The Tu-128 is a Soviet heavy supersonic interceptor, created at the Tupolev Design Bureau in the early 1960s.
The main task of the Tu-128 interceptor was to protect the vast territories of the USSR from a possible breakthrough by the US strategic bombers. In this regard, the basis of its concept was the ability to perform long-range patrols, coupled with high autonomy and the use of long-range air-to-air missiles.
These features made the Tu-128 a unique aircraft that effectively served as part of the air defense forces for decades, even after the introduction of new interceptors such as the MiG-25.
Subscribe to the channel, comment, and like!
If you want to support Skyships and our work, welcome to our Patreon. We will create some special content for you there: / skyships
Our Facebook: / skyshipscom
Our Instagram: / skyships_world
00:00 - Introduction
00:41 - Soviet air defense
02:07 - Long-range interceptor
04:35 - Tu-128 project
06:15 - Design
10:28 - In service
13:01 - Update projects
14:28 - End of career
Skyships Eng, Paper Skies, and Mustard are the only videos I click on every time. Great videos every time
Same, but I also love Rex's Hangar, AllthingsWW2, Ruairidh MacVeigh and Found and explained
@@emaheiwa8174 Rex's hangar is great. At that point so is Spookston, and also Calum
Agreed mate!
@@BismuthOxide Spookston = HTVL
Same here. Pilot Photog as well. His stuff is always superb.
It actually makes sense The Soviet Union had a extremely long stretch of airspace to defend and they didn't have enough air bases they needed something with range and endurance which was going to be hunting unescorted bombers
Of all the Russian aircraft of that time, the TU-128 stands out to me like the B-58 Hustler does in the US arsenal. Innovative, powerful, unique, and just plain cool. Thanks for the great video about it!
I know what you mean! I started off with pickles and worked my way up to bananas, cucumbers and im onto the butternut squash now! All it takes is gentle persuasion and something water based and your good to go. I have a great book on it if you want i can send it to you? Keep squattin' brother
I "Instantly though of the "Hustler" built a model of one as a kid in the early 70's, forgot the Hustler's details, but I feels this is a little late and not as Much on the table? While still losing ground.
I thought the same thing. One of my grad school professors was on the Hustler's radar design team at Raytheon. More than twenty years later, he could not stop talking about the greatness of the B-58.
@@RevMikeBlack one of My Family worked in detection and was in Palm Dale and on Kwajalein Atoll along with every other place on God's Green Earth! doing same.
@@johnredcorn2476 degenerate
I love how you make videos about lesser known aircraft. Im gonna enjoy this one!
Hope, you'll like it
@@SkyshipsEng you gonna do the mbb Lampyridae?
Soviet aircraft design of that era was so interesting, unique and even daring. I just gobble this stuff up! Thank you!
Am i the only one thinking how these resembled atleast looks wise modern day larger interceptors
I agree I don't like soviet designs typically there usually not a good as the west but the 50s have the soviets done rant cool planes.
@@michaelpelzek8882 another witness of inequality of aerodynamic designs and dominance of not defined West.
What a monster of aircraft, love it. Raw early soviet doctrine desing😎 And an amazing documentary of it, as always, thank you for these.
No doubt it was a great documentary, not least because I didn't know the history of the Tu-128, being that I am a great admirer of heavy fighters. It is undeniable that this machine was an extremely proud and powerful bird, with avionics that were state-of-the-art in the USSR. Congratulations on the video, I didn't know that this channel had such good quality.
The Fiddler was my absolute favorite cold-war-era aircraft. Absolutely beautiful, and filled a mission profile we had never even thought of.
I think of the Tu-128 a bit like the F-14, though of course with significant differences.
We absolutely thought of it, we just didn't build it. This is the Soviet version of the XF-103/XF-108/YF-12
It would not have been your favorite aircraft to fly... it had, um, rather poor handling and (especially) landing characteristics, and killed many highly skilled and experienced pilots. Over its service lifetime, something like seventy airframes (and their crews) were lost to accidents. Aerodynamic heating tended to distort control linkages. This, and the tendency to exhibit reverse aileron effects as a result of heating, made it a very difficult aircraft to fly and land safely. It's definitely a cool-looking aircraft, but it was just an ugly duckling to fly.
