Tupolev Tu-14

The Tupolev Tu-14 (NATO reporting name: Bosun) (USAF/DOD reporting name: Type 35), was a Soviet twin-turbojet light bomber derived from the Tupolev Tu-73, the failed competitor to the Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle'. It was used as a torpedo bomber by the mine-torpedo regiments of Soviet Naval Aviation between 1952–59 and exported to the People's Republic of China.

Development

The Tu-14 had its origin in the three-engined Tu-73 design which used a pair of RD-45 turbojets, an unlicensed copy of the Rolls-Royce Nene, under the wings and a single Klimov RD-500, an unlicensed copy of the Rolls-Royce Derwent, in the tail, in an installation much like that of the central engine of a Boeing 727. The availability of the Klimov VK-1, a more-powerful version of the Nene, allowed the RD-500 to be deleted from the preliminary design, which was given the internal designation of "81". The other major change was the addition of a PSBN navigation radar which required a fifth crewmember to operate. This was rejected by the VVS and Tupolev reworked the design to eliminate the dorsal and ventral turrets and reduce the crew to only three, a bombardier-navigator, a pilot and a tail gunner. It retained the two fixed 23 mm (0.91 in) Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon in the fuselage nose, but the design of the fuselage was changed to give the gunner his own separate pressurized compartment and a KDU-81 tail turret armed with another pair of NR-23 guns.