The Tupolev TB-3 (russian: Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazhyolyy Bombardirovshchik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation ANT-6) was a monoplane
heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually bombs) and longest range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy bombers have therefore usually been among the larges ...
deployed by the
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
in the 1930s and used during the early years of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was the world's first
cantilever wing
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
four-engine heavy bomber.
Despite obsolescence and being officially withdrawn from service in 1939, the TB-3 performed bomber and transport duties throughout much of World War II. The TB-3 also saw combat as a
Zveno project Zveno (Russian: Звено, a military unit "Flight") was a parasite aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber mothership and two to five fighters. Depending on the varian ...
fighter mothership and as a light tank transport.
Development
In 1925, the
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
approached
TsAGI
The Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute (also (Zhukovsky) Central Institute of Aerodynamics, russian: Центра́льный аэрогидродинами́ческий институ́т, ЦАГИ, Tsentral'nyy Aerogidrodinamicheskiy Institut, ...
with a requirement for a heavy bomber with total engine output of and either wheeled or float landing gear.
Tupolev
Tupolev (russian: Ту́полев, ), officially Joint Stock Company Tupolev, is a Russian aerospace and defence company headquartered in Basmanny District, Moscow.
Tupolev is successor to the Soviet Tupolev Design Bureau (OKB-156, design off ...
OKB
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. ...
started design work in 1926 with the government operational requirements finalized in 1929.
[Gunston 1995, pp. 384–385.] The
Tupolev TB-1
The Tupolev TB-1 (development name ANT-4) was a Soviet bomber aircraft, an angular monoplane that served as the backbone of the Soviet bomber force for many years, and was the first large all-metal aircraft built in the Soviet Union.
Design and ...
was taken as the basis for the design and the aircraft was initially powered by
Curtiss V-1570
The Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror was a 12-cylinder vee liquid-cooled aircraft engine. Representing a more powerful version of the Curtiss D-12, the engine entered production in 1926 and flew in numerous aircraft.Gunston 1989, p. 46.
Design and de ...
"Conqueror" engines,
[Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p.42.] with the intent of switching to
Mikulin M-17
The Mikulin M-17 was a Soviet-licensed copy of the German BMW VI V-12 liquid-cooled aircraft piston engine, further developed by Alexander Mikulin and used by Soviet aircraft and tanks during World War II. Production began in 1930 and continued ...
s (modified
BMW VIs) in production.
[Vanags-Baginskis 1988, p.5.] The
mock-up
In manufacturing and design, a mockup, or mock-up, is a scale or full-size model of a design or device, used for teaching, demonstration, design evaluation, promotion, and other purposes. A mockup may be a ''prototype'' if it provides at lea ...
was approved on 21 March 1930 and the first prototype was completed on 31 October 1930.
The aircraft flew on 22 December 1930 with
Mikhail Gromov at the controls and with
ski
A ski is a narrow strip of semi-rigid material worn underfoot to glide over snow. Substantially longer than wide and characteristically employed in pairs, skis are attached to ski boots with ski bindings, with either a free, lockable, or partia ...
landing gear. Despite almost crashing owing to vibration causing the throttles to close, the test flight was a success.
On 20 February 1931, the Soviet Air Force approved mass production of the ANT-6 with M-17 engines.
[Gunston 1995, p.385.]
The prototype was refitted with BMW VIz 500 engines, larger radiators, and wooden fixed-pitch propellers of TsAGI design. Single-wheel landing gear was deemed too weak and was replaced by
tandem bogies with tires.
The first pre-production TB-3 4M-17 flew on 4 January 1932 with
Andrey Yumashev
Andrey Borisovich Yumashev (russian: Андрей Борисович Юмашев; 20 May 1988) was the co-pilot of the historic Moscow-North Pole-San Jacinto flight, for which he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union in 1937. Before t ...
and I. F. Petrov at the controls. Unexpectedly, subsequent mass-produced aircraft were found to be 10–12% heavier than the prototype, which significantly hampered performance.
