The Myasishchev M-18 was a design for a

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound (Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

bomber A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles. There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...

with a

variable-sweep wing A variable-sweep wing, colloquially known as a "swing wing", is an airplane wing, or set of wings, that may be modified during flight, swept back and then returned to its previous straight position. Because it allows the aircraft's shape to ...

. The aircraft was developed in response to a Soviet 1972 program for a new multi-misson, supersonic, variable geometry wing strategic bomber, with a maximum speed of Mach 2.3, as a response to the U.S.

Rockwell B-1 Lancer The Rockwell B-1 Lancer is a supersonic variable-sweep wing, heavy bomber used by the United States Air Force. It has been nicknamed the "Bone" (from "B-One"). , it is one of the United States Air Force's three strategic bombers, along with t ...

program. The project was dropped in favour of the

Tupolev Tu-160 The Tupolev Tu-160 (; NATO reporting name: Blackjack) is a supersonic, variable-sweep wing nuclear-capable heavy strategic bomber and airborne missile platform designed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the Soviet Union in the 1970s. The aircra ...

program. Although the design was the most successful compared to the Tu-160 and

Sukhoi T-4 The Sukhoi T-4, or "Aircraft 100", or "Project 100", or "Sotka" is a Soviet high-speed reconnaissance, anti-ship and strategic bomber aircraft that did not proceed beyond the prototype stage. It is sometimes called the Su-100. Design and develo ...

, it was dropped as Tupolev had the most potential to go ahead with the supersonic bomber project. In 1973, Tupolev was assigned the development of a new aircraft based on the Myasishchev design.

References

External links

Picture of scale model from testpilot.ruCutaway diagram from testpilot.ru
Myasishchev aircraft 1980s Soviet bomber aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of the Soviet Union Quadjets {{bomber-stub