In the 50s and 60s of the 20th century, with the introduction of new technologies such as turboshaft engines, ** gradually increased. Designers began to make bold ideas about the future development of large-scale ***, such as the installation of large-caliber artillery or the carrying of ballistic missiles. One of them is the GDP-6 project of the USSR, a *** anti-aircraft missile system, proposed by Soviet designers in the 60s of the last century. However, despite the high level of attention on GDP-6, public information is limited, and the project has made little progress, largely staying at the conceptual and technical exploration stage. At present, there is only one small model of the public**, and no prototype has been built, let alone practical.
The core concept of the project is to install an anti-aircraft missile system on the ***, making it a more flexible air defense than the vehicle-mounted **, capable of rapid mobile deployment to multiple areas, and able to quickly withdraw from positions before the enemy launches a counter-attack, similar to the practice of changing positions after a few rounds of artillery fire. However, the most challenging part is the *** itself as a vehicle. The size of the anti-aircraft missile system at that time was quite large, and the weight of the entire set of equipment also reached the level of several tons, and the average *** could not even meet its payload.
Therefore, Soviet designers proposed a design scheme for a heavy multi-rotor *** with a long box-like fuselage with three sets of short wings mounted in series, and a pair of rotors with a diameter of about 6 meters were assembled on each wing. The design is powered by two turboshaft engines, but it is unclear which engine will be used. These six pairs of rotors will provide *** with strong lift, while the fixed wing can also generate lift during level flight. The GDP-6 was equipped with missiles and their launchers on the back of the fuselage, and the on-board missile system was the S-75, a high-altitude missile defense system that entered service in the USSR in the mid-to-late 50s and successfully shot down U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
This missile system was once the world's most widely equipped defense**, and the missiles used in the early days had a maximum range of nearly 30 kilometers and a maximum combat altitude of about 23,000 meters, but it was not lightweight, and a single missile weighed more than 2 tons. The GDP-6 had six missiles and corresponding launchers installed on the back of the aircraft, which was at least enough to deal with a single aircraft or a small formation of incoming aircraft. Despite all the high-profile development, the GDP-6 project faces a number of thorny issues. In addition to the doubts about the value of the air defense system in real combat, there are many insurmountable challenges in technology. Coordinating the operation of six sets of rotors is already challenging, let alone the complex task of managing twelve engines at the same time.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account various complex factors, such as mechanical failures, the flight environment, as well as changes in the center of gravity that may be caused by the launch of the missile, the way in which the radar of the air defense system is carried, etc. It's like opening a magic box full of troubles, full of headaches, and it's no wonder that this project struggles to move forward.