The discrepancy was discovered to be due to high positive tolerances on raw materials which resulted in
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
sheetmetal, pipes, and wires being much thicker than on the carefully constructed prototypes. The aircraft were also more crudely painted with a thick layer of camouflage and lacquer.
[Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p.43.] The factories asked the workers for suggestions on reducing the weight, paying 100
roubles
The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union.
, currencies named ''rub ...
for each removed from the aircraft. In combination with OKB efforts, this resulted in weight savings of almost . Despite this, production aircraft could differ from each other by as much as several hundred kilograms.
[Gunston 1995, p.386.]
In 1933, a single TB-3 4M-17F was
streamline
Streamline may refer to:
Business
* Streamline Air, American regional airline
* Adobe Streamline, a discontinued line tracing program made by Adobe Systems
* Streamline Cars, the company responsible for making the Burney car
Engineering
* ...
d with removal of
turrets and
bomb
A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-t ...
shackles, covering of all openings, and fitting of wheel spats. This resulted in only a 4.5% increase in top speed and a similar increase in the range. Tupolev concluded that streamlining was minimally beneficial for large and
slow aircraft. To study the effect of corrugated skin, in January–February 1935 a single TB-3 4AM-34R had the corrugations incrementally covered with fabric. This resulted in a 5.5% gain in top speed and a 27.5% increase in the ceiling. The same aircraft demonstrated a significant increase in
climb rate
In aeronautics, the rate of climb (RoC) is an aircraft's vertical speed, that is the positive or negative rate of altitude change with respect to time. In most ICAO member countries, even in otherwise metric countries, this is usually expressed ...
when fitted with experimental four-
blade propellers.
[Vanags-Baginskis 1988, p.12.]
;Record flights
[Duffy and Kandalov 1996, p.211.]
* TB-3 4M-34R set a flight endurance record of 18 hours and 30 minutes.
* TB-3 4AM-34FRN with Andrey Yumashev at the controls set a number of payload-to-altitude records:
** 11 September 1936 – to , improved to on 28 October.
** 16 September 1936 – to
** 20 September 1936 – to
Design
![Tupolev TB-3 SA-kuva 7361](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/17/Tupolev_TB-3_SA-kuva_7361.jpg)
The TB-3 was an all-metal aircraft of steel construction, as one of the designs from Andrei Tupolev's design bureau to be based on the 1918-onward all-metal aircraft design practices and technology pioneered by
Hugo Junkers
Hugo Junkers (3 February 1859 – 3 February 1935) was a German aircraft engineer and aircraft designer who pioneered the design of all-metal airplanes and flying wings. His company, Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (Junkers Aircraft and ...
. The frame was composed of V-section
beam
Beam may refer to:
Streams of particles or energy
*Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy
**Laser beam
*Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles
**Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
s covered with non-stressed corrugated skin ranging from to in thickness. The corrugations were deep and apart. The
cantilever wing
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cant ...
was supported by four tube-section
spar
SPAR, originally DESPAR, styled as DE SPAR, is a Dutch multinational that provides branding, supplies and support services for independently owned and operated food retail stores. It was founded in the Netherlands in 1932, by Adriaan van Well, ...
s. In 1934, thanks to the development of
stronger steel alloys, the
wingspan
The wingspan (or just span) of a bird or an airplane is the distance from one wingtip to the other wingtip. For example, the Boeing 777–200 has a wingspan of , and a wandering albatross (''Diomedea exulans'') caught in 1965 had a wingspan of ...
was increased from with a concurrent wing area increase from . Any part of the aircraft could be walked on in soft shoes without damaging the skin, and the
leading edge
The leading edge of an airfoil surface such as a wing is its foremost edge and is therefore the part which first meets the oncoming air.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 305. Aviation Supplies & Academics, ...
s of the wings swung down to form walkways for engine maintenance. Controls were cable-actuated with a variable-incidence
tailplane
A tailplane, also known as a horizontal stabiliser, is a small lifting surface located on the tail (empennage) behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed-wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplane ...
and a
trim
Trim or TRIM may refer to:
Cutting
* Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them
** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process
** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees
Decoration
* Trim (sewing), or ...
compensation system in case of engine failures on one side. Fixed main
landing gear
Landing gear is the undercarriage of an aircraft or spacecraft that is used for takeoff or landing. For aircraft it is generally needed for both. It was also formerly called ''alighting gear'' by some manufacturers, such as the Glenn L. Martin ...
was not fitted with
brakes
A brake is a mechanical device that inhibits motion by absorbing energy from a moving system. It is used for slowing or stopping a moving vehicle, wheel, axle, or to prevent its motion, most often accomplished by means of friction.
