Tupolev is a Russian aircraft design and manufacturing organisation with roots in the Soviet experimental design bureau established under Andrei Tupolev in 1922. Its work includes bombers, military support aircraft and passenger transports. The enterprise's later industrial role encompasses design, production, modernisation and support within United Aircraft Corporation.[1]
Metal aircraft and military programmes
The bureau traces its origins to the commission for metal aircraft construction established at TsAGI on 22 October 1922. It became a major centre for large-aircraft development. During the Second World War its work included the Tu-2 bomber; post-war programmes included the Tu-95 turboprop bomber, the variable-sweep Tu-22M and the Tu-160 supersonic bomber. These aircraft demonstrate the bureau's long association with long-range military aviation, although they differ substantially in propulsion, wing geometry and mission systems.[2]
Passenger aircraft
Tupolev also developed a major passenger-aircraft line. The Tu-104 jet airliner drew upon the Tu-16 bomber programme, while the Tu-114 turboprop transport was developed from the Tu-95. Later passenger aircraft included the Tu-124, Tu-134 and three-engine Tu-154. These programmes made civil transport a substantial part of the organisation's work alongside military aircraft. The Tu-144 represented a separate attempt to introduce supersonic passenger transport; its prototype first flew on 31 December 1968, and its brief passenger service began in 1977.[3][4]
Research and aircraft support
Tupolev subsequently modified a Tu-144 into the Tu-144LL flying laboratory for a joint research programme involving NASA and American and Russian aerospace organisations. The project investigated technologies relevant to a possible later generation of supersonic airliners, with flights conducted from Zhukovsky near Moscow. This research role complemented the organisation's continuing responsibilities for existing aircraft. Modernisation, repair and after-sales support extend the service life of designs whose initial development may have taken place decades earlier.[5][1]