Western Artists' Concepts of Soviet aircraft during the Cold War

[flateric]

Cute remains of Cold War...Lot of placards 'This Is The Threat' issued by McDonnell Douglas in 80s. Note 'Su-19 Fencer' - obviously, hard attempt to imagine Su-24

 

[LowObservable]

Whoa! Does that take LO back in time... I had a set of those things once, maybe still hiding in filing cabinet.
Sources were limited at the time and one had to make do... AvWeek occasionally got sight of intel materials of one kind or another, but reproduction and (I suspect) sketching were verboten and strange results (like original Backfire with tiny swing-wing panels) ensued. Flug Revue got some excellent pix of new-in-service types, acquired by Military Missions in East Germany, but the practice was highly unofficial, probably illegal and most likely not even tacitly sanctioned by high sheriffs.
Best bet was to treat everything as source material and analyse as far as possible, avoiding tendency to mirror-image...
Of course, some things turn out not to have been as fake as one might have thought... for instance, the "canard MiG-21 replacement" could have been Ye-8. And that tailless-delta Chinese fighter... suffice it to say that one saw a very interesting satellite image a year or so ago, that source would not release.

 

[Just call me Ray]

Cute remains of Cold War...Lot of placards 'This Is The Threat' issued by McDonnell Douglas in 80s. Note 'Su-19 Fencer' - obviously, hard attempt to imagine Su-24

Woah, can you tell about the history behind those placards? An attempt to my McDD to say "This is the Threat, and the McDD F-15 Eagle is the answer?"

 

[flateric]

I've just found them on eBay.

 

[LowObservable]

Flateric, I'm blamed sure that those are from the 1970s rather than the 1980s based on where I remember seeing them. (Damn! Langley or the Lubyanka... so hard to remember after all those pentothol martinis.) But the idea was that the Soviet Union was modernizing and we wer not going to be looking at just piles of MiG-21s and Su-7s for ever.

 

[frank]

I've got a set of those too, left over from the USAR unit that was at my airport until '96.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

1984 way-of-thinking of modern Soviet a/c...An-124 was An-400 tnen. From Bill Gunston's Illustrated Guide to Modern Fighters...

Actually, An-124 was Izdeliye 400, so it was the Antonov "400", just not the An-400.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Well, I found the original mention of "Fearless" in 1971. Perhaps it was a US "design study" of a possible Soviet response to the F-15 program made during the F-15 development?

Flight comes to the rescue:

In this context the majority of Grumman briefings to the US Navy and to potential customers are based on the comparative performance of the Tomcat against four aircraft: the MiG-25 Foxbat, a hypothetical Soviet fighter codenamed Fearless and estimated to have flown last year, the Fishbed-J, and the F-4J Phantom. The Foxbat has from time to time hypnotised the American Administration with its Mach 3/80,000ft performance and is considered to represent the upper end of the adversaries which the F-14 may have to fight. Fearless is an extrapolation of Soviet technology thought to represent a new variable-geometry air-superiority fighter by Mikoyan, with a weight and speed of about 40,000 lb and Mach 2.6.

http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1973/1973%20-%202460.html

 

[Antonio]

From reply#21

Also from "Avión" but from March 1956 issue.

This is an hypotetical nuclear powered bomber

I have found the origin of this drawing here

Retro-Futurismus: Eberhard Binder-Staßfurt - Gigant Atom

Futurismus,Retrofuturismus,Weltraumkunst,Klaus Bürgle,Theo Lässig,Kurt Röschl,Eberhard Binder,Hans und Botho von Römer,Günter Radtke,Helmuth Ellgaard,Heinz Hähnel,Adelhelm Dietzel,Fliegende Untertassen

www.retro-futurismus.de

 

[Antonio]

Avion Revue (Spanish magazine) December 1983.

When An-124 was missidentified as An-400 in Western Press...at Avion Revue missidentified the missidentification = Antonov An-40

 

[Justo Miranda]

Hi,

I have some unknown drawings to me. Could anyone help me identify them, please?

 

[starviking]

Hi,

I have some unknown drawings to me. Could anyone help me identify them, please?

Hmm...Isn't that tailless delta in Buttler and Gordon's Soviet Fighter Projects?

Starviking

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

The overall configuration is similar to Antonov's "M" fighter design, and associated E-153 glider. A number of detail differences though.

 

[flateric]

Second tailless fighter is obviously someone's imagination from the Cold War era, but may be based on leaks on Antonov's OKB-153 'M' (Masha) fighter studies from late 40s - early 50s. Drawings are not a product of factory artist anyway - first of all, stars size are beyond any standarts, and cutaway is truly speculative - while a while was published here on 'M', no author has found anything like this in Antonov archives.

М (Маша) экпериментальный истребитель.

Антонов М ("Маша")

Photo shows E-153, unmotored flying testbed of 'M', which is closest thing to drawings, except lack of intakes, which glider just didn't need.

