Moskalev SAM-23

History

Alexsandr A. Moskalev was never quite as successful as his WWII-era (1939-1945) contemporaries - most of his pioneering designs ended up being just "paper airplanes". However, there were many contributions, from the SAM-1 monoplane fighter in 1930 to the SAM-28 motor glider in 1943.

There are numerous designs in between, including the "SAM-23", a single-seat, single-engine ground attack aircraft of a unique design that emerged during World War II in 1943.

NOTE: The designation "SAM-23" was also used for troop gliders in late 1944. Although it features a two-armed layout, it has a boxy hull and, in addition to the SAM-23 floor, is a proprietary design attack platform detailed in this article.

The aircraft is fitted with a central nacelle that forms the fuselage and houses the avionics, cockpit and propulsion systems, while the tail consists of a two-arm configuration. The single-seat cockpit is located aft of the circular nose and is covered with a framed canopy. Rear visibility was hindered by the raised dorsal ridge and the main plane of the wings mounted on the shoulders of the fuselage.

The engine sits above the stern in the pilot's position in a "push" configuration and is tuned to drive a simple two-bladed propeller unit that forces air between two tail booms. The cantilever beam is attached to the rear of the aircraft by a horizontal plane that, interestingly, only has a vertical tail mounted (two outboards are typical of this design).

The landing gear is fixed and adopts a rear tug arrangement with two large main wheels in the front and a small single wheel in the rear.

Propulsion should come from 1 x Mikulin M-11 series engine with 150 hp.

One of the more interesting aspects of the aircraft is a retractable tail wheel, which is interpreted as a basic terrain-following device that can be lowered and raised as needed.

The aircraft is proposed to be armed with armament consisting of 2 x 20mm ShVAK autocannons and 2 x 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns, combined with support for up to 4 x RS-82 airborne with ground-based missiles. This would have made it quite lethal at the time, and certainly suitable for ground attacks on German convoys and static positions.

Like other Moskalev designs of the period, the radical SAM-23 proposal was not pushed forward.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Performance

Armor

Changes