Background ...
. The
fuel tank
A fuel tank (also called a petrol tank or gas tank) is a safe container for flammable fluids. Though any storage tank for fuel may be so called, the term is typically applied to part of an engine system in which the fuel is stored and propelle ...
s did not have fire or leak protection, although the engines had an internal fire-extinguishing system. The M-17 engines were tuned to provide a maximum theoretical range of without spark plug or
carburetor fouling
Fouling is the accumulation of unwanted material on solid surfaces. The fouling materials can consist of either living organisms ( biofouling) or a non-living substance (inorganic or organic). Fouling is usually distinguished from other sur ...
. Defensive armament consisted of
light machine gun
A light machine gun (LMG) is a light-weight machine gun designed to be operated by a single infantryman, with or without an assistant, as an infantry support weapon. LMGs firing cartridges of the same caliber as the other riflemen of the sam ...
s in five
turrets — one in the nose, two on top of mid-
fuselage
The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraft t ...
, and one retractable "dustbin" under each wing between the engine
nacelle
A nacelle ( ) is a "streamlined body, sized according to what it contains", such as an engine, fuel, or equipment on an aircraft. When attached by a pylon entirely outside the airframe, it is sometimes called a pod, in which case it is attached ...
s. Later variants moved one of the top fuselage turrets
aft of the tail fin.
Operational history
![ANT-6A Glavsevmorput](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/ANT-6A_Glavsevmorput.jpg)
The TB-3 was used operationally during the
Battle of Khalkhin Gol
The Battles of Khalkhin Gol (russian: Бои на Халхин-Голе; mn, Халхын голын байлдаан) were the decisive engagements of the undeclared Soviet–Japanese border conflicts involving the Soviet Union, Mongolia, ...
against Japan and in the
Winter War
The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...
with
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
. Although it was officially withdrawn from service in 1939, at the start of the
Great Patriotic War
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...
on 22 June 1941, the
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
had 516 operational TB-3s, with an additional 25 operated by the
Soviet Navy.
Stationed far from the USSR's western border, the ТB-3s avoided catastrophic losses during the first German air strikes, after which TB-3s from 3rd TBAP (Heavy Bomber Regiment) began flying night bombing missions on 23 June. A shortage of combat-ready aircraft also required daytime use of TB-3s without fighter escort and in this role the bombers, operating at low-to-medium altitudes, suffered heavy losses to enemy fighters and ground fire. By August 1941, TB-3s made up 25% of the Soviet bomber force and, operated by elite air force crews, were flying up to three combat missions per night.
The aircraft participated in all major battles through 1943, including the
first Battle of Smolensk, the
Battle of Moscow, the
Battle of Stalingrad, the
Siege of Leningrad
The siege of Leningrad (russian: links=no, translit=Blokada Leningrada, Блокада Ленинграда; german: links=no, Leningrader Blockade; ) was a prolonged military blockade undertaken by the Axis powers against the Soviet city of L ...
, and the
Battle of Kursk
The Battle of Kursk was a major World War II Eastern Front engagement between the forces of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union near Kursk in the southwestern USSR during late summer 1943; it ultimately became the largest tank battle in history. ...
. On 1 July 1945, 18th Air Army still had ten TB-3s on the active roster.
The TB-3 served extensively as a cargo and paratroop transport, carrying up to 35 soldiers in the latter role.
In the first five months of the war, the aircraft transported of cargo and 2,300 personnel.