 

[borovik]

About soviet fighter : Last year I their own eye saw on one of the russian site this plane, as BICH-26 (1946).
Regrettably I have not saved their web address, and yesterday's (night), and present-day (matutinal) of the attempt nor to that have not brought... To my strong beliefs this is not reality. The Truth in answer Flateric. This is a collective image west artist early period of the cold war, for base plane Antonov's. in this instance, like other ROMBOIDS
fighter :

https://www.secretprojects.co.uk/threads/3266

We shall Take to example one of like sources book D.MYHRA "Secret aircraft designs of the third reich " Shiffer M.H.(see please ris.1) If upper drawing this I-270 "Zh" OKB Mikoyan, or LL-1 Cybin ;D then lower drawing An "M".
The Drawing 2 one more scenes from the same source.
(! Very indistinctive for soviet artist incommensurate stars!)
Respectfully yours Anatoliy.
(Apologize.Machine translation)

 

[lark]

In 'Air Force -the magazine of Air Power' March 1955
the straight winged aircraft is discribed as a rocket powered fighter
and designated Yak-21 !!! (by the author of the article)
Other sources - Le Moniteur de L'Aeronautique :May 1979 speaks about
the aircraft as the Type 11..

On the same pages in the Air Force magazine the Mig 'Romboid' ghost is also illustrated and
mention is made that it made test flight from Ramenskoye ....

Most probably these designs came from the fertile minds of some Western 'designers'
influenced by the Cold War paranoia.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Thanks everybody to help me classify these drawings in the right way.
I have obtained a copy of the Flugzeug article and found the drawing in the book by David Myhra.

I thought that the Russian airplane could be a development from the German Arado E-583 project (please see attached drawings).

I was not sure whether the twin Starfighter was a serious project as this type of double fuselage airplanes usually have a common tailplane that is more structurally efficient.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Via Carlo Godel

 

[Zizi6785]

Very interesting!
As old Aurora kits:

 

[hesham]

Hi,

the Tupolev Backfire speculation from Flightglobal in 1972, and the actual Backfire.

http://www.flightglobal.com/PDFArchive/View/1972/1972 - 2865.html

 

[Jschmus]

I was looking around Wikipedia, and I found the following image in the article about the Su-25.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Su-25artistconcept.jpg

 

[Jemiba]

Not too bad, I think, if the only basis perhaps was a blurred planview photo from a satellite.

 

[frank]

This one was from one of the early '80s USDOD series pubs, "Soviet Military Power 198x". 1983 I think.

I was looking around Wikipedia, and I found the following image in the article about the Su-25.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b2/Su-25artistconcept.jpg

 

[hesham]

Hi,

also Sukhoi Su-1 and Su-2.
http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1956/1956%20-%201040.html?search=vtol%20canberra%20aircraft

 

[Jemiba]

"Sukhoi Su-1 and Su-2"
Well, although in this case at least the manufacturer was identified correctly
and the designation was wisely marked as "Flight designation" .

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Hughes Air Defence Systems - Soviet Stealth Bomber - "The Threat".

 

[sferrin]

That's a nice one.

 

[Merv_P]

That's a nice one.

Ditto on that. Did you get this off the DVIC site or from elsewhere - and is there a higher-res version available?

 

[flateric]

It's from Hughes brochure

 

[Tuomasn]

Looks like the wings would have corrugated skin panels - must be really stealthy ;D

 

[Jemiba]

Based on a late Junkers design, reminiscent of the latest stealthy version of
the Ju 52, which was intended for the invasion of New York by paratroopers.
And still today most people think, Hugo Junkers had used corrugated iron just
to achieve a better rigidity ! The attached photo is from a top secret exercise,
using a model in original scale. ;D

 

[frank]

Bomber or fighter? I saw it in JDW many years ago & they said it was a stealth fighter.

Hughes Air Defence Systems - Soviet Stealth Bomber - "The Threat".

 

[Trident]

Inspired by the SR-71 perhaps? There's more about it than the corrugated wing skin that reminds me of the Blackbird...

 

[Just call me Ray]

Based on a late Junkers design, reminiscent of the latest stealthy version of
the Ju 52, which was intended for the invasion of New York by paratroopers.
And still today most people think, Hugo Junkers had used corrugated iron just
to achieve a better rigidity ! The attached photo is from a top secret exercise,
using a model in original scale. ;D

Someone's been playing Red Alert 2 too much

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Bomber or fighter? I saw it in JDW many years ago & they said it was a stealth fighter.

Hughes Air Defence Systems - Soviet Stealth Bomber - "The Threat".

Actually it says "postulated stealth strike aircraft"

 

[hesham]

Hi,

in Flightglobal;the MiG-29 from 1983.

http://www.flightglobal.com/FlightPDFArchive/1983/1983%20-%200040.pdf

 

[gollevainen]

I wonder, is there much Soviet warship misidentification pics or drawings awailable?

 

[Justo Miranda]

Please see http://www.internetmodeler.com/2008/august/columns/nowandthen.php

 

[Justo Miranda]

From Reichdreams Nº19
Post.1

 

[Justo Miranda]

From Reichdreams Nº19
Post.2