| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
| Contents | ||
Towards the end of World War II, the Soviet Union was envious of the strategic bombing capability of the USAAF. The US regularly conducted bombing raids on Japan, virtually in the Soviet Union's backyard, from distant Pacific forward bases using B-29 Superfortresses. Stalin ordered the development of a comparable bomber.
During 1945, four B-29s were forced to land in Russian territory. The Soviets seized the bombers, and Tupolev OKB dismantled and studied them. The bombers were copied bolt-by-bolt where possible and reverse engineered where necessary. An unconfirmed report states that all Tu-4s were chromate-green inside until the end of the rear pressure bulkhead, whereapon they were painted in simple white lead. The last B-29 seized by the Soviets was built in Kansas during a shortage of chromate green (a common rust-proofing paint for aircraft of the time). White lead was substituted as a "quick fix", which was promptly institutionalized by the duplicators. It is also claimed that bullet holes found in one of the B-29s were faithfully reproduced in all Tu-4s.
The resulting bomber was the Tu-4, ( NATO reporting name Bull), which first flew on 19 May, 1947. Serial production started immediately, and the type entered large scale service in 1949. Entry into service of the Tu-4 threw the USAF into a virtual panic, since the Tu-4 possessed sufficient range to attack Chicago, Los AngelesThis article is about the city in California. For other uses of 'Los Angeles' see Los Angeles (disambiguation The City of Los Angeles widely known by its abbreviation L. is a large coastal metropolis in Southern California in the western United States., and New York CitySkyline, with Statue of Liberty New York, New York" redirects here. For alternate meanings, see New York, New York (disambiguation). New York — officially named City of New York and often called New York City to distinguish it from the state of New York, with a worthwhile load on a one-way "suicide" mission. Some limited attempts to develop midair refueling systems were made to extend the bomber's range, but these were fitted to few aircraft.
The development of the Soviet atomic bomb in 1949 gave the air defense program a new urgency, since the United States was itself now in danger of a nuclear attack with the Tu-4 as the delivery platform. This forced the United States to develop an extremely costly air-interception capability involving ground radar installations, a Ground Observer Corps , radar picket planes, surface-to-air missileA surface-to-air missile SAM is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. SAMs can be deployed from fixed installations or mobile launchers. The smallest SAMs are capable of being carried and launched by a single person. Radars, and fleets of jet interceptor fighters, which eventually became NORADNORAD is the North American Aerospace Defense Command . It is a joint United States and Canadian organization which provides aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America, and was founded on August 1, 1957 under the name North American Air Def in 1957This is a list of aviation-related events from 1957: Events January January 18 Three Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses make the world's first round the world, non-stop flight by turbojet-powered aircraft. The flight is completed in 45 hours 19 minutes, with an.