The TB-3 was also used in several special projects as a fighter mothership in the
Zveno project Zveno (Russian: Звено, a military unit "Flight") was a parasite aircraft developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber mothership and two to five fighters. Depending on the varian ...
and for delivering light
T-27
The T-27 was a tankette produced in the 1930s by the Soviet Union. It was based on the design of the Carden Loyd tankette, bought under license from the United Kingdom in 1930.
Design
The Soviets were not fully satisfied with the Carden Loyd des ...
,
T-37, and
T-38 tanks. On 1 August 1941, a pair of TB-3s in ''Zveno-SPB'' configuration, each with two
Polikarpov I-16
The Polikarpov I-16 (russian: Поликарпов И-16) is a Soviet single-engine single-seat fighter aircraft of revolutionary design; it was the world's first low-wing cantilever monoplane fighter with retractable landing gear to attain ...
fighters carrying a pair of bombs, destroyed an oil depot with no losses in the port of
Constanța
Constanța (, ; ; rup, Custantsa; bg, Кюстенджа, Kyustendzha, or bg, Констанца, Konstantsa, label=none; el, Κωνστάντζα, Kōnstántza, or el, Κωνστάντια, Kōnstántia, label=none; tr, Köstence), histo ...
,
Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
.
On 11 and 13 August 1941, ''Zveno-SPB'' successfully damaged the
King Carol I Bridge
The Anghel Saligny Bridge (formerly King Carol I Bridge) is a complex of two railroad truss bridges in Romania, across the Danube River and the Borcea branch of the Danube, connecting the regions of Muntenia and Dobruja. The bridge is listed i ...
over the
Danube
The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
in Romania.
Zveno operations ended in the autumn of 1942 due to the vulnerability of the motherships.
In recognition of the role TB-3 played during the war, three aircraft were included in the first post-war air parade on 18 June 1945.
Variants
Source: Shavrov
;TB-3 4M-17F
:The first production version, comprised about half of all TB-3s built.
;TB-3 4M-34
:
Mikulin AM-34
The Mikulin AM-34 (M-34) was a Soviet mass-produced, liquid-cooled, aircraft engine of domestic design. Its initial development was troubled, but it eventually became one of the most successful Soviet aircraft engines of the 1930s. It was utilize ...
engines with revised radiators, added oil coolers, several dozen built.
;TB-3 4M-34R
:Mikulin AM-34R engines with reduction gearboxes providing significantly improved performance, additional turret aft of the tail fin, tail wheels with hydraulic brakes, aerodynamic refinements of the wing-fuselage join and radiators, retractable wind generators.
;TB-3 4AM-34RD
:A series of long-range demonstration aircraft with streamlined fuselages and wheel brakes. Some aircraft had single main gear wheels in diameter and three-blade metal propellers. Used for flights to
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
,
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, and
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1933–1934.
;TB-3 4AM-34RN
:High-altitude version with AM-34RN engines, four-blade propellers on inboard engines and two-blade on outboard, single main wheels, turrets upgraded to
ShKAS machine gun
The ShKAS (Shpitalny-Komaritski Aviatsionny Skorostrelny, Shpitalny-Komaritski rapid fire for aircraft; Russian: ШКАС - Шпитального-Комарицкого Авиационный Скорострельный) is a 7.62 mm calibre ...
s, top speed at , service ceiling . Tested in August–October 1935 but did not enter production as the basic TB-3 design was becoming obsolete.
;TB-3 4AM-34FRN/FRNV
:AM-34FRN/FRNV engines with increased power output and four-blade propellers, aerodynamic refinements including streamlined turrets, main wheels with brakes, top speed over .
;TB-3D
:Proposed variant with
Charomsky AN-1 diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
s of and projected range of , did not enter production as other performance characteristics were inferior to TB-3 4AM-34RN.
;G-2
:Retired TB-3s with M-17 and M-34 engines converted for freight duties with
Aeroflot
PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...
;ANT-6-4M-34R "Aviaarktika"
:TB-3 modified for the 1937 expedition to the
North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Mag ...
with enclosed cockpit, single main wheels, three-blade metal propellers.
