In2HiDef
07-24-2013, 08:01 PM
Èñòî÷íèê - https://medium.com/lift-and-drag/2a91dc44742a. Èç-çà ïðîáëåì ñ ôîðìàòîì, ëó÷øå ÷èòàòü òàì.
69700
north american XB-70 valkyrie
The Supersonic Bomber That Never Was
The Bomber That Changed the Landscape of the Cold War
On September 6, 1976, Lieutenant Viktor Belenko made history when he defected, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-25) Foxbat to Hakodate, Japan. Although this watershed event was not the first defection of a Soviet pilot and his aircraft to the West, it was the most influential.
After thoroughly examining the aircraft, dissasembling it completely and returning it to the USSR in thirty crates, analysts collectivley smacked their foreheads: “We were wrong the whole time!”
The XB-70
In the late 1950's, the United States’ focus in the nucler arms race was the nuclear bomber force. These aircraft were the primary means of attacking the USSR. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress possessed intercontinental range, and the Conviar B-58 Hustler was capable of Mach 2 dash speeds. The US Air Force desired to combine these two capabilities into a single strategic bomber with long range and Mach 2+ speed. This capability would allow the bomber to fly above air defense artillery and fighter interceptors, the primary air defenses of the era.
North American Aviation answered the call in 1965 with the XB-70, a radical new six-engined design capable of flight greater than 60,000 feet and Mach 3.
https://d233eq3e3p3cv0.cloudfront.net/max/1351/0*SMcRhO-hugdDatPc.gifThe XB-70 final design proposal.Controversial Apollo Command/Service module designer Harrison Storms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Storms) designed the canard-delta configured (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canard_%28aeronautics%29) aircraft, built of stainless steel, honeycomb panels, and titanium. North Amercian leveraged technologies developed for supersonic cruise missiles.
The aircraft never flew in the bomber role. Changes in the strategic landscape made the impressive bomber obsolete, vulnerable to new surface to air missile technology, and obviated by the United States’ focus on ICBM’s for nuclear deterrance.
The XB-70 was relegated to an experimental aircraft, researching high altitude, high Mach flight, and sonic boom propogation. Two prototypes were built, data from which was used in B-1 design, the short-lived American SST, and via espionage, the Tupolev Tu-144. According to observers (http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2006/June%202006/0606valkyrie.aspx), it was “overwhelming. Nothing like it existed anywhere.” The aircraft’s performance was dazzling. The XB-70 achieved Mach 3.08 at 72,000 feet and held it for 20 minutes. A 90-minute flight at high Mach covered over 2,400 miles. Sadly, the first test vehicle crashed with its F-104 chaseplane, and the second and final aircraft was retired to Wright-Patterson AFB in February 1969.
The Red Response
Although USSR-designed surface to air missile systems helped drive the XB-70 bomber program into the research role, the Soviets remained concerned about American high altitude overflights of SR-71 and U-2 aircraft, and nuclear-capable B-52's and B-58's. The potential threat of the XB-70 tipped the scale. In 1958, PVO Strany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protivo-Vozdushnaya_Oborona) issued a requirement for an improved interceptor, and the Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKB) responded with a program yielding the MiG-25 Foxbat.
69701The mighty MiG-25 Foxbat armed with four AA-6 Acrid air-to-air missiles.This aircraft represented a major leap forward in the Soviet aerospace industry. The MiG-25 is capable of extremely high speeds, the second fastest military airplane ever built, and was constructed from nickel steel alloy, aluminium, and titanium. The aircaft is capable of sustained Mach 2.83, and can achieve Mach 3, although this speed permanently damages the engines. The MiG-25 continues to hold the absolute altitude record for a fixed wing jet powered aircraft of 123,523 feet.
The West’s Mistake and The World’s Best Fighter
The MiG-25 made enormous waves in the American intellgence community. Reconnaissance photography revealed a large fighter with twin rudders and an enormous wing area. Analysts interpreted the imagery as a highly maneuverable experimental air-superiority aircraft with capabilities greater than anything existing or in production in the United States.
