Red Star 20: Soviet/Russian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Softbound 21x30 cm, 128 pages. While Soviet combat aircraft have received extensive coverage, the many UAVs developed in the Soviet Union and, more recently, Russia remain unsung. Nevertheless, this is a subject deserving attention. The first Soviet UAV to find large-scale use was the La-17 developed by the Lavochkin OKB, a fighter maker of World War II fame; it came in both target drone and reconnaissance versions. The Tupolev OKB, best known for its heavy bombers and commercial aircraft, also had a line of UAVs of varying size. The first of these was the Tu-123 Yastreb which started life as a heavy cruise missile but evolved into a supersonic unmanned spyplane; the book also describes the Tu-141 Strizh (Swift), which again came in reconnaissance and target versions, the Tu-243 Reys (Flight) and the latest Tu-300 recce/strike UAV. The Yakovlev OKB's unmanned aircraft are also covered, including the Pchela (Bee) surveillance UAV which has seen operational use in the Chechen wars; mention is also made of UAVs and drones developed by such companies as Strela and the Moscow Aviation Institute. The book is richly illustrated with black-and-white and color photos, including until-now unpublished ones, and line drawings. 9781857801934