The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-3 was the first of three interrelated fighter prototype programs developed by the Mikoyan-Gurevich design bureau in the

Soviet Union 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, ...

in the mid/late 1950s – starting with the I-3, continuing with the I-7 and finally evolving into the

I-75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from St ...

. On several occasions airframes were rebuilt and/or reused, both within a program or in a succeeding program. All the aircraft in the I-3 program were affected by delays in the development of the Klimov VK-3 afterburning bypass turbojet engine, and its cancellation and replacement by the Lyulka AL-7F turbojet engine.

Design and development

Both the I-3 and I-3P were ordered by the Council of Ministers on June 3, 1953 – the I-3 as a frontline fighter and the I-3P as an all-weather interceptor. They were developed in parallel with the I-1/2 program but had nothing in common with it except a similar wing. On the other hand, the I-3's visual appearance was so similar to the

Sukhoi The JSC Sukhoi Company (russian: ПАО «Компания „Сухой“», ) is a Russian aircraft manufacturer (formerly Soviet), headquartered in Begovoy District, Northern Administrative Okrug, Moscow, that designs both civilian and mili ...

S-1 (the Su-7 prototype) that a common design specification and fundamental research source seems likely. Compared to the

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (russian: Микоян и Гуревич МиГ-19; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft, the world's first mass-produced supersonic aircraft. It was the ...

the I-3U was slightly larger and heavier, but aerodynamically very similar.

Variants

I-3 (I-380)

The I-3 had a longer forward fuselage compared to the I-1 and the cockpit was positioned further ahead of the 60 degree swept wing. Armament consisted of three 30 mm Nudelman-Richter

NR-30 The Nudelman-Rikhter NR-30 was a Soviet autocannon widely used in military aircraft of the Soviet Union and Warsaw Pact. It was designed by A.E. Nudelman and A. A. Rikhter, entering service in 1954. Description Prior to the introduction of th ...

cannon, each with 65 rounds – one in the left wing root and two on the right side. The Klimov VK-3 turbojet was never provisioned or fitted to the airframe. In 1956 the I-3 was converted into the I-3U.

I-3P

Developed in parallel with the I-3, but equipped with the same Almaz search radar as the I-1. Armament consisted of two 30 mm Nudelman-Richter

cannon. In addition, two ORO-57K rocket launchers, each with 16 55 mm ARS-57 ( S-5) unguided rockets or two 190 mm TRS-190 unguided rockets or two 212 mm ARS-212 unguided rockets or two 250 kg bombs could be carried on pylons under the wing. Development was halted in late 1954.

I-3U (I-5)

The I-3U was modified from the unfinished I-3; the fuselage was stretched 93 cm (from 12.27 m to 13.20 m), the nose redesigned to accommodate the Uragan-1 fire control system (hence the U in the designation) above the inlet and an Almaz search radar with a search/track range of 17 km was fitted in the cone centered in the inlet. Armament consisted of two 30 mm Nudelman-Richter NR-30 cannon with symmetrical auto ranging connected to the radar. In addition to the fire control system, Mikoyan-Gurevich also used, for the first time, titanium alloys in the rear fuselage where high temperatures were expected. The conversion from I-3 to I-3U was completed in 1956. Flight testing took place on an irregular basis in 1956–1958 due to engine flaws and frequent modifications. A total of 34 test flights were carried out, with design bureau test pilot Georgiy Mossolov reaching a speed of 1960 km/h at attitude on one flight. The program was cancelled on June 17, 1958.

Specifications (I-3U)

References

External links

* http://wp.scn.ru/mig_okb/planes-exp-i380 * http://wp.scn.ru/mig_okb/planes-exp-i410 * http://wp.scn.ru/mig_okb/planes-exp-i420 {{Mikoyan aircraft I-003 1950s Soviet fighter aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union Single-engined jet aircraft Aircraft first flown in 1956