Soviet/Russian Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

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 The book is richly illustrated with black-and-white and color photos, including until-now unpublished ones, and line drawings.