The Tupolev Tu-360 was a proposed

hypersonic In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above. The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since ind ...

strategic bomber conceived by the

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 ...

design bureau in the 1980s. It utilized most of the same technologies as the Tupolev Tu-2000.Gordon, Yefim; Komissarov, Sergey (2013). Unflown wings : Soviet and Russian unrealized aircraft projects 1925-2010. Birmingham: Ian Allan Publishing Ltd. pp. 90-91. .

Design and development

The Tupolev OKB intended the Tu-360 as a potential replacement for the

Tupolev Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (russian: Туполев Ту-160 Белый лебедь, translit=Belyj Lebeď, translation=White Swan; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing heavy strategic bomber designed by the Tupolev Des ...

, like the Mach 4 Tupolev Tu-230. Although some sources refer to it as the Tupolev Tu-2000B, largely because it utilized the same

liquid hydrogen Liquid hydrogen (LH2 or LH2) is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point of 33 K. However, for it to be in a fully l ...

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an ass ...

engine technology as the Tu-2000, it was officially called Tu-360 in the project index. The Tu-360 had the same layout as the Tu-230 but was much larger and faster. Speeds at Mach 6 required the use of liquid hydrogen, and the weapons were to be housed in two bomb bays. Take-off weight was projected at around 350,000 kg, weapons load at 10,000 kg. Tupolev planned to build a subscale technology demonstrator weighing 176,370 pounds (80,000 kg) to test the flight characteristics of the Tu-360, but a lack of funds following the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

meant that the project was axed in 1992.Tu-2000
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, '' astronautix.com'', Retrieved 24 April 2010

Specifications

References

External links

SPACE TRANSPORT: Tupolev Tu-2000 Hyperplane – Russia
{{Tupolev aircraft Tu-0360 Delta-wing aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union Scramjet-powered aircraft Hypersonic aircraft