Tupolev ANT-16

ANT-16 (TB-4)
Role Heavy bomber
National origin Soviet Union
Manufacturer Tupolev
First flight 3 July 1933
Status Retired
Primary user Soviet Union
Number built One
Developed from Tupolev TB-3
Variants ANT-20

Tupolev ANT-16 (also known as TB-4; Russian: Тяжелый Бомбардировщик – Heavy Bomber) was an experimental heavy bomber aircraft designed and tested in the Soviet Union in the early 1930s. Conceptually representing evolution of the TB-3 bomber, ANT-16 was designed under the doctrine that size and payload were more important for a bomber than speed because it would be able to protect itself with defensive armament.[1] The twin 5×1.8×1.8 m (16 ft 5 in × 5 ft 11 in × 5 ft 11 in) bomb bays were the largest in the world at the time and presented many design challenges in order to preserve structural rigidity of the airframe.[1]

The sole prototype first flew on 3 July 1933 with M. M. Gromov at the controls. The test flight program was completed by 29 September 1933 with disappointing results. The two top-mounted engines performed poorly and a significant portion of thrust generated by the wing-mounted powerplants was absorbed by the 2-meter-thick (6 ft 7 in) wing. A proposal to re-equip the aircraft with Mikulin AM-35 engines of 933 kW (1,250 hp) was not implemented.[1]

Specifications (ANT-16)

Data from Shavrov 1985[1]

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

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Related development


References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Shavrov V.B. (1985). Istoriia konstruktskii samoletov v SSSR do 1938 g. (3 izd.) (in Russian). Mashinostroenie. ISBN 5-217-03112-3.
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