The Tupolev Tu-123 Yastreb (Hawk, Russian: Ястреб) was one of the earliest Sovietreconnaissancedrones that began development in 1960. Sometimes referred to as the "DBR-1", it was introduced into active service in 1964.
The Tu-123 was a long-range, high-altitude supersonic strategic unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, in a form reminiscent of a big dart, conceptually somewhat similar to the United States' D-21. It carried both film cameras and SIGINT payloads.
The Tu-123 was ground-launched with JATO boosting and powered by a KR-15 afterburningturbojet in flight. The KR-15 was a lower-cost, short-life, expendable version of the R-15 engine used on the twin-engine, Mach 3-class Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor. The Tu-123 itself was expendable, parachuting its payload to the ground for recovery.
Historyedit
Developmentedit
The Tu-123 was a development of the proposed Tupolev Tu-121 supersonic nuclear-armed cruise missile program. After the cancellation of that project in favor of ballistic missiles, the design was modified for a high-altitude reconnaissance role. The project was officially launched on 16 August 1960, under the designation “DBR-1” with the Tupolev Design Bureau designation of “I123K” (later changed to “Tu-123”). Factory testing was completed in September 1961 and flight tests by December 1963. The new UAV entered active service on 23 May 1964. Mass production was at Voronezh Factory Number 64, and from 1964 to 1972 a total of 52 units were manufactured.
Operational historyedit
The Tu-123 served with Soviet Air Force intelligence units stationed in the western border military districts until 1979. It had (theoretically) the range to cover all of Central and Western Europe, and performed well in training exercises. However, the expense of operating an expendable system was unsatisfactory. This led to the development of the Tu-139 Yastreb 2, a reusable version which could land on unprepared airstrips. It was never put into production.[1]
The Tu-123 was gradually removed from service, and replaced by the MiG-25R, a reconnaissance version of the Foxbat.
^. Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2010-03-22.
This article contains material that originally came from the web article Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain.
January 01, 1970
tupolev, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, 2014, learn, when,. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Tupolev Tu 123 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2014 Learn how and when to remove this message The Tupolev Tu 123 Yastreb Hawk Russian Yastreb was one of the earliest Soviet reconnaissance drones that began development in 1960 Sometimes referred to as the DBR 1 it was introduced into active service in 1964 Tu 123 Yastreb Tu 123 at Khodynka Field Moscow Role Reconnaissance Drone National origin Soviet Union Manufacturer Tupolev First flight 1960 Introduction 1964 Retired 1979 Status out of service retired Primary user Soviet Union Produced 1964 1972 Number built 52 Contents 1 Design 2 History 2 1 Development 2 2 Operational history 3 Specifications 4 ReferencesDesign editThe Tu 123 was a long range high altitude supersonic strategic unmanned reconnaissance aircraft in a form reminiscent of a big dart conceptually somewhat similar to the United States D 21 It carried both film cameras and SIGINT payloads The Tu 123 was ground launched with JATO boosting and powered by a KR 15 afterburning turbojet in flight The KR 15 was a lower cost short life expendable version of the R 15 engine used on the twin engine Mach 3 class Mikoyan Gurevich MiG 25 Foxbat interceptor The Tu 123 itself was expendable parachuting its payload to the ground for recovery History editDevelopment edit The Tu 123 was a development of the proposed Tupolev Tu 121 supersonic nuclear armed cruise missile program After the cancellation of that project in favor of ballistic missiles the design was modified for a high altitude reconnaissance role The project was officially launched on 16 August 1960 under the designation DBR 1 with the Tupolev Design Bureau designation of I123K later changed to Tu 123 Factory testing was completed in September 1961 and flight tests by December 1963 The new UAV entered active service on 23 May 1964 Mass production was at Voronezh Factory Number 64 and from 1964 to 1972 a total of 52 units were manufactured Operational history edit The Tu 123 served with Soviet Air Force intelligence units stationed in the western border military districts until 1979 It had theoretically the range to cover all of Central and Western Europe and performed well in training exercises However the expense of operating an expendable system was unsatisfactory This led to the development of the Tu 139 Yastreb 2 a reusable version which could land on unprepared airstrips It was never put into production 1 The Tu 123 was gradually removed from service and replaced by the MiG 25R a reconnaissance version of the Foxbat Specifications editGeneral characteristics Crew none Length 27 84 m 91 ft 4 in Wingspan 8 41 m 27 ft 7 in Height 4 78 m 15 ft 8 in Empty weight 11 450 kg 25 250 lb Gross weight 35 610 kg 78 520 lb Powerplant 1 Tumansky KR 15 98 1 kN 22 046 lbf thrust Performance Maximum speed 2 700 km h 1 675 mph 1 456 kn Range 3 200 km 2 000 mi 1 700 nmi Service ceiling 22 800 m 74 800 ft References edit PSC Tupolev Archived from the original on 2011 09 27 Retrieved 2010 03 22 This article contains material that originally came from the web article Unmanned Aerial Vehicles by Greg Goebel which exists in the Public Domain Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tupolev Tu 123 amp oldid 1210088067, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
