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Beriev A-150 ASW/multipurpose amphibian

The creation of amphibian aircraft is inextricably linked with Taganrog, a city in the south of Russia. In 1934 the Central Design Bureau of Marine Aircraft (TsKB MS) was opened here, at the Aviation Plant No. 31. The chief designer of the new bureau was the design engineer Georgy Mikhailovich Beriev. Today, the enterprise has the following name: Taganrog Aviation Scientific and Technical Complex named after GM Beriev (Beriev Aircraft Company).

For more than 80 years, this company gave the country a number of amphibious aircraft of various purposes. The flying boats launched here were actively used by Soviet sailors during the Great Patriotic War and contributed to the victory over fascism. In the postwar years, the enterprise continued to design and manufacture amphibious aircraft. The technical and scientific experience accumulated by the engineers of the enterprise made it possible to develop the production of aircraft with a unique combination of high flying, technical and seaworthiness characteristics.

In the 1970s, the scope of this enterprise was significantly expanded. In the 1970s and 1980s, various new weapons systems were created here: the A-50 long-range radar detection and targeting aircraft based on the Il-76MD military transport aircraft and the Tu-142MR long-range aircraft on the basis of the long-range anti-submarine Tu -142. Today one of the "business cards" of the enterprise is the multi-purpose amphibian Be-200 "Altair". In a number of its parameters, this aircraft has no analogs in the world.

Dozens of projects were implemented in the walls of the TANTK imeni GM Beriev and brought to the stage of serial production over the years of existence of the enterprise. But many more projects forever remained on paper or in the form of mock-ups. Among them some were truly unique developments for their time. One of the unrealized projects was the A-150 amphibious aircraft. This large aircraft with a maximum take-off weight of up to 150 tons (at takeoff from the water surface) was developed at the enterprise in the mid-1960s.

The development of this project by Soviet designers was prompted by the development of American nuclear forces. In particular, the adoption in 1960 of the new UGM-27 Polaris two-stage solid-fuel ballistic missile. The carriers of these missiles were nuclear submarines such as George Washington. Each such submarine carried 16 Polaris A1 SLBMs aboard. The first version of the missile could deliver a 600-kt warhead at a range of 2,200 kilometers. But already in 1964, the version of the Polaris A3 missile with a separating warhead (3 warheads of 200 kt) and a range of 4600 km was adopted.

American nuclear submarines, armed with new ballistic missiles, went into the ocean and began patrolling near the Soviet Union. Considering the fact that the Soviet Navy had rather modest ASW capabilities, it was necessary to find a means of counteracting these boats and their missiles. These submarines with the Polaris A1 (and then A3) on board could hit targets in the Soviet Union, from remote areas of the world ocean far from the coast of the country, in places that were poorly controlled by the Soviet Navy. Realizing this, the Soviet military made every effort to find a solution that would effectively combat American strategic submarines.

Work on the creation the jet-powered oceanic flying boat with a delta-shaped wing was started in the Beriev Design Bureau in 1965. By that time the enterprise already had a rich experience in creating a variety of amphibious aircraft, including the Be-10 jet seaplane, which was produced serially. From 1958 to 1961, a total of 27 such amphibious aircraft were produced in Taganrog. It should be noted that this aircraft placed 12 world records at once, including a record speed for seaplanes - 912 km/h, which has not been beaten to date.

The new project, which received the designation A-150, was to be a full-fledged multipurpose jet seaplane. The main objective of this flying boat was to be the search and destruction of US strategic submarines. In addition to anti-submarine function, the aircraft could be used for reconnaissance purposes, as well as during search and rescue operations. It was also planned that the aircraft could be used to combat enemy surface ships and as a tanker (a flying tanker) aircraft.

In order for the transition from some tasks to others to be as simple and quick as possible, in two sections located in the centerplane of the amphibian plane sections, special quick-detachable containers with a different set of armaments and equipment were to be installed.

The A-150 amphibious aircraft had to take off and land both from land-based airfields and from the water surface. It was planned that it would be able to operate in the Arctic, including ice runways. Like the Be-26 seaplane, it had to have a short takeoff and landing. To this end, it was planned to install 12 lifting engines at once for the A-150, which were to be placed in a row of 6 engines in the widened leading edge of the wing in front of the center of gravity of the aircraft. In addition to the lifting engines, the amphibian powerplant was to include four NK-8 turbojets that were located above the trailing edge of the wing and were installed in twin pods. At the base aircraft engines, the thrust vector was deviated from 0 to 65 degrees.

The wings of the amphibian aircraft were to be equipped with ailerons and flaps, and auxiliary floats were located on the consoles at the wing tips. The airplane's chassis was planned to be tri-axial with a bow stance. The number of wheels had to match the Be-26 model: two on the nose of the chassis and four on the main pillars. The front landing gear was retracted into the body of the seaplane under the flight deck, and the main landing gear in the wing center wing.

The crew of the A-150 amphibious aircraft was to consist of 5 people: two pilots, navigator, radar and sonar operators. All crew members were located in a sealed cabin. The total fuel reserve (up to 100 tons when taking off from the earth's surface) was to be located in the wing of the aircraft. The on-board equipment included the following systems: long-range navigation system Polet; the Zubr antisubmarine control system; system of indication of goals "Success". The plane was planned to be equipped with defensive weapons. Automatic rapid-fire cannons were planned to be installed in the bow and stern turrets.

In addition to the multipurpose option, which was more than confined to the solution of combat missions, Beriev's OKB also worked on the creation of a transport-landing flying boat A-150TD.