Everything about Tupolev Tu-4 totally explained
The
Tupolev Tu-4 (
NATO reporting name:
Bull) was a piston-engined
Soviet strategic
bomber which served the
Soviet Air Force from the late 1940s to mid 1960s. It was a
reverse-engineered copy of the
U.S.-made
Boeing B-29 Superfortress.
Design and development
Towards the end of
World War II, the Soviet Union saw the need for a strategic bombing capability similar to that of the
USAAF. The U.S. regularly conducted bombing raids on Japan, virtually in the Soviet Union's backyard, from distant
Pacific forward bases using
B-29 Superfortresses.
Stalin ordered the development of a comparable bomber.
The U.S. refused to supply the Soviet Union with heavy bombers (B-17, B-24 and B-29) under
Lend Lease, despite repeated Soviet requests. However, on three occasions during 1944, individual B-29s made emergency landings in Soviet territory after bombing raids on Japanese Manchuria and Japan. In accordance with Soviet neutrality in the
Pacific War, the bombers were interned and kept by the Soviets, despite American demands for their return.
Tupolev OKB dismantled and studied them, and Stalin ordered Tupolev and his design bureau to copy the B-29s down to their smallest details, and produce a design ready for quantity production as soon as possible. Tupolev duly copied the B-29s bolt-by-bolt where possible,
reverse engineering the design where necessary.
The Soviets used a different engine, the
Shvetsov ASh-73, which had some parts in common with the Superfortress'
Wright R-3350 but wasn't identical. The remote-controlled gun turrets were also redesigned to accommodate
Soviet 23mm cannons.
The Soviet Union used the metric system, thus 1/16th inch sheet aluminium and proper rivet lengths were unavailable. The corresponding metric-gauge metal was thicker; as a result, the Tu-4 weighed about 3,100 lbs more than the B-29, with a corresponding decrease in range and payload.
The Tu-4 first flew on
19 May 1947. Serial production started immediately, and the type entered large scale service in 1949. Entry into service of the Tu-4 threw the USAF into a virtual panic, since the Tu-4 possessed sufficient range to attack
Chicago,
Los Angeles and
New York City with a worthwhile load on a one-way mission. Some limited attempts to develop midair refuelling systems were made to extend the bomber's range, but these were fitted to few aircraft.
Public display surprises the West
The aircraft was first displayed during a flyover at the Aviation Day parade on
3 August 1947 at the Tushino Airport in Moscow. Three aircraft flew overhead. It was assumed that these were merely the three B-29 bombers that were diverted to the USSR during World War II. Minutes later, what appeared to be a fourth B-29 aircraft appeared. Western analysts then concluded that the Soviets were capable of, and actually had, reversed engineered the B-29 because the Soviets were known to have only three B-29s. The appearance of an obvious Superfortress-derived
Tu-70 transport over the crowd removed any doubt about the success of the
reverse-engineering task.
People's Republic of China
In 1967, China attempted to develop its first
Airborne Early Warning aircraft, based on the Tu-4 airframe outfitted with turboprop engines. The project was named KJ-1, with a Type 843 rotordome mounted on top of the aircraft. However, the radar and equipment was too heavy and the KJ-1 didn't meet
PLAAF's requirements, thus the project was cancelled in 1971.
Operational history
A total of 847 Tu-4s were built in the Soviet Union by the time production ended in 1952, with some going to China during the later 1950s. Many experimental variants were built and the valuable experience launched the Soviet strategic bomber program. Tu-4s were withdrawn in the 1960s, replaced by more advanced aircraft, the
Tupolev Tu-95 (starting in 1956) and
Tupolev Tu-16 (starting in 1954). At the beginning of the
1960s, the only remaining Tu-4s in Soviet use were used in transport aviation and as airborne laboratories.
Variants
Tu-4: Main production version.
;Tu-4 AWACS: Chinese prototype with KJ-1 AEWC, "AWACS" radar and powered by Ivchenko AI-20K turboprop engines.
Tu-70: Airliner derivative, never reached mass production.
;Tu-75: Cargo aircraft derivative, never reached mass production.
Tu-80: Bomber derivative, never reached mass production.
;Tu-85: Bomber derivative, never reached mass production.
Operators