@@horusfalcon Much like the B-58, it was a design ahead of available technology. Still beautiful, though.
@@LOLHAMMER45678 No, we never really considered or designed a "patrol-interceptor". We didn't need to, since we were able to build bases anywhere within our borders.
When a kid in the 80s, my parents got me Bill Gunston's 'Soviet Airpower,' which I pretty much wore out. I remember feeling apprehensive and worried our bombers would never make it past the Tu-128, it was such a monster! I figured those missiles must have had huge radar and IR sensors. If you don't have the book, you need it in your library. Odd, now that I think of it, I never connected the Tu-128 to the Tu-22 and certainly not the Type 98.
I bought this book too when I was a kid with paper route money. Loved it and this was one of the aircraft that caught my attention due to the immense size and what it was meant for.
I had this book too, absolutely incredible!
Me too , got it at the holiday inn bookshop in Karachi
@@garypolsinelli6033 Same here! Tell young people now about a paper route and get blank stares.
I actually just found this book off of eBay, great book
Really interesting video, of an aircraft that I think gets largely forgotten, overshadowed by the Tu-22 Blinder and Backfire. Thanks for creating it and looking forward to more content.
Thank you for discussing a now-obscure aircraft. Great video!
Tu-128 along with Su-15 and Su-24 are most overlooked Soviet aircraft of cold war.
Fantastic! Thanks for making this one and making it awesome as usual.
Thank you for another great video! This was one Tupolev aircraft I wasn't familiar with, and while I do prefer your airliner/airlifter/transport aircraft videos, this was still an excellent one, and I wouldn't mind seeing a MiG-25/MiG-31 video at some point!
Thank you for making a very interesting video, I just found your channel and subscribed. While I was watching I was comparing the airframe and design features to the contemporary American designs. The intake spikes being attached to the fuselage is interesting, a very different solution for inlet air flow than anything else I’ve seen. The non-afterburner thrust of the engines was very high, and I can see how the plane could maintain supercruise in certain circumstances. I found it to be quite similar to the F-105 in design, age, and size. It is not the same application of course. Keep up the good work!
I absolutely love your documentaries and narration. Very interesting. Thank-you.
Another excellent documentary - you are very good at these one-model videos. More, please!
Glad to see you videos again, thank you!
Really good channel mate! Keep up the good work, in particular the Soviet-era aircraft...Absolutely fascinating!
he is russian, i can't even imagine how hard is it for him to record audio for 16 mins in english. It's really great job
@@nickymouse1617 luckily english is damn easy compared to russian but his vocabulary is impressive
@@bigd5899 did you see your cavemen paintings? I mean the spelling system of English. You say Russian is hard? At least it isn't artificially hard, it's hard only because it's old language with very small amount of changes to proto Slavic and proto Indo-European. Its written version isn't an objective obstacle since it has a letter for each phoneme, compared with digraphs and the letters which are jack of all trades - masters of none. Also, what's fun for me is that I don't see there people with "infinite" boldness and audacity to mock and laugh at this man for all his, who'd think, imperfections in speech. Due to some reason, my practice of English on internet wasn't any near pleasant as his. Seems like when people come for business they tend to not behave like immatures.
@@nickymouse1617 some people operate, not just speak, in a learned language, possible English. I, for example, do that and completely switch the language. I don't understand where it is hard. Seems like another somewhat truthful yet false ethnical stereotype.
@@worldoftancraft well if thats the case im sorry. I never tried to mock him. Im german, i’ve been trying to learn russian for years from a russian and it doesn’t work out for me. Meanwhile i was fluent in english when i was like 16 and its not like i tried hard to learn it. So for me english feels way easier than russian. i thought it should be the same for you since english grammar is much simpler in many ways than russian or german.
Great time with the great aircraft Tupolev 128, love and respect from India.
Great work as always! Thanks for putting these together!
Man, this channel is russian
Great doc work. Love all the footage we never saw back in Soviet era. Subbed!
Wow, they pretty much use it until the wings fell off. They have managed to keep an original prototype which is a miracle considering all the potential for loss.
Wow. The 4k60 footage is amazing. Rare to see on this type of channel. Strong work.
literally, the best video on KZhead today. Cheers
Excellent video, very informative and very well made!👌
Excellent Video, thank you for sharing Skyships.