The truth came out when Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected to Japan with his MiG-25. Analysis revealed the aircraft was not a fighter at all. It was an interceptor. The fighter had a maximum G limit of only 4.5, and was essentially built around its mammoth R-15 turbojets. It could fly extremely fast, but not turn. This made shooting down attacking bombers the MiG-25's mission.
To be fair, the analysts framed their theories at a time when the American fighter design mindset was changin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy%E2%80%93maneuverability_theory)g due to poor air-to-air combat performance in the Vietnam War, and it’s no surprise the intelligence community viewed the new Soviet fighter through the same helmet visor as their Air Force customers.
Scrambling to “catch up” to the Soviet breakthrough, the Air Force re-scoped their new fighter program as the “F-X,” fighter-unknown (often mistakenly called fighter-experimental). F-X called for a single-seat fighter with a maximum take-off weight of 40,000 lb. The air-to-air role was primary or, as the Air Force put it, “not a pound for air-to-ground.” The maximum speed would be limited to Mach 2.5 and thrust-to-weight ratio one-to-one at combat weight.
Thus was borne the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, the finest fighter ever built prior to the F-22. The Eagle boasts an all-service kill ratio of 104:0. The F-15 Eagle was the primary air superiority aircraft of the Cold War and was instrumental in NATO war plans in achieving air dominance over the contested skies of World War III Europe. The Eagle was even tasked with shooting down Soviet satellites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM-135_ASAT). The F-15 downed the majority of Iraqi aircraft in the Gulf War of 1991, and the same in the Balkan conflict of 1999.
69702The mighty F-15 Eagle.The F-15 spawned a follow-on air-to-ground strike fighter, the F-15E Strike Eagle, and has enjoyed brisk foreign military sales to Israel, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
For want of a Target, the Bomber Was Lost…
So it was that for the sake of a cancelled high-supersonic bomber the Soviet Union built a heavy interceptor the West misinterpreted as a dogfighter and built the best fighter ever made as a response. From this perspective, the XB-70 bomber not only looked awesome, but fundamentally changed the fighter landscape of the Cold War. The XB-70's impact lingers to this day.
69700
north american XB-70 valkyrie
The Supersonic Bomber That Never Was
The Bomber That Changed the Landscape of the Cold War
On September 6, 1976, Lieutenant Viktor Belenko made history when he defected, flying his Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikoyan-Gurevich_MiG-25) Foxbat to Hakodate, Japan. Although this watershed event was not the first defection of a Soviet pilot and his aircraft to the West, it was the most influential.
After thoroughly examining the aircraft, dissasembling it completely and returning it to the USSR in thirty crates, analysts collectivley smacked their foreheads: “We were wrong the whole time!”
The XB-70
In the late 1950's, the United States’ focus in the nucler arms race was the nuclear bomber force. These aircraft were the primary means of attacking the USSR. The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress possessed intercontinental range, and the Conviar B-58 Hustler was capable of Mach 2 dash speeds. The US Air Force desired to combine these two capabilities into a single strategic bomber with long range and Mach 2+ speed. This capability would allow the bomber to fly above air defense artillery and fighter interceptors, the primary air defenses of the era.
North American Aviation answered the call in 1965 with the XB-70, a radical new six-engined design capable of flight greater than 60,000 feet and Mach 3.
https://d233eq3e3p3cv0.cloudfront.net/max/1351/0*SMcRhO-hugdDatPc.gifThe XB-70 final design proposal.Controversial Apollo Command/Service module designer Harrison Storms (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrison_Storms) designed the canard-delta configured (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canard_%28aeronautics%29) aircraft, built of stainless steel, honeycomb panels, and titanium. North Amercian leveraged technologies developed for supersonic cruise missiles.
The aircraft never flew in the bomber role. Changes in the strategic landscape made the impressive bomber obsolete, vulnerable to new surface to air missile technology, and obviated by the United States’ focus on ICBM’s for nuclear deterrance.
