- Hardcover: 192 pages
- Publisher: Midland Publishing (Nov 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1857801946
- ISBN-13: 978-1857801941
- Product Dimensions: 28.2 x 21.8 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 558,806 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
One of the great success stories of aviation publishing in recent years has been Midland's 'Secret Projects' series. Starting with three volumes of Luftwaffe Secret Projects and following on with the British Secret Projects series, we now turn to the what the Soviets were getting up. The aviation industry of the former Soviet Union has produced many outstanding military aircraft. However, there were many other proposed projects for fighters and bombers that never saw the light of day and almost all of them are completely unknown in the West. The end of the Cold War has given the opportunity for researchers in Russia to uncover these projects for the first time. The M.4, Tu-16 and Tu-22 are well known, but there were many more that never flew. This volume, the first in a planned series of three, details many of the jet bomber projects drawn up between the late 1940s and the present day and shows just how creative the Design Bureaux could be. A large proportion come from the Design Bureau of Andrei Tupolev, but there are others from the Myasischev, Sukhoi and Yakovlev Bureaux. Access to original archives from the various Bureaux has ensured a level of in-depth coverage and accuracy never previously possible in a book covering unbuilt Soviet bombers. The book also describes the competition between these projects for orders and shows the progress made in aircraft design behind the Iron Curtain. It will give both experts and enthusiasts the chance to compare this work with contemporary Western aircraft programmes. Many of the drawings and illustrations have never previously been published and there are some specially commissioned renditions of 'might-have-been' types.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
X-planes have always held a special place in the aviation enthusiasts heart. The fascination with what could have been, and an enthusiasm for unheralded aircraft design are showcased in this amazing Midlands Publishing book by Tony Buttle and Yefim Gordon entitled: Soviet Secret Projects: Bombers since 1945. The book, chock full of photographs, diagrams, and models of projects that never made the prototype stage, allows each design to come to life for the reader. Gordon is considered the worldwide expert on Russian/Soviet aircraft and his access to OKB archives for Sukhoi, Ilyushin, Antonov, Tupolev, Myasishchev, Beriev, and Yakolev lend his books a perspective that few can match.
From the original designs for a jet bomber using captured German jet technology, to the adaptation of three interned US B-29 bombers into the TU-4 BULL, to the development of the Tu-95, Tu-22M, and Tu-160, the saga of Soviet bomber development is fascinating. Politics and connections with the Politburo won quite a few contracts for Tupolev OKB, some over designs that were far superior in performance. The Tu-160 BLACKJACK, originally a Myasishchev design, was handed over to Tupolev OKB for design finalization, prototyping, and production as a result of serious political lobbying by its Politburo and Defense Ministry sponsors. The Sukhoi bomber on the book cover, resembling in many ways the mythical MIG fighter in the movie FIREFOX, is one of the most interesting and attractive designs that never made it to production. Thanks to this book, we get the chance to learn more about what was once a sketch on a designer's notepad.
The aviation books written by Gordon and released under Midland Publishing, Aerofax, and Red Star banners share the accumulated wealth of Gordon's contacts in Russia and his personal photo archive, especially in this volume. Secret Projects gives you a glimpse into the fascinating world of many Soviet and Russian designs that might have been lost forever. For that alone, it is worth every dollar of the cost. Highly Recommended
From the original designs for a jet bomber using captured German jet technology, to the adaptation of three interned US B-29 bombers into the TU-4 BULL, to the development of the Tu-95, Tu-22M, and Tu-160, the saga of Soviet bomber development is fascinating. Politics and connections with the Politburo won quite a few contracts for Tupolev OKB, some over designs that were far superior in performance. The Tu-160 BLACKJACK, originally a Myasishchev design, was handed over to Tupolev OKB for design finalization, prototyping, and production as a result of serious political lobbying by its Politburo and Defense Ministry sponsors. The Sukhoi bomber on the book cover, resembling in many ways the mythical MIG fighter in the movie FIREFOX, is one of the most interesting and attractive designs that never made it to production. Thanks to this book, we get the chance to learn more about what was once a sketch on a designer's notepad.
