Soviet Strategic Bombers: The Hammer in the Hammer and the Sickle by Jason Nicholas Moore

Author:Jason Nicholas Moore [Moore, Jason Nicholas]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781555972
Publisher: Fonthill Media
Published: 2018-06-27T23:00:00+00:00

Overhead view of a Tu-16R. Note the asymmetrical wingtips with the enlarged port wingtip housing the equipment for refuelling. This aircraft has the extended ECM fairing on the tail in place of the tail turret. (G. F. Petrov photo archive)

Inboard and central wing section of a preserved Xian H-6A. The wing fences and the fairing or pod for the main landing gear can be seen. (Ken Duffey)

Tail fairing of the Tu-16R preserved at Dyagilevo. This large fairing housed the Sirena jamming suite. Other than the tail fairing, this tail section is representative of other Badgers. (Ken Duffey)

Engines

The propulsion system consisted of two large turbojets mounted in the thickened wing roots. The engines themselves were various versions of the Mikulin AM-3 engine. The first version of the AM-3, used by the prototypes and early production examples, was the AM-3 with 14,880 lb thrust. Most production Tu-16s featured the RD-3M (a development of the AM-3), with 20,950 lb thrust, a very considerable improvement in power.

The extensively modified new-build Chinese H-6K has turbofan engines in place of the turbojets used by other versions of the Badger. The engines are two D-30KP-2 non-afterburning turbofan engines of 23,150 lb thrust each. The engines are of Russian design, and are the same engines as used on the Il-76 Candid transport.

Fuel System

The fuel for the engines was housed in flexible fuel containers, or bladders, most of which were self-sealing. There were a total of twenty-seven cells, organised into ten groups, with each engine having five groups. Each group was interconnected and functioned as one fuel source. An inert gas system was employed to reduce the risk of fire, whereby the inert gas was forced into the emptying bladder to displace the explosive mixture of oxygen and fuel vapour.

Controls

The Badger featured dual controls for the pilot and the co-pilot. The controls were moved by a mechanical system of push-pull rods as Andrey Tupolev was doubtful of the reliability of hydraulic controls. The flaps and trim tabs were operated electro-mechanically. Initially, an AP-5 autopilot was fitted to help with the flying workload. This was later replaced by the AP-6 autopilot.

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