North Korea says nuclear test successful, page 3

Originally posted by CX
No more details at the moment. Does anyone have any info on the T-4 aircraft they are talking about? I did a search and could only find details of a T-4 bomber, not the sort of plane you'd expect to monitor radiation levels.

T-4 ("100") ATTACK
RECONNAISSANCE AIRCRAFT
(PRELIMINARY DESIGN)

"The T-4 supersonic reconnaissance and attack weapons system (production code "100") was intended to search for and destroy large surface targets such as aircraft carriers and missile carrying ships as well as for reconnaissance. This concept arose in the early sixties. Primary design emphasis was on the development of an airframe capable of long range flight at three times the speed of sound.

In addition to its main mission, the preliminary design described the T-4 as:

- a reconnaissance aircraft;

- a long-range interceptor weapons system;

- a supersonic passenger aircraft.

It was planned that the aircraft, with a takeoff weight of 220,000-243,000 lb (100,000-110,000 kg), would be capable of a 3,728 mi (6,000 km) range, at 66,000-79,000 ft (20,000-24,000 m) altitude, without external tanks, at a speed 1,864-1,988 mph (3,000-3,200 km/h). In April 1963, the preliminary design was completed and was presented to the VVS and the State Aircraft Technique Committee.

By order of the Deputy Commanderin-Chief of the VVS, a special commission was created and it studied the project from May 23 until June 3 of 1963. This commission concluded that the T-4 long range supersonic aircraft, suggested by the Sukhoi Design Bureau, satisfied the VVS requirements and would outperform other aircraft of its type in flight performance, armament and avionics capabilities. The commission further commented that the results of the research work on the attackreconnaissance aircraft, powered by two R-15BF-300 or RD17-15 turbojets, corresponded to the specified requirements of the standard Soviet preliminary design phase and could be considered as a base for building a mockup and for further fullscale development work. By the end of 1963, based on the positive conclusion of the commission, the T-4 project received a further go ahead in the form of a Communist Party Central Committee and Council of Ministers resolution. Flight testing was to begin in 1968.

Many Soviet aerospace scientific organizations of the State Aircraft Technique Committee were involved in the design work along with the Sukhoi Design Bureau. The main plan was developed and design work was coordinated by the end of 1963 and the preliminary design was completed in 1964.

www.aeronautics.ru...