Tupolev Tu-123 (Yastreb) / (DBR-1)

SIGnals INTelligence (SIGINT) Disposable Reconnaissance Drone [ 1964 ]

Over fifty of the Tupolev Tu-123 Yastreb reconnaissance drones were produced for the Soviet Union from the mid-1960s into the early-1970s.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 11/22/2016 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

Ever since Austria sent aloft bomb-filled balloons against Venice targets in 1849, the prospect of unmanned aircraft in war has been on the minds of warplanners. The field advanced some into the early-to-mid-1900s when drones were developed to assist with gunnery and missile training. Today, they have become lethal munitions-delivery systems capable of precision strikes with some able to loiter for days on end.

During the Cold War-era (1947-1991), the Soviet Union and the United States consistently volleyed for global military supremacy. This also included the field of unmanned aircraft and both sides invested heavily in development of advanced, unmanned high-speed reconnaissance systems. The Tupolev design bureau of the Soviet Union generated an off-shoot of the abandoned Tu-121 supersonic, nuclear-capable cruise missile as the "Tu-123". The design was based around the Tumansky R-15 series afterburning turbojet engine, the same used to power (in a paired arrangement) the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 "Foxbat" high-speed interceptor (detailed elsewhere on this site). The engine proved an excellent propulsion system to base an entire, missile-like aerodynamic structure around so a the base design of the Tu-123 incorporated a nose cone, forward canards and aft-wing elements fitted to the largely-cylindrical shape. An air scoop was added along the ventral line of the shape to aspirate the sole engine installation which exhausted through a large port at the rear of the aircraft.

The result was the unmanned disposable Tu-123 "Yastreb" (or "Falcon") whose developmental designation was "DBR-1". A first-flight was recorded in 1960 and initial testing wrapped before the end of 1961. Formal testing spanned into 1963 and formal service introduction followed in May of 1964. Factory No. 64 of Voronezh was charged with serial production of the drone which amounted to fifty-two total aircraft.

Internally, the reconnaissance-minded Tu-123 carried SIGnals INTelligence (SIGINT) and camera equipment to spy on the allied forces of Europe. The drone was able to power itself through the R-15 engine fit but relied on JATO (Jet-Assisted Take-Off) assistance for take-off. There was no recovery of the air unit itself for the payload was jettisoned (and landed by way of deployable parachute) and the entire airframe lost in the mission.

As completed, the Tu-123 exhibited a length of 27.8 meters, a wingspan of 8.4 meters and a height of 4.7 meters. Empty weight was 11,450 kilograms against a MTOW of 35,610 kg and the Tumansky R-15 engine produced 22,045lb of thrust - propelling the aircraft to speeds of 1,675 miles per hour out to ranges of 2,000 miles. It held a service ceiling of nearly 75,000 feet.

In the end, the Tu-123 - as a disposable aircraft product - proved economically unfeasible to sustain in long-term service so this inevitably limited production (spanning 1964 until 1972) and service use lasted just until 1979. An attempt at a reusable version, the Tu-139 "Yastreb 2", was seen but this design was not adopted. Instead the role of the high-flying, high-speed Tu-123 was eventually overtaken by a reconnaissance-minded version of the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25. Thus ended the flying days of the Tu-123 drone.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1964

Origin

Soviet Union

Crew

0
UNMANNED

Production

52
UNITS

Tupolev OKB - Soviet Union

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Soviet Union (retired)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Unmanned Capability
Aircraft inherently designed (or later developed) with an unmanned capability to cover a variety of over-battlefield roles.

Length

91.4 ft
(27.85 m)

Width/Span

27.6 ft
(8.41 m)

Height

15.6 ft
(4.75 m)

Empty Wgt

25,243 lb
(11,450 kg)

MTOW

78,507 lb
(35,610 kg)

Wgt Diff

+53,264 lb
(+24,160 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Tupolev Tu-123 (Yastreb) production variant)

Installed: 1 x Tumansky KR-15 turbojet engine developing 22,045lb of thrust (JATO-assisted take-off).

Max Speed

1,678 mph
(2,700 kph | 1,458 kts)

Ceiling

74,803 ft
(22,800 m | 14 mi)

Range

1,988 mi
(3,200 km | 5,926 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Tupolev Tu-123 (Yastreb) production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

None. Mission payload consisting of SIGnals INTelligence and camera equipment recovered by parachute.

Supported Types

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Tu-123 "Yastreb" - Base Series Name

Tu-139 "Yastreb 2" - Proposed reusable drone system; not adopted.

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 1

Image of the Tupolev Tu-123 (Yastreb) / (DBR-1)

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.