Operators
;
*
Nationalist China Air Force
;
*
Aeroflot
PJSC AeroflotRussian Airlines (russian: ПАО "Аэрофло́т — Росси́йские авиали́нии", ), commonly known as Aeroflot ( or ; russian: Аэрофлот, , ), is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Russia. The ...
*
Soviet Air Force
The Soviet Air Forces ( rus, Военно-воздушные силы, r=Voyenno-vozdushnyye sily, VVS; literally "Military Air Forces") were one of the air forces of the Soviet Union. The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The Air Forces ...
*
Soviet Naval Aviation
Soviet Naval Aviation (AV-MF, for ''Авиация военно-морского флота'' in Russian, or ''Aviatsiya voyenno-morskogo flota'', literally "aviation of the military maritime fleet") was the naval aviation arm of the Soviet Na ...
Accidents and incidents
;17 March 1938
:A Polyarnaya Aviatsiya G-2 (CCCP-N210) crashed on landing at Bukhta Teplits; ground fog forced the crew to perform a go-around. As a result of poor
CRM the aircraft re-entered the fog. Descent was continued until the left landing ski struck snow, ripping off the landing gear and causing the aircraft to crash; all seven on board survived, but the aircraft was written off.
;14 March 1941
:An Aeroflot G-2 (CCCP-L1496) stalled and crashed near Begovat, Uzbekistan after the pilot attempted to climb following a loss of altitude caused by severe turbulence, killing the six crew. The aircraft was operating a Tashkent–Fergana cargo service.
;27 August 1941
:An Aeroflot G-2 (CCCP-L1996) struck a hill near Kizyl-Arvat, Turkmenistan while attempting to make a forced landing after the crew failed to locate their destination, killing six of nine on board. The aircraft was operating a Tashkent–Ashgabat cargo service.
;26 December 1941
:An Aeroflot G-2 (CCCP-L3043) crashed near Dmitriyevka (now Bayserke), Kazakhstan after the aircraft lost altitude while turning, killing 26 of 34 on board. The aircraft was operating an Alma-Ata (now Almaty)–Karaganda–Kazan passenger service with high-ranking Kazakh party and state officials. This crash is the deadliest involving the G-2.
;29 December 1941
:An Aeroflot G-2 (CCCP-L2010) crashed in the Amu Darya River near Chardzhou Airport after the aircraft rapidly lost altitude due to spatial disorientation of the pilot, killing seven of 36 on board. The aircraft was operating a Chardzhou–Urgench passenger service.
Specifications (TB-3 4M-17F, 1934 model)
See also
References
Notes
Bibliography
* Duffy, Paul and Andrei Kandalov. ''Tupolev: The Man and His Aircraft''. Shrewsbury, UK:Airlife Publishing, 1996. .
* Gordon, Yefim and Vladimir Rigmant. ''OKB Tupolev: A History of the Design Bureau and its Aircraft''. Hinckley, Leicestershire, UK: Midland Counties Publishing, 2005. .
* Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft from 1875 – 1995''. London:Osprey Aerospace, 1995. .
* Kulikov Victor and Michael C. Masslov. ''Les Bombardiers Quadrimoteurs Sovjetiques Tupolev TB3 & Petkyakov PE8'' (in French). Outreau, France: Lela Presse, 2001. .
*
* Shavrov V.B. ''Istoriia konstruktskii samoletov v SSSR do 1938 g. (3 izd.)''. Mashinostroenie, 1985. .
* Vanags-Baginskis, Alex. "Chronicle of the Remarkable ANT-6...Progenitor of Blackjack" ''
Air Enthusiast
''Air Enthusiast'' was a British, bi-monthly, aviation magazine, published by the Key Publishing group. Initially begun in 1974 as ''Air Enthusiast Quarterly'', the magazine was conceived as a historical adjunct to '' Air International'' maga ...
Number 35, January–April 1988''. Bromley, Kent, UK: Pilot Press . pp. 1–18.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tupolev Tb-3
1930s Soviet bomber aircraft
TB-003
World War II Soviet heavy bombers
Four-engined tractor aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1930
Four-engined piston aircraft