![]() This was a blow to the Su-11, and only 108 examples were produced in total. Even more, the promising MiG-21PF from MiG began its trials. To this end, MAP (the Soviet Ministry of Aircraft Industry) demanded that the Su-11’s production be cut short in heavy favor of the Yak-28P and the new Tu-128. ![]() Sukhoi faced yet another setback in the early 1960s: the PVO began leaning towards the new Yak-28P twin-engined interceptor, as it showed more engine reliability and safer flying. It was obvious in 1961 that the situation was not good. Moreover, the very promising and nearly complete T-37 heavy interceptor with the more reliable and powerful Tumansky R-15-300 and forming the T-3-9A interception system was very unexpectedly canceled alongside the K-9 missiles, a sad end to what was going to be a remarkable aircraft. The engine was very expensive to produce, thus was available in short numbers. More than half of the accidents were attributed to random engine failures, and the time between overhauls was just 25 to 50 hours. In the first 1 year and a half of the Su-7’s service entry, 20+ Su-7 and Su-9 examples crashed. The Lyulka AL-7F and its derivatives suffered from reliability issues, mainly the AL-7F-1. Now, there was an issue with the Su-7 and Su-9. Khrushchev’s “missilisation” of the Soviet Union had a big blow on the Soviet aircraft industry that took six years to recover.ĭespite this climate, favor was still found in OKB-51 (Sukhoi OKB), since the Su-7 tactical fighter had been put into production and then converted to a fighter-bomber under the designation of Su-7B, while the Su-9 had just completed its acceptance trials, entering production henceforth, and the Su-11’s trials had begun. He had a soft spot for SAM systems instead to defend the country, and when it came to desgining new aircraft, only conversions or upgrades of existing aircraft were allowed. During his era, 35 aircraft projects were terminated, and 21 engine programs alone in 1958 - 1959. However, there was an issue… Nikita Khrushchev was the head of state at that time, and he had little respect for the military aviation. This is why jets such as the Yakovlev Yak-28, Sukhoi Su-9 and Su-11 were developed: high-speed, missile-armed aircraft were needed to counter the threat. Such jets weren’t capable of intercepting strategic bombers with inadequate performance and cannons only. The PVO was comprised mainly of MiG-17A/F and Yak-25 jets at that time (later the Yak-27 and MiG-19PM). (T-37 heavy interceptor, a promising project to replace the Su-9 and Su-11 which was unexpectedly canceled)Īs everyone knows, the 1950s was a very troubled climate for the Soviet Union, since the West had began fielding new airborne-strike systems and long-ranged strategic bombers. ![]()
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