Tupolev Tu-123

Background

The Tu-123 was a development of the proposed Tupolev Tu-121 supersonic nuclear-armed cruise missile program. After that project was cancelled in favor of ballistic missiles, the design was modified for high-altitude reconnaissance. The project was officially launched on 16 August 1960 under the designation DBR-1, with the Tupolev Design Bureau designation I123K, later changed to Tu-123.

Factory testing was completed in September 1961, and flight tests by December 1963. The new UAV entered active service on 23 May 1964. Mass production at Voronezh Factory Number 64 produced 52 units from 1964 to 1972.

The Tu-123 was ground-launched with JATO boosting and powered in flight by a KR-15 afterburning turbojet, a lower-cost, short-life, expendable version of the R-15 engine used on the twin-engine, Mach 3-class Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-25 Foxbat interceptor. The drone itself was expendable, parachuting its payload to the ground for recovery. Its form was reminiscent of a big dart.

The Tu-123 served with Soviet Air Force intelligence units stationed in the western border military districts until 1979. It theoretically had the range to cover all of Central and Western Europe, and performed well in training exercises. However, the expense of operating an expendable system was unsatisfactory, leading to the development of the Tu-139 Yastreb 2, a reusable version that could land on unprepared airstrips, though it was never put into production. The Tu-123 was gradually removed from service and replaced by the MiG-25R, a reconnaissance version of the Foxbat.