The Ilyushin Il-102 was a Soviet experimental jet-powered

ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

Ilyushin The public joint stock company Ilyushin Aviation Complex, operating as Ilyushin (russian: Илью́шин) or as Ilyushin Design Bureau, is a former Soviet and now a Russian aircraft manufacturer and design bureau, founded in 1933 by Sergey ...

. Once described as the "most gorgeously ugly combat jet ever," this aircraft was never chosen for production, being surpassed by the

Su-25 The Sukhoi Su-25 ''Grach'' (russian: Грач ('' rook''); NATO reporting name: Frogfoot) is a subsonic, single-seat, twin-engine jet aircraft developed in the Soviet Union by Sukhoi. It was designed to provide close air support for Soviet ...

. Only a few development prototypes were built.

Design and development

In 1967, the

Soviet Air Forces 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 ...

drew up a specification for a jet-powered ''shturmovik'' or armoured ground attack aircraft. While Sukhoi designed an all-new single seat aircraft, the

, Ilyushin proposed a modified version of their Il-40 of 1953 under the designation Il-42, which, unlike the Sukhoi, was a two-seat aircraft with a remotely-controlled rear gun turret. The design was rejected by the Soviet Air Forces, but Ilyushin decided to continue in-house development regardless, renaming the programme Il-102.''World Air Power Journal'' Summer 1994, p. 25. The Il-102 first prototype flew on 25 September 1982, with a second airframe built for static tests, and carried out 250 test flights until it was grounded in 1984 when the engine life expired.''World Air Power Journal'' Summer 1994, p. 27. IŁ-102 NTW 3 95 4

The Il-102 was a low-winged monoplane with moderately swept (30 degrees) wings, powered by two Klimov RD-33I turbofans (non-afterburning versions of the engines that power the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter). It was highly unusual for its time in having a rear gun turret, something not seen in ground-attack aircraft since the

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Il-2 Shturmovik and Il-10, the Il-102's spiritual ancestors, controlled remotely by a gunner sitting in a cockpit above the trailing edge of the wing. The crew cockpits, engines and fuel tanks were armoured to protect against ground fire. Although development was abandoned in 1984, the prototype Il-102 was publicly unveiled at the 1992 Mosaeroshow air show at Zhukovsky, being claimed to be available for export.''World Air Power Journal'' Summer 1994, pp. 24–28. IL-102 Winter 2008

As of 2005, the prototype No. 10201 was placed on display at the Gromov Flight Research Institute.

Specifications

References

Notes

Bibliography

*"Ilyushin Il-102: Aborted jet shturmovik". ''World Air Power Journal'', Volume 17 Summer 1994. London:Aerospace Publishing, 1994. . pp. 24–29. * Gunston, Bill. ''The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995''. London:Osprey, 1995. .

External links