I only subscript to the channel a weak ago and started watching a lot of your videos and they all have excellent documentaries and you have great accent 👍
I saw her at Monino. Massive aircraft. This was an excellent video. Thank you very much Sir!
I really learn from and enjoy your documentaries!
Great video and a great plane! Thank you Sky!!!)
Awesome looking plane! It almost looks like science fiction.
Another Excellent video!
"a big guy" - my sides. Love your channel! Keep it up!
Great info and well done!
Fantastic channel! Long Live Skyships Eng!
Great stuff your video here mate, excellent
Another great video. love it
Love to see some coverage on indigenous designs like the Avioane IAR-93 Vultur, IAR-99 Soim, and the Soko J-22 Orao and G-4
Fantastic information, thank you!
Excellent video!!!
The original codename for this aircraft in the west was Blinder, as it was thought to be a bomber. The TU-22 which was seen first at the same air display was coded Beauty. when the role of the Tu-128 was found to be an interceptor, it became the Fiddler and the TU-22 became the Blinder.
Interesting trivia: The Tu-22 was originally code named 'Beauty' by NATO's NASCC. Because this name was considered too complimentary by the USAF, it was then designated a second time as 'Bullshot'. Since this name was obviously too similar to a certain slang term for 'nonsense', it was finally re-designated a third and final time as 'Blinder'. 😉
You can check Greg's airplanes and automobiles too if you're interested in the nerdier side. And of course Rex's hangar and Military Aviation History.
Greg's channel is also a great resource when it comes to understanding piston engine performance. I always learn something new that's applicable to cars in every one of his aircraft videos
@@jimjamauto facts
Awesome... thanks for this ✈️👍
Good video!!
i love your videos so so insightful
Both sides missile stats were done using a target at high altitude closing at high speed, non-maneuvering, and no ECM.... Something to keep in mind when missile stats are thrown out there. Plus, nobody seems to understand the difference between a 15 -17G missile and a 32G missile. The book Fighter Combat: Tactics and Maneuvering by Robert Shaw, Naval Press, is a good reference. The Long Range Missiles of the Fiddler were low G, like most, and have large wing surfaces which are necessary since it must basically glide to the target after burning the propellant. The G rating is not how many G's it can pull, a 17G missile after it makes a 3G turn is now a 14G missile, being pulled into a lot of corrections and changes if launched at max range will probably defeat it. Sidewinders and Atoll, close in missiles are the high G missiles. There is also the method used to manipulate the flight surfaces, a missile can run out of that. So having a High G Long Range Missile that will deplete steering fluid (they are not closed systems, otherwise it would be a VERY huge missile) or battery power, it doesn't make sense to "gold plate" the guidance system. The Tu-128 had it's weaknesses like any other system that could be exploited, but it did fill the need to fill in air coverag gaps, I haven't heard of any other interceptor that had the "legs" it had. Having something that can loiter on station and expand the electronic coverage of systems like an AWACS in principal, made it worth having just on those attributes alone.
Yup - and that book is almost like the bible a-a combat
K-80 that the Tu-128 carried could transverse overload to 21G's. Also you forgot besides the difference of head on ranges and chase pursuit ranges one also has to take into account one would not firer said missiles to their maximum range limit as they would be out of energy out to their maximum limit range.
Those big Russian missiles weren't meant for dogfights or small, dodgy targets, but rather for engagement of big bombers.
@@walter.ekurtz6973: Correct, and I didn't forget about the max range issue, that was actually my point in how the missile stats are arrived at that they publish, which are impressive, but the reality of how they will actually be employed makes what is stated an exercise in eyewash. Having been in the business and actually have asked intel what the ranges are against a subsonic maneuvering aircraft employing ECM -Like the B-52 (I was a Gunner on D/G/H models) - the answer they came back with after putting the question up the chain, was quite surprising. The distance for successful launch drops like a rock, of course temperature and air density figure into the equation also. A tactic of interceptors was to launch a "beam rider" to give you something to play hot potato with, while they get into an aspect to make money with a heater (IR seeker), since they weren't banking on the success of the beam rider or semi-active missile due to ECM: Though home on jam was a nasty twist with the semi-active systems. you had to be careful with ECM employment. Transverse loading, as I understand it, is the loading the actual structure of the missile can take, that doesn't mean the G rating of the guidance system can take that. Transverse load of 21Gs on a Guidance rating of 17Gs, missile takes a 20G turn the missile is in one piece but the missile has gone stupid, it's a issue with the gyro not the structure. If I've got that wrong, let me know. Also, older systems required a launch envelope to be achieved that is much more restrictive compared to missile used now, they had to have a fairly stable platform, not launching while pulling a lot of Gs and or edge of aspect limitation was much more an issue than latest generation stuff, couldn't pull turns of the rail like missile can now, which is pretty amazing in relation to how is was in the past.
