
active with management of
the agency. His role
included the development of
the world's first supersonic
airliner, the Tu-144, the
popular Tu-154 airliner and
the Tupolev Tu-22M
strategic bomber. All these
developments enabled the
Soviet Union to achieve
strategic military and civil
aviation parity with the
West.
In
the 1970s, Tupolev
concentrated its efforts on
improving the performance of
the Tu-22M bombers, whose
variants included maritime
versions. It is the presence
of these bombers in quantity
that brought about the SALT
I and SALT II treaties. Also
the efficiency and
performance of the Tu-154
was improved, culminating in
the efficient Tu-154M.
In
the 1980s the design bureau
developed the supersonic
Tu-160 strategic bomber.
Features include
variable-geometry wings.
Post Soviet Era
With the end of the Cold
War, research work was
concentrated on subsonic
civil aircraft, mainly on
operating economics and
alternative fuels. The
developments include
fly-by-wire, use of
efficient high-bypass
turbofans and advanced
aerodynamic layouts for the
21st century transport
aircraft such as the Tu-204/Tu-214,
Tu-330 and Tu-334.
Among current Tupolev
projects:
-
further development of
Tu-204/214 and TU-334
aircraft family
-
development of cargo
aircraft Tu-330,
regional and executive
Tu-324 aircraft
-
research on practical
aspects of aircraft
operation using
alternative fuels
-
modernization of Russian
Naval Aviation and Air
Force
On 19 August 2009, Tupolev
announced that it had a
contract with the Russian
Defense Ministry to develop
a new-generation strategic
bomber which "will be a
conceptually new plane based
on the most advanced
technologies".
Source:
Wikipedia
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