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Sukhoi T-4 (Sotka)

1972 COLD WAR X-PLANE

Sukhoi T-4 (Sotka) History

When it was learned that the Americans were working on a high-speed, high-altitude strategic bomber capable of reaching Mach 3, the Soviet industry had to develop a similar nuclear delivery platform to keep pace. Industrial pillars such as Sukhoi, Tupolev, and Yakovlev submitted their designs to meet the 1963 requirements, and by mid-1964 the Sukhoi proposal was selected.

The aircraft that will be a strategic bomber with secondary reconnaissance capability is the Sukhoi "T-4" and is known under various program names such as "Aircraft 100" and "Project 100". Therefore, the designation "Su-100" is often associated with the design.

The T-4 program is complex, requiring extensive research and data collection, as well as significant funding and manpower. High speed/aerial work relies heavily on the use of titanium, which is difficult and expensive to machine.

The bomber was expected to exceed the Mach 3 barrier, further complicating the design. The end result is an aircraft that somewhat mimics the design lines of the competing XB-70.

Regarding the North American XB-70 program, the aircraft-bomber program was discontinued in 1961 as it was becoming an expensive - albeit promising - effort, and advances in Soviet air defenses began to limit the effectiveness of high-speed aircraft over modern battlefields aircraft bomber. The two prototypes were relegated to experimental status, and the mid-air collision of one of the planes in June 1966 permanently stained the Valkyrie's legacy.

Another ends its days as a well-preserved museum exhibit after flight time.

The Soviets eventually followed suit, abandoning their quest for a high-speed, high-altitude, nuclear-capable Mach 3 bomber, an expensive, high-tech aircraft that was believed to have little value in a world of advanced missile technology. Furthermore, the Soviet Air Force could quantitatively expand its forces by procuring more smaller aircraft of cheaper design, compared to dedicating substantial resources to a cohesive collection of larger bombers.

As it turns out, when the service decided to take orders for the fighter type, the T-4 was discontinued on January 22, 1974, and its performance was never really tested. The prototype was in the air for just over ten hours out of ten flights.

The only completed airworthy prototype - the next three were never completed, and the fifth and sixth forms never surpassed their paper stage - joined XB-70 as a surviving museum display, housed in The Central Air Force Museum on the outskirts of Moscow. and many other flying objects of the Cold War era.