Tupolev I-4 (ANT-5)

History of Tupolev I-4 (ANT-5)

Long before the Russian-focused Tupolev OKB developed the famous Soviet Cold War bomber, it dabbled in fighter design with the I-4 (ANT-5) biplane in 1928. This model became the Soviet Union's first all-metal fighter and grew to produce hundreds of them during the interwar period.

A handful of variants welcome the service career of this oft-forgotten fighter. The hunter's design is credited to Pavel Sukhoi.

In addition to the all-metal design, the I-4 has traditional physical characteristics consistent with the mid-term. The lone pilot sits in the open-air cockpit behind the upper wing. The upper and lower parts are connected to each other by V-shaped struts.

The span of the lower assembly was also shorter, allowing the biplane wing to be arranged as a "half-wing". The landing gear rolls on two main legs below the center mass, and a slide is added below the tail for ground operation.

The rear wing is conventional, with a single rear wing, and the level is set low.

Engineers selected a 420 hp air-cooled 9-cylinder radial piston engine for the French Gnome-Rhone Jupiter and installed it in the bow section. The engine drives a two-bladed propeller with a large-diameter spinner in the center for aerodynamic efficiency.

The proposed weapon became a 2 x 7.62mm machine gun, firing synchronously via rotating propeller blades. Later during testing, provisions were added to carry missiles along the upper wings, increasing the fighter's attack rating.

The first flight (prototype form "ANT-5") was recorded in August 1927. This resulted in some design revisions, including a new fairing and a revised tail unit. The ANT-5 was subsequently commissioned as "I-4".

In terms of performance, the I-4 has a top speed of 160 mph, a range of up to 525 miles, and a service ceiling of up to 25,100 feet. The climb rate is 1,820 feet per minute. Curb weight is 2,155 lbs and maximum takeoff weight (MTOW) is 3,155 lbs.

The improved model of the first series was equipped with a 460-480 hp Mikulin M-22 engine (licensed manufactured copy of the Gnome-Rhone "Jupiter" 9ASB). The "I-4Z" followed, a version that introduced a smaller lower wing.

After the complete removal of the lower wing and thus a true monoplane, the aircraft was modified to the developed form "I-4bis". "I-4P" became a modified seaplane derivative.

A total of 369 I-4s were completed by 1934, the last of which had been withdrawn from front-line service as early as 1933though the I-4s continued to serve as training vehicles for a time. The I-4 series was also briefly tried as a "parasite fighter" in experiments in the 1930s (which included firing 76mm Kurchevsky recoilless guns from aircraft), in the new Tupolev TB- 1/TB-3 was coupled to a serial mothership (described elsewhere on this page) in experiments conducted.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes