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ANT-3 “Proletary” reconnaissance aircraft, biplane

In 1924, the scientific and technical committee of the Air Force Directorate commissioned TsAGI to develop a two-seat all-metal reconnaissance aircraft. It was supposed to be used further to support the troops with the help of bombing and machine gun weapons. The development of the new aircraft was headed by A.N. Tupolev. Designing individual nodes involved VM Petlyakov, A. I. Putilov, N. I. Petrov, and E. I. Pogossky.

For the reconnaissance aircraft, a semi-glider scheme was applied, providing maneuverability and the necessary take-off and landing characteristics. The wing, fuselage and tail paneling were made of sheets of corrugated aluminum. The aircraft’s armament consisted of one machine gun on the left side of the car and two twin machine guns in the rear cabin. In addition, it provided for the installation of the beam racks for small bombs and mechanical dropping. To implement its main task, intelligence, the ANT-3 was equipped with a manual perspective camera.

The assembly of the prototype ANT-3 aircraft was completed in the summer of 1925. On July 10, 1925, test pilot VN Filippov performed the first flight on an airplane. After a series of changes and modifications, the aircraft was handed over to the state commission, which, according to the test results, supplied the ANT-3 with a positive assessment and decided to serially build the aircraft. Production unfolded at the Moscow plant number 25, and then transferred to the plant number 22 in Fili. A total of 103 ANT-3 (R-3) aircraft of this type were built in several versions, differing in engine types.

On the first two copies of the reconnaissance aircraft, long-haul flights were carried out, which confirmed the quality and reliability of the Tupolev machines. For example, from August 31 to September 2, 1926, the crew of M. M. Gromov and E. V. Rodezevich to ANT-3 “Proletary” (the first experienced ANT-3) made a flight on the route Moscow - Koenigsberg - Berlin - Paris - Rome - Vienna - Prague - Warsaw - Moscow, flying 7150 km in 34 hours and 15 minutes, setting the All-Union speed record for long-distance flights. From August 20 to September 1 and from September 10 to September 22, 1927, the crew of S.A. Shestakov and D.V.Fufaev to ANT-3 "Our Answer" made a flight on the route Moscow - Sarapul - Omsk - Novosibirsk - Krasnoyarsk - Irkutsk - Verkhneudinsk - Chita - Nerchinsk - Blagoveshchensk - Spassk - Nanyan - Okayama - Tokyo and back, having covered 22000 km in 153 hours of flight time.

In the spring of 1929, the first intelligence officers began to arrive in the Red Army Air Force, in the units deployed near Moscow, in the Transcaucasus and Central Asia. ANT-3 (P-3) was actively used in the first half of the 30s in combat operations against the Basmachev formations. The last ANT-3s were decommissioned in early 1935. The history of the domestic aircraft ANT-3 entered as the first all-metal aircraft built in a large series, and as the first Soviet all-metal combat aircraft entered service in the Air Force.