Yastreb.

This is coolbert:

Here is an item for which the Soviet defector Suvorov seems to have exaggerated in a big way.
[this seems to me to be an anomaly with regard to Suvorov. Suvorov WAS an intelligence officer and would presumably have an intimate knowledge of Soviet capabilities in the reconnaissance field.]

Yastreb.

An unmanned reconnaissance "rocket" plane capable of the most incredible performance, according to Suvorov.

Was supposed to have intercontinental range, fly at speeds of 4000 MPH [???] and be used over areas of the world normally denied to the Soviets, such as the Indian Ocean or the Atlantic.

Suvorov seems to have exaggerated the capability of this "place" to a marked degree. Surprisingly so, as he has had a pretty good track record in other areas.

This is not to say that the "Yastreb" did not exist. It did exist. Was originally developed by the Tupelov design bureau as an intercontinental [4000 km range] cruise missile [TU-123] to deliver an atomic warhead. Had a rocket assist take off and then became an air breathing jet powered cruise missile operating in the high atmosphere [25,000 meters altitude].




[it seems that Suvorov has confused the range with the speed of the Yastreb. To describe the Yastreb as a "rocket" plane would be the only way to account for the incredible speed the Yastreb supposedly possessed!!]

Was first developed in the late 1950's. Project was cancelled along with all other "winged missiles" when it became apparent that ICBM's [intercontinental ballistic missiles] operating in outer space beyond the atmosphere of the earth were the best way to deliver atomic weaponry to distant targets.

From the TU-123 the Yastreb [TU-139] was developed. DID have cameras and radio intercept equipment on-board that gave it a reconnaissance capability. DID fly in prototypes and possibly flew on ONE mission. I say again, ONE mission. This was not a recon vehicle that WAS ever used as intended.



"Works on large-range unmanned strike aircraft which started in 1958 were stopped in 1960 defining a basis for activities on unmanned reconnaissance aircraft "Yastreb-DBR-1". Said works were successfully completed in 1964. From 1965 DBR-1 complex entered serial production. The aircraft had unique characteristics for that time. It was completely autonomous for combat missions and data acquisition and processing.

"Yastreb" reconnaissance aircraft had flight speed of 2700 km/h [1670 MPH], flight range about 4000 km [2500 miles] and flight altitude [19-22] km [62,000-72,000 ft.]."

The formidable capability attributed to the Yastreb by Suvorov just did NOT exist.

[this is not to say that the Yastreb was NOT formidable. It was, but NOT as Suvorov maintains.]

Those prototypes and mission capable "plane" probably were relegated to the scrap heap. Better and cheaper way of doing the recon existed and the Yastreb just did not have a mission. That is that.

coolbert.