What planes need more speed? Not a fighter of course! Fighter to integrate all aspects of the technical situation, if only in the speed of the effort, it will inevitably bring about the reduction of other aspects of technical indicators, MiG-25 is an example, although it flies very fast, however, its body is extremely bulky, for the average pilot, using it to fight, is definitely not as small and flexible MiG-21.

However, there is another kind of aircraft, which requires as much speed as possible, and this is the reconnaissance aircraft!

Although with the continuous development of reconnaissance satellites in space, there is a tendency to replace reconnaissance aircraft, in some respects, reconnaissance planes are still of great use. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoFor example, the orbit of the satellite is fixed, and changing the orbit consumes a lot of fuel at a time, and at the same time, it is impossible for the satellite to quickly cross the air over the target at the same time, and the reconnaissance plane is still very useful if you want to conduct more detailed reconnaissance of the target.

For example, if the satellite discovers that a ballistic missile launcher has appeared in the target area, then the reconnaissance plane can quickly conduct a reconnaissance and accurately locate the missile and react quickly.

And for reconnaissance aircraft, of course, the higher and faster they fly, the better, which means that they will not be threatened by the opponent's air defense!

At the beginning, after the MiG-25 was finalized, it immediately developed a reconnaissance type, which is an aircraft that dominates the sky and is invincible, and can arbitrarily invade the airspace of any country, and then reconnoitre. Even if you encounter the fire of the opponent's anti-aircraft missile, you can use the speed magic weapon to dodge the missile.

And now, the MiG-25 is outdated, however, the Soviets still need newer strategic reconnaissance aircraft!

In the more classified area behind the Gromov Test Flight Institute, Andrei and Ustinov, seeing the director Sergei Nikolayevich Arnochin hurrying over, welcomed the arrival of the two.

"I'm sorry, there were some problems with our test flights, and the technicians are dealing with them." Sergei said: "Comrade Marshal, Comrade General, did you come to see our Tu-260 reconnaissance aircraft?" ”

Tu-260? Hearing this number, Andre suddenly felt a burst of excitement in his heart, in the declassified materials of later generations, these projects seem to be projects on paper, and now, there is actually a prototype?

As a test pilot, Andrei was interested in many of the declassified materials of the Soviet Union, including this high-speed strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

The size of this aircraft is very large, almost the size of the Tu-144, that is, the Soviet supersonic airliner, also called Concorsky, which ironically plagiarizes the Soviets for plagiarizing the technology of the Concorde and built this supersonic airliner.

This is a large aircraft, with a maximum take-off weight of 180 tons, which far exceeds the size of ordinary reconnaissance aircraft. At the same time, the aerodynamic shape of this aircraft is somewhat the same as that of the Tu-144, but there are also differences, the main thing is that the nose has no moving parts, does not sag, and at the same time, it is equipped with a larger engine.

After all, the prototype Tu-144, which has decent supersonic capabilities, once flew for a long time at a speed of Mach 2 in operation, showing the great potential of such an aircraft.

And changing this supersonic passenger aircraft into a supersonic reconnaissance aircraft is really an idea.

"Yes." Ustinov said: "How did the test flight of this aircraft go? ”

"The test flight has met our expectations, however, the aircraft is not suitable for mass production, and it cannot cope with future threats." Sergei said as he led everyone to a hangar on the side, where a large plane was lying quietly!

The slender shape, the engines are placed under the rear of the fuselage, and the height-to-aspect ratio is slightly double******tailless design, all of which are prepared for supersonic flight.

The shell is shining, and it's a finished product of titanium material!

Regarding the materials used in supersonic fighters, the United States used titanium alloy to create the SR-71, while the Soviet Union used stainless steel to create the MiG-25.SR-71 is extremely delicate and widely criticized in use, while the Soviet MiG-25 is regarded as a model of correct choice of materials.

However, it was in the sixties, when the United States did not master the processing technology of titanium alloys, and the Soviet Union was the main player in the production of titanium alloys.

And now, with the passage of time, the Soviet Union's use of titanium alloy is also handy, and even titanium alloy can be used as the shell of submarines, at the same time, on fighters, the use of titanium alloy is also increasing, such as MiG-31, a large number of titanium alloy materials are used.

Therefore, it is not unusual for the new supersonic aircraft of the Soviet Union to be built with titanium alloy.

Andrey is curious about its engine. If you want to fly to higher speeds, the engine is the key!

"General Andrei, your question is very important, now we see this Tu-260 that has completed test flights, using four Surolov D-80 turbojet engines, this engine gives the Tu-260 a top speed of 4 times the speed of sound, and the cruising speed is also 3 times the speed of sound, but it is still far from our requirements."

It is impossible for this hypersonic aircraft to use turbofan engines, and the turbojet can only reach four times the speed of sound, although the speed is much higher than that of the MiG-25, but it still cannot meet the actual combat needs.

After all, the sky of the future, the threat will be great. Now that the West has developed a missile to counter a 3-fold sonic aircraft, it is not guaranteed that the West will continue to develop a missile capable of striking a 4-fold sonic aircraft after discovering its own reconnaissance aircraft!

It is for this reason that although the aircraft has completed its test flight, it has no finalized equipment, it is only a transitional model.

"Turbojet engines are not good, flying at high speeds, what is needed is a ramjet engine." Andrei said: "The American Blackbird uses a ramjet engine. ”

Sergei nodded: "Yes, General Andrei, you are quite right. If you want a higher speed, a ramjet engine is a good choice, however, only using a ramjet engine can't adapt to take-off and landing, etc., so we are now testing a variable-cycle ramjet engine, which uses liquid hydrogen fuel, which can allow our current Tu-260 to fly to 6 times the speed of sound, and in the plan, we will switch to a model of this engine, called Tu-360."

6 times the speed of sound! Andrei instantly thought of the crazy Dawn Goddess project in the future, if it really reached 6 times the speed of sound, it would be an extreme! Existing anti-aircraft weapons, even if they are upgraded, are impossible to effectively intercept it, unless it is a laser weapon! (To be continued.) )