Your are right. Yet in going up against a B-58 Hustler, which was a player when the TU-128 was deployed, vs a B-52... The game changes quite a bit. I get more into that in my reply to Walter.E.Krutz.
Great production, loved it! On subject, there's some romanticism for Cold War. It had its proxy wars, sure, but aside from that the race was about space and new military machines alike. It was a war of technology that took each side to very limits. Social and economical issues apart, what the Soviets achieved in so little time it's certainly amazing and to be reckoned with.
Good and consistent content.
EXCELENTE VÍDEO ! GRACIAS !
One thing you can say about the Soviet Union is that made some very workmanlike aircraft. It may not be fancy but it got the job done.
A Russian designer compared Soviet and American aircraft to watches. "American like fine watch; drop watch, watch break. Russian planes like MickeyMouse watch; drop watch, shake, watch works." I'm trying to remember which book, probably the one I referenced in a comment.
Ugly planes don't fly well So...there are beatiful) Straight and metallic
@@ronjon7942 There's a NOVA documentary on American pilots vs Russian. The AMerican pilot says pretty much what you said. That AMerican planes are built like swiss watches, precise but delicate. Russian planes are like tanks, brute but gets the job done.
@@stingingmetal9648 Ees plane. Eet fly high and fast and shoot down enemies of Motherland. Vhat more you vant?
@@stingingmetal9648 they aren't anynear brute and they are also sophisticated enough. What you say or quoted really sounds like a cheap offense
this is VERY interesting.. TY
Beautiful aircraft
One of those scary looking Russian planes that we only ever saw blurry black and white images of in the 60's & 70's. Thanks for a great study of it.
Nice looking jet !
Such a cool plane. Looks so badass
Amazing content
Amazing information
Nice video of the Tupolev-128 Fiddler
Such an iconic cold war Soviet military aircraft, love it! Thanks for the video! 😊
Great channel..
Very good. I think that the bomber genesis helped a lot in everything.
It still looks ....futuristic. Beautiful aircraft, not ugly like modern fighters. Up there with the Vulcan bomber or English Electric Lightning. Only pretty plane left is the Eurofighter Typhoon.
Great video! I'm ashamed to admit i didn't knew about this aircraft. I love soviet/Russian aircrafts, but only in museums and airshows. Hope I will visit Monino some day. Mayby in better times.
What a cool plane
Hello from Toronto.Canada
Hello, Toronto
Amazingly clever reply
This reminds me of the YF-12 concept. Taking a big and fast thing (bomber in this case, recon in the -12), strap missiles to the thing, profit
8:42 I am so glad both the pilot and the navigator have their own individual lights lol Something got lost in translation here.
Great video as always! Beautiful beast from the cold!!! Could I please ask you a question? At approx. 4:20 it is visible a very clear scene of a B-52G taking off. I remember seeing a series of those B-52Gs videos a long time ago somewhere on internet but I can't find them anymore. Those scenes seemed, to me, connected with the filming of the movie "A Gathering of Eagles", a movie based on the operations of a squadron of B-52Gs. I am a modeller and finding good quality films or scenes of early B-52s is quite hard. Could you please give me any hint on where to look? In any case, again, great video and thank you very much! Take care!
