The Beriev S-13 was a Soviet reverse-engineered copy of the
Lockheed U-2C, developed in the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in the early 1960s.
History
On 1 May 1960,
Francis Gary Powers
Francis Gary Powers (August 17, 1929 – August 1, 1977) was an American pilot whose Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Lockheed U-2 spy plane was shot down while flying a reconnaissance mission in Soviet Union airspace, causing the 1960 U-2 i ...
flew a U-2 espionage mission from northern
Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
over the
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
. While flying over the
Urals
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through European ...
, the aircraft came within range of Soviet
surface-to-air missile
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft syst ...
s. The U-2 was hit by an
S-75 Dvina
The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most w ...
missile (NATO code name: SA-2 Guideline) and broke apart, but the debris remained relatively intact. The Soviet Union had its own comparable high altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the
Yakovlev Yak-25RW, but for political reasons this high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft was not used outside the borders of the Soviet Union and its main function was to emulate the U-2 to train Soviet air defence forces. The
Yakovlev Yak-25RV was unable to reach the U-2's ceiling of .
After the U-2 shootdown, the wreckage was examined by Soviet aviation specialists. The investigation, conducted by
Georgy Beriev
Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev (Beriashvili) (russian: Георгий Михайлович Бериев ''Georgij Michajlovič Beriev''; Georgian: გიორგი მიხეილის ძე ბერიაშვილი ''Giorgi Mikheilis D ...
of OKB-49 at
Taganrog
Taganrog ( rus, Таганрог, p=təɡɐnˈrok) is a port city in Rostov Oblast, Russia, on the north shore of the Taganrog Bay in the Sea of Azov, several kilometers west of the mouth of the Don River. Population:
History of Taganrog
The ...
, led to a decision of the
Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union
The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...
on 28 June 1960 that the aircraft and its
Pratt & Whitney J75-P-13
The Pratt & Whitney J75 (civilian designation: JT4A) is an axial-flow turbojet engine first flown in 1955. A two-spool design in the 17,000 lbf (76 kN) thrust class, the J75 was essentially the bigger brother of the Pratt & Whitney J57 ...
engine should be copied.
OKB-16
The JSC Precision Engineering Design Bureau named after A. E. Nudelman (russian: Конструкторское бюро точного машиностроения им. А. Э. Нудельмана, Konstruktorskoye Byuro Tochnogo Mashinostroeni ...
in
Kazan
Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...
, led by Professor F. Zubets, reverse-engineered the engine under the designation RD-16-75.
On 23 August 1960 the USSR Council of Ministers ordered five aircraft (to be designated S-13), two of which were to be made available to the
Air Force
An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...
after completing trial flights.
The timetable was very tight, as it was planned to examine all the components of the U-2 and to copy them while following the standards of Soviet military aviation, including the AFA-60 camera system. The S-13 was to be used for aerial reconnaissance, for weather research and as a balloon interceptor.
On 1 April 1961 the first fuselage was completed. However, on 12 May 1962 the Council of Ministers cancelled the project with immediate effect, when it was realized that the United States and its allies, like the Soviet Union, could shoot down slow-moving targets even at high altitude. For large-scale, long-term surveillance, spy satellites were a better solution. For short-term, ad hoc reconnaissance, the Soviet Union, like the United States with the
Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird
The Lockheed SR-71 "Blackbird" is a long-range, high-altitude, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft developed and manufactured by the American aerospace company Lockheed Corporation. It was operated by the United States Air Force ...
, preferred high-speed reconnaissance aircraft, such as the
Tsybin RSR
The Tsybin RSR (''Reactivnyy Strategicheskiy Razvedchik'', Cyrillic ''Реактивный Стратегический Разведчик'', Russian for "jet strategic reconnaissance") was a Soviet design for an advanced, long-range, Mach 3 st ...
. Although no S-13 aircraft was actually completed, the S-13 program gave valuable insights into alloys, materials and processing methods that were subsequently utilized in new Soviet aircraft designs.
Parts of the U-2 were exhibited in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces at Monino in Moscow.
Specifications
See also
*
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "''Dragon Lady''", is an American single-jet engine, high altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force (USAF) and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). It provides day ...
*
Yakovlev Yak-25
The Yakovlev Yak-25 ( NATO designation Flashlight-A/Mandrake) was a swept wing, turbojet-powered interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft built by Yakovlev and used by the Soviet Union.
Design and development
The Yak-25 originated from a need ...
RW
*
Myasishchev M-55
The Myasishchev M-55 (NATO reporting name: ''Mystic-B'') is a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft developed by OKB Myasishchev in the Soviet Union, similar in mission to the Lockheed ER-2, but with a twin boom fuselage and tail surface desi ...
*
MiG-25R
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-25; NATO reporting name: Foxbat) is a supersonic interceptor and reconnaissance aircraft that is among the fastest military aircraft to enter service. Designed by ...
*
S-75 Dvina
The S-75 (Russian: С-75; NATO reporting name SA-2 Guideline) is a Soviet-designed, high-altitude air defence system, built around a surface-to-air missile with command guidance. Following its first deployment in 1957 it became one of the most w ...
*
Beriev
The PJSC Beriev Aircraft Company (russian: Таганрогский авиационный научно-технический комплекс им. Г. М. Бериева, , Beriev Taganrog Aviation Scientific Technical Complex), formerly Beriev ...
References
External links
Photo from the S-13Pictures of Beriev S-13 detailed metal model
{{Beriev aircraft
S-13
Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union