Sukhoi T-49

The Sukhoi T-49 was a prototype Soviet fighter aircraft.

Development
The Sukhoi T-49 is a modernized version of the Sukhoi Su-11 with new radar and modified armament. The project was officially launched on August 6, 1957, the maiden flight of the T-49 prototype took place, after various rolling tests in October 1959, in January 1960.

In the development of the T-49, the delta wing, the tail and the cigar-shaped hull were taken over by the Su-11. A key differentiator to the predecessor model is the extended nose of the aircraft to accommodate the more powerful radar. Since this was also associated with a larger diameter, it was no longer possible to accommodate the radar antenna in the shock cone of the air inlet, or there was no more room for the annular air inlet. Therefore, lateral air inlets were constructed on both sides shortly after the radome. This also simplified the operation of the radar, since its antenna was now firmly installed in the aircraft tip and the forward and backward movements of the engine shock cone no longer had to be compensated.

For the construction of the T-49 the unfinished T-39 was used. The project T-39 was stopped in 1958. The fuel tank number 3 was re-installed in the fuselage, after the project T -39 was provided at the site a tank for water injection. . The entire fuselage in front of the cockpit has been redesigned.

The flight tests with the T-49 were promising, but showed that the twin-engine project T-58 had a greater potential. Particularly in relation to the wishes of the PWO regarding the reliability of the engines, the single-beam T-49 did not meet these requirements as well as the T-58. However, the T-49 proved to be a valuable precursor to the T-58, especially in terms of radar and the development of the air intakes. In the air intakes, this helped the T-58 to a development advantage over the competition pattern Yak-28-64 of Yakovlev. The T-58 finally developed into a production version under the name Su-15.

The only built Suchoi T-49 was damaged in April 1960, a repair was not considered and the aircraft scrapped.