The Lyulka AL-21 is an
axial flow
An axial compressor is a gas compressor that can continuously pressurize gases. It is a rotating, airfoil-based compressor in which the gas or working fluid principally flows parallel to the axis of rotation, or axially. This differs from other ...
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, and ...
engine created by the
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
Design Bureau
OKB is a transliteration of the Russian initials of "" – , meaning 'experiment and design bureau'. During the Soviet era, OKBs were closed institutions working on design and prototyping of advanced technology, usually for military applications. ...
named for its chief designer
Arkhip Lyulka
Arkhip Mikhailovich Lyul'ka (''Russian'': Архи́п Миха́йлович Лю́лька, '' Ukrainian'': Архип Михайлович Люлька) (1908–1984) was a Soviet scientist and designer of jet engines, head of the OKB Lyulka, ...
.
Design and development
The AL-21 is closely similar in technology to the
General Electric J79
The General Electric J79 is an axial-flow turbojet engine built for use in a variety of fighter and bomber aircraft and a supersonic cruise missile. The J79 was produced by General Electric Aircraft Engines in the United States, and under lice ...
first flown in 1955, which was the first engine for supersonic flight, using a variable stator.
It is generally described as being in the "third generation" of Soviet
gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directi ...
engines which are characterized by high thrust-to-weight ratios and the use of
turbine
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...
air cooling.
[Sosounov, V.A. (1990). ''The Development of Aircraft Power Plant Construction in the USSR and the 60th Anniversary of CIAM''. AlAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE 26th Joint Propulsion Conference, July 16–18, 1990. Orlando, Florida. AIAA-90-2761.]
The AL-21 entered service in the early 1960s. Later designed the AL-21F3, it was used in the
Sukhoi Su-17
The Sukhoi Su-17 (''izdeliye'' S-32) is a variable-sweep wing fighter-bomber developed for the Soviet military. Its NATO reporting name is "Fitter". Developed from the Sukhoi Su-7, the Su-17 was the first variable-sweep wing aircraft to ent ...
,
Sukhoi Su-24
The Sukhoi Su-24 ( NATO reporting name: Fencer) is a supersonic, all-weather attack aircraft developed in the Soviet Union. The aircraft has a variable-sweep wing, twin-engines and a side-by-side seating arrangement for its crew of two. It wa ...
, Ground-attack variant
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23
The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-23; NATO reporting name: Flogger) is a variable-geometry fighter aircraft, designed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the Soviet Union. It is a third-generati ...
, and
Sukhoi T-10
The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation je ...
(
Sukhoi Su-27
The Sukhoi Su-27 (russian: Сухой Су-27; NATO reporting name: Flanker) is a Soviet-origin twin-engine supermaneuverable fighter aircraft designed by Sukhoi. It was intended as a direct competitor for the large US fourth-generation jet ...
prototype).
Specifications (AL-21F3)
See also
References
External links
Page of the engine at Russian Aircraft Encyclopedia
{{Lyulka aeroengines
AL-21
1960s turbojet engines