The XB-70 was relegated to an experimental aircraft, researching high altitude, high Mach flight, and sonic boom propogation. Two prototypes were built, data from which was used in B-1 design, the short-lived American SST, and via espionage, the Tupolev Tu-144. According to observers (http://www.airforcemag.com/MagazineArchive/Pages/2006/June%202006/0606valkyrie.aspx), it was “overwhelming. Nothing like it existed anywhere.” The aircraft’s performance was dazzling. The XB-70 achieved Mach 3.08 at 72,000 feet and held it for 20 minutes. A 90-minute flight at high Mach covered over 2,400 miles. Sadly, the first test vehicle crashed with its F-104 chaseplane, and the second and final aircraft was retired to Wright-Patterson AFB in February 1969.
The Red Response
Although USSR-designed surface to air missile systems helped drive the XB-70 bomber program into the research role, the Soviets remained concerned about American high altitude overflights of SR-71 and U-2 aircraft, and nuclear-capable B-52's and B-58's. The potential threat of the XB-70 tipped the scale. In 1958, PVO Strany (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protivo-Vozdushnaya_Oborona) issued a requirement for an improved interceptor, and the Mikoyan-Gurevich OKB (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OKB) responded with a program yielding the MiG-25 Foxbat.
69701The mighty MiG-25 Foxbat armed with four AA-6 Acrid air-to-air missiles.This aircraft represented a major leap forward in the Soviet aerospace industry. The MiG-25 is capable of extremely high speeds, the second fastest military airplane ever built, and was constructed from nickel steel alloy, aluminium, and titanium. The aircaft is capable of sustained Mach 2.83, and can achieve Mach 3, although this speed permanently damages the engines. The MiG-25 continues to hold the absolute altitude record for a fixed wing jet powered aircraft of 123,523 feet.
The West’s Mistake and The World’s Best Fighter
The MiG-25 made enormous waves in the American intellgence community. Reconnaissance photography revealed a large fighter with twin rudders and an enormous wing area. Analysts interpreted the imagery as a highly maneuverable experimental air-superiority aircraft with capabilities greater than anything existing or in production in the United States.
The truth came out when Lieutenant Viktor Belenko defected to Japan with his MiG-25. Analysis revealed the aircraft was not a fighter at all. It was an interceptor. The fighter had a maximum G limit of only 4.5, and was essentially built around its mammoth R-15 turbojets. It could fly extremely fast, but not turn. This made shooting down attacking bombers the MiG-25's mission.
To be fair, the analysts framed their theories at a time when the American fighter design mindset was changin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy%E2%80%93maneuverability_theory)g due to poor air-to-air combat performance in the Vietnam War, and it’s no surprise the intelligence community viewed the new Soviet fighter through the same helmet visor as their Air Force customers.
Scrambling to “catch up” to the Soviet breakthrough, the Air Force re-scoped their new fighter program as the “F-X,” fighter-unknown (often mistakenly called fighter-experimental). F-X called for a single-seat fighter with a maximum take-off weight of 40,000 lb. The air-to-air role was primary or, as the Air Force put it, “not a pound for air-to-ground.” The maximum speed would be limited to Mach 2.5 and thrust-to-weight ratio one-to-one at combat weight.
Thus was borne the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle, the finest fighter ever built prior to the F-22. The Eagle boasts an all-service kill ratio of 104:0. The F-15 Eagle was the primary air superiority aircraft of the Cold War and was instrumental in NATO war plans in achieving air dominance over the contested skies of World War III Europe. The Eagle was even tasked with shooting down Soviet satellites (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ASM-135_ASAT). The F-15 downed the majority of Iraqi aircraft in the Gulf War of 1991, and the same in the Balkan conflict of 1999.
69702The mighty F-15 Eagle.The F-15 spawned a follow-on air-to-ground strike fighter, the F-15E Strike Eagle, and has enjoyed brisk foreign military sales to Israel, Japan, Korea, Saudi Arabia and Singapore.
For want of a Target, the Bomber Was Lost…
So it was that for the sake of a cancelled high-supersonic bomber the Soviet Union built a heavy interceptor the West misinterpreted as a dogfighter and built the best fighter ever made as a response. From this perspective, the XB-70 bomber not only looked awesome, but fundamentally changed the fighter landscape of the Cold War. The XB-70's impact lingers to this day.