Ilyushin Il-102

Ilyushin Il-102
Ilyushin Il-102 on display
General information
TypeGround-attack aircraft
ManufacturerIlyushin
StatusPrototype
Number built2
History
First flight25 September 1982
Developed from
Ilyushin Il-40

The Ilyushin Il-102 is a Soviet experimental jet-powered ground-attack aircraft designed by Ilyushin. This aircraft was never chosen for production, being surpassed by the Su-25. Only a few development prototypes were built.

Design and development

In 1967, the Soviet Air Forces drew up a specification for a jet-powered shturmovik or armoured ground attack aircraft. While Sukhoi designed an all-new single seat aircraft, the Su-25, Ilyushin proposed a modified version of their Il-40 of 1953 under the designation Il-42, which, unlike the Sukhoi, was a two-seat aircraft with a remotely-controlled rear gun turret. The design was rejected by the Soviet Air Forces, but Ilyushin decided to continue in-house development regardless, renaming the programme Il-102.

The Il-102 first prototype flew on 25 September 1982, with a second airframe built for static tests, and carried out 250 test flights until it was grounded in 1984 when the engine life expired.

The tail turret of the Il-102, armed with a GSh-23L twin-barreled cannon

The Il-102 was a low-winged monoplane with moderately swept (30 degrees) wings, powered by two Klimov RD-33I turbofans (non-afterburning versions of the engines that power the Mikoyan MiG-29 fighter). It was highly unusual for its time in having a rear gun turret, something not seen in ground-attack aircraft since the World War II Il-2 Shturmovik and Il-10, the Il-102's spiritual ancestors, controlled remotely by a gunner sitting in a cockpit above the trailing edge of the wing. The crew cockpits, engines and fuel tanks were armoured to protect against ground fire.[citation needed]

Although development was abandoned in 1984, the prototype Il-102 was publicly unveiled at the 1992 Mosaeroshow air show at Zhukovsky, being claimed to be available for export.

Ilyushin Il-102 on display at the Gromov Flight Research Institute

As of 2005, the prototype No. 10201 was placed on display at the Gromov Flight Research Institute.[citation needed]

Specifications

Data from The Osprey Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875–1995

General characteristics

Performance

Armament

See also

Related development

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration, and era

References

Notes

  1. ↑ World Air Power Journal Summer 1994, p. 25.
  2. ↑ World Air Power Journal Summer 1994, p. 27.
  3. ↑ World Air Power Journal Summer 1994, pp. 24–28.
  4. ↑ Gunston 1995, pp. 126–127.

Bibliography