During the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union developed a lot of black technology, such as the famous oneCaspian Sea monsters, and another example is what we're going to introduce todayWater anti-submarine aircraft VVA-14The former Soviet Union once had high hopes for this aircraft, and even hoped that on the basis of the VV-14, they would develop their own "flying aircraft carrier", so that the United States was afraid of this anti-submarine aircraft.
So how strong is the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft on the water?Where did the Soviet Union's flying aircraft carrier program end up?
As one of the masterpieces of the former Soviet Union's leading shooting genius Baltini, the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft has three major characteristics, namely strange shape, peculiar function and great potential.
First of all, let's talk about the strange shape of the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft, from the appearance, the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft is like a turtle shell replaced with wings, the main fuselage is as short and narrow as a train car, and only one person can sit in the nacelle, but the wing part on both sides has a very large cabin, which can not only be used to store fuel, but also to place engines and other electronic equipment. On top of that, there are inflatable pontoon skateboards under the wings, which allow the aircraft to fly over grass, snow or water.
Of course, as an anti-submarine aircraft, the VVA-14 inevitably has to fight, so this fighter has good combat effectiveness, which can carry 2 aviation torpedoes and 16 special aerial bombs. In order to achieve such a large load, this anti-submarine aircraft is quite large, 25The overall length of 97 meters, 6With a fuselage height of 79 meters and a wingspan of 30 meters wide, it's no wonder it's called a "super sea monster".
Don't look at the normal take-off weight of this fighter, it has reached an astonishing 35356 tons, its flight speed is not slow, the normal cruising speed can reach 640 kilometers per hour, the maximum speed can reach more than 760 kilometers per hour, as long as the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft takes off, the enemy basically has nothing to hide. Because from the perspective of the ceiling, this fighter can reach an altitude of 10,000 meters, and from the perspective of the itinerary, this fighter can fly more than 2,450 kilometers away, which is really a "claireye".
Let's take a look at the features, as an excellent anti-submarine aircraft on the water, the VVA-14 is very different from traditional anti-submarine aircraft.
Although the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft has a high ceiling, this anti-submarine aircraft generally chooses to fly close to the ground, because the ground effect can be used to provide an upward support force for the aircraft, within a certain limit, the higher the load weight, the closer the lower surface of the wing to the ground, then the stronger the lift after the formation of air flow blockage. This means that the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft is not only more concealed and anti-submarine, but also has an outstanding load capacity.
Finally, let's talk about the potential of the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft, it is no exaggeration to say that if Baltini's ideas for the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft were realized at that time, the former Soviet Union would really have created its own flying aircraft carrier.
Why do you say that?Because ground effect flying is a radical innovation from traditional flying methods, and because it has proven to have very strong potential, the inflatable pontoon skateboard gives the fighter a basis for floating on the water. The strong load capacity brought by the ground effect gives the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft the space to maximize the expansion of the volume, and the combination of the two has amphibious capabilities in the sea and air."Flying aircraft carriers"It seems so close.
Unfortunately, due to technical and financial constraints, Baldini's research ended in failure.
At that time, the study of the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft has reached a critical moment, the appearance, function, and components have basically been determined, but the engine technology has not been able to overcome, at the beginning, people wanted to install a single thrust between the main wings of its tail can reach 6800 kgD30N turbo engineLater, I wanted to replace it with twoRD36-35PR wheeled jet engine, and then two additional D30M engines were to be installed.
But no matter how it was changed, the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft with those engines at that time could not play the expected strength, so that the former Soviet military was quite dissatisfied with this, and was even unwilling to wait for Baltini and others to change this anti-submarine aircraft into a seaplane, directly invested in another project, and finally developed a decent anti-submarine aircraft.
Although the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft research project eventually died and the research program on the air carrier was not carried out, the research on the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft is still of epoch-making significance.
First of all, this anti-submarine aircraft has broken the limitations of traditional aircraft and advanced aircraft, and has the ability to be used both amphibious, which greatly broadens people's horizons;Secondly, the study of the VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft brought scientists a lot of important experimental data, which later led to the creation of a giant for themA40 Albatross amphibious machine, laying a solid foundation. Therefore, the money invested by the former Soviet Union in this is not a waste, and it can only be said that this is an investment with good returns.
More importantly, ground-effect aircraft have gradually entered people's eyes, prompting modern aircraft to develop in the direction of more and more diversification. Today, in the courtyard of the Moscow Air Force Museum, there is still a former VVA-14 anti-submarine aircraft for exhibition, but due to the old time, the aircraft has looked a little dilapidated.