Ilyushin Il-30

Maximum speed: 1,000 km/h (622 mph) at 5,000 m (16,404 ft)
Range: 3,500 km (2,175 miles)
Service ceiling: m ( ft)
Rate of climb: m/min ( ft/min)
Wing loading: 375.5 kg/m² (76.9 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.24:1

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The Ilyushin Il-30 was a Soviet turbojet-powered tactical bomber designed as a higher-performance version of the Il-28. It was cancelled before the first prototype was completed.

1 Development
2 Specifications (estimated)

[edit] Development

The Il-30 was a follow-on to the Il-28, although design began on 21 June 1948, before the Il-28 had flown.

The configuration of the Il-30 took the Il-28 as a starting point, but had mid-mounted swept wings with a 35° sweep angle. It was intended to be powered by two new Lyulka TR-3 axial flow turbojet engines with 45.1 kN (10,140 lbf) thrust each in wing-mounted nacelles. Both the fuselage and nacelles were area ruled. The landing gear -- the first bicycle landing gear on a Soviet aircraft -- were housed within the fuselage. Fixed armament was to be six 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon, two fixed forward and two pairs in dorsal and ventral turrets behind the cockpit. Like most Soviet bombers of the period, it had a glazed nose for a bombardier.

The initial results were favorable, and a full-scale mockup was formally reviewed in March 1949. The prototype was completed by August 1949, but an incident involving the rival swept-wing Tupolev Tu-82 led to delays. By the following year, the Il-30 program had lost momentum as the Ilyushin OKB concentrated on new variants of the Il-28. The Il-30 was formally terminated by government order on 20 August 1950, and the prototype was eventually scrapped.

Although the Il-30 never actually flew, it was the subject of much (misinformed) speculation in the west.