Speaking of the most famous bomber during World War II, we might first think of the B-29 bomber developed by the United States. Why did you think of it in the first place? Its name during World War II is unknown. It dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan in the latter part of World War II, which also established the situation of Japan's surrender. This bomber made great contributions to the United States during World War II. The B-29 bomber was a four-engine heavy bomber and was the largest bomber among the air forces of the World War II countries.
B-29 four-engine heavy bomber
Speaking of the American B-29 four-engine heavy bomber, many people may know it, so let’s talk about the Soviet four-engine heavy bomber during World War II. Many people may not know that the Soviet Union had only one four-engine heavy bomber during World War II, and it was the Pe-8 heavy bomber. The Pe-8 heavy bomber was developed by the Soviet Union before World War II. This bomber once participated in the bombing mission against Berlin, Germany in the early stage of World War II. Compared with the record of the American B-29 bomber, this bomber is not worth mentioning. I am afraid this is the reason why the Pe-8 heavy bomber is unknown. Today we will talk about the birth road and final fate of the Soviet Pe-8 heavy bomber.
TB-3 heavy bomber comics
Pe-8 heavy bomber development background
After the end of the First World War, bombers were valued by many countries in the world. The country started a competition in bombers. Although the United States, Germany and other countries have made great progress in the field of bombers, as the newly established new regime, the Soviet Union is also courageously catching up. The high level of the Soviet Union believes that it is necessary to develop heavy bombers. Later, with the efforts of a large number of Soviet engineers, the world's first four-engine heavy bomber with an all-metal fuselage was successfully developed, that is, the TB-3 heavy bomber. The TB-3 heavy bomber was installed in the Soviet air force in the early 1930s. With the emergence of bombers from the United States, Germany and other countries, the Soviet Union believed that the TB-3 heavy bomber was no longer suitable for combat missions. Although the aircraft has established a strong long-range aviation force for the Soviet Union, it cannot change the backward situation. In order not to lag behind other countries, the Soviet Union began to develop new heavy bombers. It was in this context that the Pe-8 heavy bomber was born.
The predecessor of the Pe-8 bomber-ANT-40 made ANT-42
In the early 1930s, the TB-3 heavy bomber developed by Tupolev began to be installed in batches. After all, it was the first all-metal four-engine heavy bomber of the Soviet Union. Although it has been continuously improved since its introduction, it is in a backward stage compared with the new bombers of Germany, the United States and other countries. The high-level Soviet leaders realized that the TB-3 heavy bomber would be intercepted by fighters from other countries in the event of a war due to its slow speed and other problems, so it would be difficult for the TB-3 heavy bomber to shoulder heavy tasks. At this time, the Soviet leaders made up their minds to develop new heavy bombers to replace the TB-3 heavy bombers.
The Soviet Air Force’s Pe-8 bomber
When the Soviet high-levels proposed to develop a new heavy bomber, they began to put forward specific indicators for the new heavy bomber. The index of the TB-3 heavy bomber is doubled. The high level of the Soviet Union put forward such a high index because the Soviet Union had a lot of trust in its own country's aviation industry. At that time, the Soviet Union built the world's first four-engine heavy bomber with a metal fuselage at the most difficult time. The indicators for the new heavy bomber proposed by the Soviet high-level officials are: the speed of the aircraft must reach 440 kilometers per hour, the load of bombs is about 3 tons, the practical ceiling is 10,000 meters, and the range is 4500 kilometers. In addition, the Soviet Air Force also hopes that the aircraft has air combat capabilities and needs to have strong firepower in the air.
After the Soviet Union proposed this indicator, many engineers thought it was too difficult and many people were unwilling to take over. At this time, Tupolev resolutely took over the task and began to develop a new heavy bomber. Tupolev was able to take over this task because Tupolev also developed a "SB-2" lightType fast bomber. In this way, Tupolev began to develop a new four-engine heavy bomber based on the ANT-40 (the prototype of the SB-2 bomber). The new four-engine heavy bomber project was named ANT-42.
ANT-40 (the prototype of the SB-2 bomber) but used many new design concepts, such as streamlined fuselage, all-metal fuselage, Fully enclosed cockpit, semi-circular self-defense machine gun tower, etc., this new scheme was first introduced by the Soviet Air Force. With the progress made in the field of Soviet domestic engines, the aircraft was mass-produced. Officially due to the emergence of the ANT-40 (the prototype of the SB-2 bomber) project, Tupolev was able to develop the ANT-42 four-engine heavy bomber.
Tupolev designed the SB-2 bomber
The road to the birth of the Pe-8 bomber
After Tupolev took over the development task of the four-engine heavy bomber, The direction for the new four-engine heavy bomber was immediately set. Tupolev believed that the aircraft must have an all-metal fuselage, a cantilevered mid-wing single vertical tail layout, in order to be able to achieve the speed of the aircraft to reach the target proposed by the Soviet Air Force. Tupolev plans to install 4 liquid-cooled engines. In terms of engine, it is planned to use a single AM-34 liquid-cooled engine designed for Mikulin. Due to the relatively small engine power, Tupolev installed an 860 on the upper mid fuselage directly above the center of the main wing. The horsepower M-100 liquid-cooled engine is mainly used to provide supercharged air for the other four main engines to maintain normal operation at high altitude.