The aviation books written by Gordon and released under Midland Publishing, Aerofax, and Red Star banners share the accumulated wealth of Gordon's contacts in Russia and his personal photo archive, especially in this volume. Secret Projects gives you a glimpse into the fascinating world of many Soviet and Russian designs that might have been lost forever. For that alone, it is worth every dollar of the cost. Highly Recommended
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have always been fascinated by ''what if'' scenarios. In aviation, this translates as aircraft that never got off the drawing board. So, when I bought Tony Buttler's British Secret Projects: Bombers Since 1949 and Soviet Secret Projects: Bombers Since 1945, I was aiming at numerous descriptions of unbuilt projects.
Was I in for a treat. Yes, these books bring lots of text and drawings about endless scores of aircraft that never got built. However, their greatest strength is where they describe the development of airplanes that did in fact get a first flight. In both books, Buttler outlines the evolution in defence thinking of the relevant country at Ministry level, its impact in the doctrine for strategic defence and the consequent requirements and specifications of combat aircraft that should fit said doctrine. Each book then goes to show the industry's approach to the specifications, explaining each manufacturer's technical solutions to the problems posed: wing shapes, engines to be adopted, undercarriages, weapon loads, crew, why and how they would or would not be adequate, etc. The reader gets to see how aircraft designers think and how diverse aircraft features affect in-flight behaviour, cost and effectiveness. Then the Author retells of the military's view on each project and the reasons for their adoption or rejection, the changes in requirements and therefore in specifications, contemporary views about in-service limitations, engine concerns, development cost, time to service entry, upgrades and the like. The political implications are also described (case in point: the mock competition that led to Sukhoi building the superachiever but ultimately not-taken T-4). As a result, each chapter follows the backstory of development of well-known types, from the point of inception to detail design, with a comparison to the competitors up to the point when each fell by the wayside.
All of this in a text that is fluent and light to read while, at the same time, the books are generous in technical specs, line drawings, and pictures of wood models, mockups, wind-tunnel models and actual prototypes.
I recommend Buttler's books to a variety of readers: those keen on the evolution of strategic thinking behind the military aircraft industry, those that want background on the requirements, development and reasons behind features of aircraft effectively built, and those that want to know more about the aircraft that remained stuck on the drawing board. At any rate, a good, solid, information-laden read -- page turners with plenty of eye candy to boot.
Was I in for a treat. Yes, these books bring lots of text and drawings about endless scores of aircraft that never got built. However, their greatest strength is where they describe the development of airplanes that did in fact get a first flight. In both books, Buttler outlines the evolution in defence thinking of the relevant country at Ministry level, its impact in the doctrine for strategic defence and the consequent requirements and specifications of combat aircraft that should fit said doctrine. Each book then goes to show the industry's approach to the specifications, explaining each manufacturer's technical solutions to the problems posed: wing shapes, engines to be adopted, undercarriages, weapon loads, crew, why and how they would or would not be adequate, etc. The reader gets to see how aircraft designers think and how diverse aircraft features affect in-flight behaviour, cost and effectiveness. Then the Author retells of the military's view on each project and the reasons for their adoption or rejection, the changes in requirements and therefore in specifications, contemporary views about in-service limitations, engine concerns, development cost, time to service entry, upgrades and the like. The political implications are also described (case in point: the mock competition that led to Sukhoi building the superachiever but ultimately not-taken T-4). As a result, each chapter follows the backstory of development of well-known types, from the point of inception to detail design, with a comparison to the competitors up to the point when each fell by the wayside.
All of this in a text that is fluent and light to read while, at the same time, the books are generous in technical specs, line drawings, and pictures of wood models, mockups, wind-tunnel models and actual prototypes.
I recommend Buttler's books to a variety of readers: those keen on the evolution of strategic thinking behind the military aircraft industry, those that want background on the requirements, development and reasons behind features of aircraft effectively built, and those that want to know more about the aircraft that remained stuck on the drawing board. At any rate, a good, solid, information-laden read -- page turners with plenty of eye candy to boot.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
The fighter on the cover of this book about bombers is similar Russian Sukhoi T-4 varient I think. Which is almost a copy of the infamous North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the huge (it was a big plane) XB-70 was a prototype for the proposed B-70 nuclear-armed deep penetration bomber. The dropping wings give this away as the XB-70 was I think the first to use this concept in a lrage aircraft.
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