Did the USSR ever develope any Spy planes?

the soviets also developed some very high speed spy drones, but i dont remember the names

Their names:

Tu-121, Tu-123, Tu-139, Tu 141 Strizh, Tu-143 Reis, Tu-243 Reis-D, Tu-30, Lavochkine La-17R

Subsonic:

Yakovlev Pchela, Sukhoi Zond 1,2,3, Sukhoi BAS-62, Myasischev M-62 Eagle, M-67 BVS-LK, Yakovlev Albatros, etc...

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
Wow, that's a blatant rip off on the U-2!

I think they got alot of info from Powers shot down U2. I don't think that they had the Skunk Works penatrated. It would have been hard given how Kelly Johnson ran the outfit.

Seems Tuplolev have a particular interest in high speed aircraft. I would love to have a glimpse at some of their designs that never flew or even the ones that did, but only briefly.

Originally posted by DeltaNine
Seems Tuplolev have a particular interest in high speed aircraft. I would love to have a glimpse at some of their designs that never flew or even the ones that did, but only briefly.

I have to go back through my books. I rember reading one that indicated that one of the design groups had a near intact D-12 drone that had wandered in from China to Siberia. A piece was later givent oBen Rich of the Skunk Works.

Interestingly, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ben R. Rich (then retired president of Lockheed’s Skunk Works) finally had an opportunity to tour Russia himself. While in Moscow, the KGB presented Rich with a gift of what they thought were the remains of a stealth fighter that had crashed in their territory. As it turned out, the wreckage was actually pieces and parts of the lost D-21B drone.
www.wvi.com...

[edit on 3/15/05 by FredT]

Originally posted by FredT

Originally posted by GrOuNd_ZeRo
Wow, that's a blatant rip off on the U-2!

I think they got alot of info from Powers shot down U2. I don't think that they had the Skunk Works penatrated. It would have been hard given how Kelly Johnson ran the outfit.

The U-2's not a really special design anyway. It's essentially an F-104 Starfighter modified for high altitude flight. At the end of WWII, the Germans did have a flying, rocket-powered recon plane that bore a resemblance to this later aircraft, but the design was totally radical in comparison - jettisonable cockpit and prone pilot position. The cockpit was pressurised; the pilot didn't have to wear a suit. As far as I know, only one or two flights were made. Can't remember who picked up the research and the wreck, though. Probably the yanks.

Hmm... nice pic you found there Matej.

Yeah, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if the Russians had copied the crashed U2 and even the drones that were used by the SR-71 variants and other planes.

I couldn't find much information about the Berijev S-13 but i wonder if it ever flew over the US or just Western Europe?

As far as I can determine it never flew at all, just an excercise in back engineering, maybe in order to understand the U-2 better?

I've always wondered about overflights of the US as well. I'm sure most of the other large countries that spy on us now use satellites. But are there any other countries that have done or still do attempt arial spy flights over the US?

I'm sure there aren't that many, if any, countries capable of doing so, or even willing to risk doing so. I've just always been curious since we have a long history of sending spy planes over other countries for recon, if in fact it has been done to us before and by who?

but did they ever fly anything over the continental usa. thats what the real question is

and alaska doesn't count since many times out of elmendorf we scrambled f-15 to intercept russian planes

[edit on 16-3-2005 by bigx01]

Another Russian spy plane project was "Ajax". It was developped during the 80's but was officially cancelled when USSR collapsed. What is very interesting about this plane (about which tons of official documents are unclassified ) is that it's the twin brother of XR-7 "Aurora". Furthermore it's revolutionary MHD propulsion system is also unclassified and makes us understand how Aurora flies but the question that remains is if that's a coincidence or if the Russians managed to have Aurora's plans. I have also read that Putin recently reactivated Ajax R&D.

That's what happened to the bears which attented to visit the USA

www.military.cz...

Originally posted by Element
That's what happened to the bears which attented to visit the USA

www.military.cz...

There are a lot of photos out there of Soviet Bears flying almost in formation with RAF interceptors over the North Sea, it was a fairly regular occurance, and the pilots would wave, hold up teddybears etc with very little 'attitude' going on.

Copy.

Alot of Bears were accompained by navy F-14 while coming from USSR to Cuba, aswell.

Originally posted by Element
Copy.

Alot of Bears were accompained by navy F-14 while coming from USSR to Cuba, aswell.

Thats interesting, do you know what route the Bears would take on that run? Quite obviously they wouldnt be allowed to overfly the US, so its either a long divert over or below the US.

Originally posted by bidonpseudo
Another Russian spy plane project was "Ajax". It was developped during the 80's but was officially cancelled when USSR collapsed. What is very interesting about this plane (about which tons of official documents are unclassified ) is that it's the twin brother of XR-7 "Aurora". Furthermore it's revolutionary MHD propulsion system is also unclassified and makes us understand how Aurora flies but the question that remains is if that's a coincidence or if the Russians managed to have Aurora's plans. I have also read that Putin recently reactivated Ajax R&D.

Project AJAKS is still actual. It was not cancelled. Only works are going slower because there is a lack of many necessary technologies. More pics at:

www.hitechweb.szm.sk/pohon2.htm

The MHD concept is quite an exciting one... however, it's a finicky system, and the simple matter of extracting power from the airflow and then using that power to again accelerate that same airflow is kind of like pulling yourself up with your own bootstraps. A certain amount of exhaust would lose energy, leaving less efficiency in accelerating it. My gut instinct is that it would require a secondary power source, possibly nuclear, chipping in. However, there's probably loads of juice in such an exhaust, so maybe accelerating it use electrical energy derived from the plasma to augment its kinetic energy would work. Question is: why don't conventional rockets use it? Where's the catch?

[edit on 7-4-2005 by Lampyridae]

Originally posted by Lampyridae
The MHD concept is quite an exciting one... however, it's a finicky system, and the simple matter of extracting power from the airflow and then using that power to again accelerate that same airflow is kind of like pulling yourself up with your own bootstraps. A certain amount of exhaust would lose energy, leaving less efficiency in accelerating it. My gut instinct is that it would require a secondary power source, possibly nuclear, chipping in. However, there's probably loads of juice in such an exhaust, so maybe accelerating it use electrical energy derived from the plasma to augment its kinetic energy would work. Question is: why don't conventional rockets use it? Where's the catch?

[edit on 7-4-2005 by Lampyridae]

Sounds like a Perpetual Motion machine to me, and thus is the reason I am *very* skeptical when these things are mentioned.

If it works as advertised on that site, then you have just solved humanities power problems, as you are CREATING energy from nothing according to that site.

I have always wandered about countries attempting or actually overlying the continental U.S. I known we have sent the U-2’s and SR-71’s to many places other then just the USSR, but there is a lack of info on over flights of the continental U.S.

The reason for that is, is that if it happened there would be an outrage and the
US government would lose (or have lost) votes. As I said earlier, Aeroflot had ELINT gear on board their aircraft.