Great vid Sky. Can I request more on the lesser known Soviet military aircraft? SU-11,Su-15,Tu-16 and similar? Thanks )
Love these videos of the slightly lesser known Soviet/Russian Aircraft. Humble request for consideration, Videos on Su-15 Flagon please? And still hoping for a Mil Mi-6 video )) Thanks
Well, already wrote this somewhere in KZhead comments. Saw these in real life in '83-'85 I served my mil time in USSR air forces at Khatanga airfield, Taimyr peninsula. It was spare airfield for TU-128 aircraft, others nearby were Alykel, Tiksi, Dikson, isl. Srednii, maybe more which i wasn't aware of. All airfields were mixed civil/mil use Khatanga had warehouse for missiles for these, simple flight command center, parking/refuelling places for 9 planes, usually flew in 3 planes for approx 1week trainings One of them crashed in Khatanga, as what i heard afterburner failure at takeoff. Was before my time, but remains of plane were still near runway. Maybe it was a good weapon, but i believe ground support would of fail in real situation. Support was shitty, to say at least..
Very Nice Videos 🥰🥰
The flying SAM launcher
Nice pic of a B 57 at 1.30
I could see a role for a large aircraft similarly build today. As a "long loiter time" high value asset escort (AWACS and Tankers).
This is my favorite interceptor built by the Soviet union. Built for long operational range and built for carrying massive anti air missiles and it is still the largest fighter aircraft till this day. An amazing feat by the Soviet union.
*largest fighter in service, since the YF-12 is definitely bigger but was really only a prototype while the Tu-128 was in serial production
@@kennethreyes7859 in length, yf is longer only by 1 meter and the TU's wingspan is 2 feet wider than yf's. I would say tu-128 is larger.
Hi, I really like your videos :). May I ask where you got the inspiration for this video?
Good stuff as always, thanks Sky!!!
Love it love it love it!
Supercruise in the early Sixties...
Great content, please make a video about the Su-15, thank you..✌️👍
Would love to see a video about Tu-160 from you
Developed at about the same time as the Avro Canada Arrow interceptor which was a large and fast delta winged aircraft with a bomb bay for missiles to intercept Soviet bombers coming over the north pole to North America. It too was large enough to be a fast bomber with it's bomb bay. Replaced by the Bomarc early on unfortunately.
well the US boss didnt want a servant to have better plane.
It was exciting for the short time it lasted.
@@altergreenhorn Pure interceptors were a redundant dead end, with the Arrow overly costly for that simple task. Canada needed a multi role jet (eventually the CF18, but soon the F35) that can perform various NATO strike or air missions in Europe or other locations (in addition to occasional interceptions around Canada). Phantom was probably the plane Canada should have got, it was the best of the generation once it got a gun (as missile technology wasn’t fully reliable yet). F106 was better than Arrow would have been at a much lower cost, it had a long but dull life and wasn’t effective in combat in Vietnam.
The British looked at it, by declined it and remained using the lightning, and what a fantastic aircraft that really was. So much about the Lightning was kept secret for years and years, but it consistently blew away anything the US had to offer.
Has anyone else noticed this? But all I ever read from the Americans, is them always trying to run down other countries military hardware, (while it’s actually much better than their own), they always just assume so much, and the truth is, they never really understand what it is they're really talking about anyway. I read them all, endlessly claiming the F-22 is so much better than the "Russian rubbish". Really?, is it, indeed? Only whenever they're asked what they've ever seen the F-22 actually do, (other than flying over a beach on a KZhead Video), that would allow them to make and hold that opinion? Well, obviously, they can't ever answer that? LOL. But what we read from them most of all, shows us very clearly, they have any idea that neither the F-22 nor the F-35, can detect, track, or target any other stealth aircraft from BVR (beyond visual range). This is that stupid assumption we always see from them all, with their propaganda claims that can't ever back up with a single fact. The reality, however, is nothing at all like they all think, because stealth alone, defeats high-frequency (short wave), radar, by absorption and deflection, it does not defeat low-frequency (long wave), radar. So, obviously, to detect, track, and target other stealth aircraft, you must have long-wave radar, (but it must also be enhanced), to remove all background clutter for targeting purposes. Neither the APG-77 radar, used in the F-22, or the APG-81 radar, used in the F-35, can detect any other stealth aircraft from BVR (without enhanced long wave radar). This obvious fact, the US Air force must know! Only it seems the reality is, that when the F-35 radars were