Tupolev and his team are in the process of developing the ANT-42 project. There was a "purge" in the Soviet Union at that time, and many design engineers were imprisoned, even Tupolev was no exception. In this way, the ANT-42 project was taken over by Petlyakov, who mainly solved the engine problem for it. Later Petlyakov was also put in prison, and the project could only be transferred to other engineers for design. In November 1937, the construction of the first prototype was completed. Due to engine problems, the test flight took several months. During the flight test, although the speed of the aircraft reached 400 kilometers per hour, the aircraft encountered problems such as engine overheating during the flight.
ANT-42’s first prototype
Later, engineers improved the machine. On the first unit, the fuselage was lengthened and replaced with a more powerful AM-34FRNV engine, two fuel tanks were added, and an autopilot was added. The improved second prototype has not only improved its power, but also its range. The second prototype was finally completed in May 1938, and it flew for the first time on July 26. After the first flight, the aircraft was mass-produced by the Soviet Air Force. Due to the impact of the Soviet "Great Purge", the aircraft only began production in the second half of 1939, and was installed in 1940. The unit was later called the TB-7 heavy bomber, and was given the official designation Pe-8 by the Soviet Air Force in 1941.
Body structure
Pe-8 bomber is a four-engine heavy bomber developed before World War II, and it is also the only four-engine heavy bomber installed by the Soviet Air Force during World War II. The overall data of the aircraft is not much different from the TB-3 heavy bomber. According to data, the aircraft has a length of 23.6 meters, a wingspan of 39.13 meters, a height of 6.2 meters, and a wing area of 188.7 square meters. The TB-3 heavy bomber has a skinned metal structure, while the Pe-8 bomber uses an all-metal semi-hard shell structure. The weight of the fuselage is much higher than that of the TB-3 heavy bomber.
Pe-8 bomber three views
Pe-8 bomber adopts the overall layout of cantilevered medium single wing and single vertical tail. This layout is mainly for good aerodynamics, so as to achieve the purpose of fast flight. The fuselage and wings of the aircraft adopt a sleek and streamlined design. The front fuselage section is elliptical, and the middle fuselage section is pear-shaped. The front three-point landing gear is used. It mainly consists of a cockpit, a bomb bay, and a turret cabin. . In terms of crew, the aircraft has a total of 11 people, including two drivers(Driver, co-pilot), a navigator, a bombardier, a correspondent, five weapon shooters, and an engineer. In terms of avionics, the aircraft is equipped with automatic driving, wireless power, navigation systems, etc.
Power design
Pe-8 bomber used four AM-34 engines in the early stage of the engine. However, due to the low power of the engine and the output power of 800 horsepower, it was replaced with an AM-35A engine. Mass production began gradually. It is reported that the horsepower output of the AM-35A engine has reached more than 1,100 horsepower. When the AM-35A engine was originally used for mass production, the AM-35A engine was out of stock, and finally the M-82 air-cooled engine had to be used. The output power of the M-82 air-cooled engine reached 1850 horsepower. The speed of the 82 air-cooled engine has also increased a lot, mainly due to a longer range, which is said to be 5800 kilometers.
The Pe-8 bomber parked on the airport
Weapon design
In terms of weapons, the Pe-8 bomber has a bomb bay under the fuselage, which can carry about 4 tons Of ammunition. In addition, there are also two external hanging points under the main wing between the inner nacelle and the fuselage, which can mount two 500 kg bombs. The ammunition carried in the bomb bay is mainly FAB-5000 type. High-explosive bomb, the mounted missile is VAP-500, the aircraft can carry a total of about 5 tons of ammunition. In addition, the air combat capability of the aircraft is very strong. The aircraft is equipped with two 7.62 mm machine guns, two 12.7 mm machine guns, and two 20 mm cannons. The aircraft is equipped with these machine guns and aerial cannons, which are completely designed with the indicators proposed by the Soviet high-level officials.
engineers are repairing the Pe-8 bomber and supplying
to upgrade the
Pe-8 bomber from the prototype to the final discontinuation, and a total of 93 aircraft were produced. Among the 93 planes, mainly bombers, a small number of transport planes and Pe-8VIP planes. Since the Pe-8 bomber came out, it has been improved, mainly due to the engine problem. During the period, many engines were replaced, such as AM-35A engine, M-30 engine, M-40 engine, M-82 Engine etc. It is precisely because of the engine problem that the aircraft made the Soviet Air Force uninterested.
Performance parameters
Pe-8 bomber has an empty weight of 18 tons, a maximum take-off weight of 35 tons, can carry about 5 tons of ammunition, and a maximum flight speed of Mach 0.36 (speed of 440 thousand per hour) M), the practical ceiling of the aircraft is 8400 meters. The aircraft has a combat radius of more than 2,300 kilometers and a maximum range of 5,000 kilometers.
Pe-8 bomber comics
Summary
Throughout the Pe-8 bomber was only produced 93 after its advent. After the outbreak of World War II, the aircraft served as the Soviet Air Force. The long-range bombing force participated in the bombing mission of Berlin. I remember that once, the Soviet Air Force dispatched 12 Pe-8 bombers, and in the end only 4 completed the mission, mainly due to navigation and engine failures. In the end, it spread to the ears of the Soviet high-level leaders, and the heavy bombers that were originally not favored were even worse. From then on, the Soviet high-level seldom let this bomber perform bombing missions, until the aircraft was later improved into a transport aircraft, to carry out transportation business, has been in service until the 1950s. Although the aircraft was not valued by the high level of the Soviet Union, the aircraft also made a lot of contributions to the Soviet Union in the early stage of World War II.
