Lavochkin La-17

Lore & Background

The La-17 was designed by the Lavochkin design bureau, with work beginning in 1950. Flight tests began in 1953, with prototype drones carried on a Tupolev Tu-4 four-engine bomber. Production began in 1956. The initial variant was air-launched, of all-metal construction with straight flight surfaces, and powered by a Bondaryuk RD-900 ramjet carried in a nacelle under the fuselage. A windmill-type electric generator in the nose provided power. The drone was radio-controlled and landed by belly landing, with the engine taking the abuse of touchdown. It could carry Luneburg lenses to enhance radar signature.

The original La-17 was only marginally effective; air launch was expensive and logistically clumsy, and the ramjet's high fuel consumption gave short endurance. To address these problems, the ground-launched La-17M was developed, performing initial flights in 1959 and entering service in 1960. It used RATO boosters under each wing root and was launched from a four-wheel towed launcher derived from a 100 mm antiaircraft gun carriage. The La-17M was powered by a Mikulin RD-9BK turbojet, a derated, non-afterburning version of the MiG-19's engine. Teardrop fairings on the wingtips held compressed air to improve flight ceiling. Endurance improved to 60 minutes. Early production lacked an autopilot and were quickly replaced by the La-17MA with autopilot. Later production featured the RD-9BKR engine with improved service life and an improved landing control system that caused the UAV to nose up before touchdown, plus a landing skid under the engine nacelle; these were designated La-17MM and entered service in 1964. Some old ramjet-powered La-17s were updated for ground launch as La-17n.

A ground-launched reconnaissance drone based on the La-17MM, the La-17R, was introduced in 1962. It had a stretched nose to accommodate reconnaissance payloads including film cameras, a real-time TV camera, and a radiation monitoring instrument. An improved La-17RM followed in 1965. Later, to rationalize production, the La-17UM (target) and La-17RU (reconnaissance) variants were manufactured with maximum parts commonality. The Lavochkin OKB eventually became more involved in space systems, and production continued into the late 1970s until RD-9BK engines were exhausted. The La-17 was then redesigned to use the R11K engine, a non-afterburning version of the Tumanskiy R11F-300 turbojet from the MiG-21. The Sokol design bureau began production of this reengined variant, internally designated La-17K, in the late 1970s. The La-17K remained in production into the early 1990s and apparently remains in lingering use in Russian service.

Reader's Guide

The La-17 family represents the Soviet Union's first operational UAV, bridging the gap between early experimental drones and sustained service use. Its evolution from a marginal air-launched ramjet target to a ground-launched turbojet platform with reconnaissance variants demonstrates a pragmatic response to operational shortcomings. The La-17's long service life—from the 1950s into the 1980s, with the La-17K continuing into the early 1990s—reflects its utility as a low-cost, expendable target and reconnaissance asset. The program also illustrates Soviet design bureau dynamics: Lavochkin initiated the design, but later production shifted to the Sokol OKB when engine supplies changed. The La-17's export was limited, though La-17RM reconnaissance drones were sent to Syria in the 1980s. More significantly, the La-17 was reverse-engineered in China without a license, leading to the Chang Kong CK-1 series, which itself saw multiple variants and remained in Chinese service. The La-17 thus had a quiet but lasting influence on Soviet and Chinese UAV development.

Did You Know?

• The La-17 was the first Soviet UAV to reach operational service.
• The La-17M improved endurance from 40 to 60 minutes by switching to a turbojet engine.
• China reverse-engineered the La-17 without a license, producing the Chang Kong CK-1 series.

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