being designed 13 years ago, there weren't any other stealth aircraft to think about as a potential threat! So, really, how can these US stealth aircraft really be seen, or even considered any sort of real threat to either Russia or China, who both have these US stealth aircraft technically beaten today, they can detect and target the US stealth jets from BVR, yet the US jets can't even detect them from BVR. And that's simply a hopeless situation. Russia's new Byelka (2band) radar, used in the SU-57, is a modern real 5th generation fighter radar, that does have an enhanced long-wave radar. Russia have designed, and they've developed, the first L-Band fighter radar we've ever seen. They've embedded L-band AESA radars into the leading edges of the wings. This new L-band AESA radar "data" gets processed in real time (through extremely powerful Russian computers), being significantly enhanced, removing all background clutter, meaning it can detect, track, and engage enemy stealth aircraft from BVR. The reality today is, that this new technology, along with its impressive range parameters, and it's jamming ability (over very large areas) make this aircraft deadly to all other aircraft types. Rubbish, Indeed! They also interact in ''real-time'' with each other squadron member (auto selecting) the best placed BVR missile being carried by any of them, that can be fired by anyone of them. They can also take full control of surface-to-air (SAM) missile defence systems - (that alone is lethal), they can detect and track all enemy stealth fighters long before they hit Russian airspace, from much greater distances today, with "real-time" data from all the massive Russian ground (long wave stations), that are all protected with the networked S-400 defensive system. The Russian jets will always know exactly where any enemy stealth fighter aircraft are, so they'll always approach them head on, and stealthily, the US fighter jets would never even see them coming! Result = you're doomed! Russia's Byelka (2band) radar also covers all frequencies across all channels, that's used for tracking, targetting, and also for jamming (over large areas). It's part of Sh121 multifunctional integrated radio electronic system (MIRES) on board the SU-57. Russia also tested this new radar suit in the SU-35's, so they also have the option of fitting this radar into the SU-35's, seeing the SU-35 at no disadvantage against either the F-22/35. Although the SU-35 can be detected and targeted from BVR by the US fighters, the SU-35 equipped with this new radar would be just as able to detect and target the US stealth fighters from BVR. Seeing the all-important Russian advantage in BVR missile range, plus the excellent manoeuvring, neither the F-22/F-35 have, as more than critical if you're going to avoid simply being blown out of the sky. This new Russian radar design has a very clear potential to provide a genuine shared multifunction aperture with applications including... Search, track, and destroy, missile mid-course guidance, against low signature aircraft, identification of friend or foe with secondary surveillance radar. Passive angle tracking and geolocation of JTIDS-MIDS-Link-16 emitters at long ranges. Passive angle tracking and geolocation of L-band AEWC-AWACS and surface based search radars at long ranges. Passive angle tracking and geolocation of hostile (i.e. Western) IFF and SSR transponders at long ranges. High-powered active jamming of JTIDS-MIDS-Link-16 emitters. High-powered active jamming of satellite navigation receivers over large areas. High-powered active jamming of L-band AEWC-AWACS and surface based search radars at long ranges. High-powered active jamming of guided munition command data links over large areas. Effectively, and completely, neutralizing the USA's use of AWACS for their detection. This new Tikhomirov NIIP L-band AESA radar, is a very important strategic development, and it's a technology, which once fully matured and deployed in useful numbers, will render narrowband stealth designs like the F-22 & F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and some, if not many, UAVs, as highly vulnerable to all flanker variants equipped with such radars. Russian crap, indeed.
I'd love to see a video about the IAR 93
IAR-99 and J22 orao too
Cool.
The fact its so big that they it could added more hard points to it
NGL, this plane have a badass design
Great work. Do the su-15 and mig-25 pls.
Such a sexy looking Plane! Nice Video!
Wings of red star?🤔 Thanks for fiddler doc!😁 Jman
At 3:21 looks like the chute deployment slammed the nose wheel down pretty hard
Awesome. Su-15 please!
That's HOT looking ship ❤
I find the engine and tail engineering interesting , I wonder how it responds to losing a flame ? I mean it seems like a cool air frame, a lot of push from that tail ...
Aloha from Hawai’i!🎉
Those missiles look like arrowheads for hunting 🙂
Good video about an infamous jet
Wish someone would produce an injection molded plastic model of this beast.
May i have a list of music played in this video please?