In the history of world aviation, there are many examples of aircraft that have been likened to technological wonders, but not entered mass production
And the Soviet Union had such a wonder, the Sukhoi T-4
As a move to respond to the US XB-70, the Soviet Union launched at least two programs in response
One was the MiG-25 "Foxbat", a high-speed interceptor to deal with the Valkyrie
The other was the Sukhoi T-4, which bears a curious resemblance to the Valkyrie
And like Valkyrie, Sukhoi has created an incredible plane, but now only kept in museums
In 1961, the Soviet army organized a competition to create a "high-speed long-range aviation complex
to reconnaissance and destroy surface targets" with a range of at least 7,000 km
The main mission of the aircraft was strategic scouting waters and destroying potential enemy carriers.
Pavel Sukhoi Design Bureau won against Andrei Tupolev - the "king of heavy bombers".
Pavel Sukhoi proposed a supersonic bomber project with a takeoff weight of more than 110 tons
capable of reaching speeds of 3,000 km/h at an altitude of 20-25 km, with a range of more than 6,000 km
In December 1963, the Soviet Government approved Project T-4, also known as Project 100
To meet these requirements, the aircraft had to be completely different from all the long-range bombers at the time
The airframe was made mostly of heat-resistant titanium alloy and stainless steel can withstand temperatures up to 330 degrees
The designers opted for a "no tail" scheme with large main wings, and small canards near the nose, in front of the main wings
The nose of the aircraft is lowered to provide visibility during landing and takeoff as well as when the aircraft was flying at subsonic speeds
At supersonic speeds, a periscope was used for forward viewing when the nose was retracted
The T-4 was operated by a crew of 2. It measures 44 m (144 ft 4 in) long, wingspan of 22 m (72 ft 2 in)
height of 11.2 m (36 ft 9 in), empty weight of 55.6 tons (122,577 lb), and maximum takeoff weight of 135 tons (297,624 lb).
Several super-advanced electronic equipment complexes at that time were installed on the T-4
including navigation, observation and reconnaissance, and two radar stations
Of course, the aircraft was equipped with an aerial refueling system
As a long-range supersonic strategic bomber, the T-4 was expected to perform missions at supersonic speed
In response to this requirement, experts created the RD-36-41 afterburning turbojet engine
Four engines were located under the fuselage, with 157 kN each
Experts also built new weapons for T-4, including the Kh-45 supersonic anti-ship cruise missile and the Molniya missile
The Kh-45 missile is believed to be able to reach speed of Mach 5-7 and have a range of 500 to 1,500 km
In addition to cruise missiles, the T-4 could carry bombs
Development of the T-4 required massive research effort to develop the technologies necessary
including the manufacturing technologies to machine and weld the materials necessary to withstand sustained Mach 3 flight
Nearly 600 patents or inventions are attributed to the program
The first flying prototype was finally completed in the autumn of 1971
Work continued on an additional three airframes through 1975
In 1974, the Ministry of Aviation Industry ordered work suspended on the T-4 project, which was officially scrapped on 19 December 1975
There were several reasons for the T-4's failure. At first, the military's requirements changed, with the arrival of the Tupolev Tu-160
Second, the Sukhoi Design Bureau received the task of developing their traditional aircraft - the future Su-27 heavy multi-role fighter
Third, and perhaps most importantly, the T-4 project produced with titanium turned out to be too expensive
The only one is "101" on display at the Air Force Museum in suburban Moscow