Giant Soviet Flying Boat That Chased NATO Submarines | Beriev Be-6

foreign we're taking a look at a flying boat that had its origins in the early 1940s it would not see active service until after the second world war but it Saw service for decades during the Cold War and the design itself would Mark the beginning of a new generation of successful military aircraft hailing from the Soviet Union powered by a pair of chunky radial engines carried by a distinctive Gull wing and defended by potent 23 millimeter Auto cannons this was the berry of be6 also known by its NATO designation of match the origins of the be6 can be traced back to 1942. gyogi mikailovich beriev the founder of the design Bureau had proposed a design known as the bereave mdr-10 this was a twin-engine heavy flying boat with a gross weight of 22 000 kilos along operational range and a powerful defensive Armament the mdr-10 could be built to fill a variety of needs it could be built as a long-range Maritime Patrol aircraft a general reconnaissance aircraft or a transport and Landing aircraft with an amphibious landing gear system unfortunately the mdr-10 would never leave the drawing board due to the oncoming threat of the rapidly advancing German Army not only did the berry of design Bureau have to relocate further east from setting up shop in the city of Omsk but they then had to put their efforts into fulfilling the existing order for the be4 reconnaissance aircraft which we cover but recently and doing this after a massive relocation with minimal equipment was enough of a challenge on its own let alone designing and building an even larger aircraft because of this the Soviet Administration was happy to fill the Gap in its flying boat Arsenal with the lens lease pby catalinas specifically an updated version known as The pbn Nomad but despite the fact that they would go on to serve well with Soviet forces not everyone was happy with using the pbn several senior officers felt that the design was too light not being able to carry a large enough payload and some felt that it was too old indeed when the first pbns began arriving the basic design of the airframe was already a decade old as it was the Navy did not want to be left with an obsolete design at the conclusion of the war with Germany one which might swiftly be followed by a war with the Western powers and this led to renewed interest in the heavy flying boat design that had been proposed a year earlier by beriev both the command of Soviets and Naval Aviation is a veronorov and the people's commissar of the Navy and Royal kittenetsov reviewed the proposal in depth and then gave the official go-ahead for a full design project to begin this go ahead came with a formalized set of requirements barrier was to build a twin engine heavy flying boat it was to have a loaded takeoff weight of between 20 000 and 25 000 kilograms it was to have a maximum speed of no less than 400 kilometers an hour a range of 5000 kilometers endurance of up to 20 hours and it must be able to carry 4 000 kilograms of Ordnance despite the Navy's urgency work did not begin on the Prototype until the spring of 1943. as mentioned in the previous video covering the barrier of be form the design Bureau was forced to relocate due to the oncoming threat of the German invasion variev had first relocated to new facilities at Omsk but it lacked the required facilities to allow for both production of the be4 and that of this newer and much larger design a request was then submitted and granted for everything to be moved to factory 477 as krasni ask things did not get off to a particularly smooth start the factory had the space but it lacked in practically everything else and despite a recent influx of new staff barrier still found itself with a Manpower shortage on hand the bureau had around 36 designers and about 100 engineers and laborers which may sound like a lot but for the development of a large technologically complex aircraft it really wasn't especially when you factor in things such as deadlines and the fact that barrier was also under contract to build the be4 as well because of this the final design layouts and diagrams were not actually complete until late 1943 but they were then quickly approved and construction of the Prototype got underway the resulting aircraft in accordance with its specification was of all metal construction with fabric covered Rudders and ailerons it was completed with a distinct Gull Wing structure with twin Outrigger floats and a large capacious hole power would be provided by twin shivetsov Ash 72 18 cylinder radial engines producing up to 2 250 horsepower under takeoff and these drove four-bladed constant speed propellers the engineer cells would be angled upwards very slightly in an attempt to increase upwards force during takeoff power at the cost of forward thrust during flight the Prototype was to be armed with six 12.7 millimeter berezen machine guns in the nose waist positions dorsal turret and tail turrets along with the capacity to carry out to 4 000 kilograms of bombs mines or Torpedoes on its external racks which were located on the wings this payload capacity allowed the future be6 to mount up to two very heavy Torpedoes a powerful asset to have when the majority of torpedo bombers at the time could carry a maximum of one and most of these were medium sized the Prototype dumped ll143 was completed by the spring of 1945. it was then disassembled and prepared for transportation to the port city of tagin rock where it would complete its initial tests parts for a second prototype had been pretty much fully completed by this time as well though it would not be sent across for assembly until 1946. so complex was the

first prototype that it took almost two months to fully reassemble it once everything had been delivered by Rail and a number of tests were done at the factory before rolling it out for water trials and flight tests when complete it was undoubtedly an unusual looking aircraft with its very deep Hull and girl Wings though whether it's of a graceful beauty or one of ugly military utility is still up for debate finally on the 6th of September 1945 ll143 would make its Maiden flight This Was Then followed by a series of 10 test flights that ran for approximately seven weeks terminating in mid-november due to the onset of the Russian winter rather hilariously at the end of the 10th and final test flight the aircraft cannot be physically pulled ashore as the wind had picked up and it kept getting blown further out to sea in the end it would take five days to finally bring it to shore with teams pulling it in by stages breaking apart the sea ice that would form each night and uh threatened to crush the hull rather unsurprisingly this marked the end of the testing period for the year and further developments had to be halted for the winter the Prototype not flying again until May the 27th 1946. the next batch of evaluations consisted of 19 flights and the aircraft amassed a total flight time of 19 hours and 39 minutes during these but it was then that the Prototype was almost lost during a pre-flight check a mechanic decided to test the limiters of the dorsal turret and accidentally fired a salvo from the 12.7 millimeter machine gun at the wing at the exact location of the recently filled fuel tank though only a few armor-piercing bullets were fired it was still more than enough to ignite the fuel and Flames began to quickly spread on the prototype's wing thankfully the situation was quickly remedied by nearby flight mechanics who swiftly took a fire extinguisher to the wing and smothered the Flames thus saving the Prototype from an early and embarrassing end bereave was pleased that the Prototype was saved but also decided to take the opportunity to analyze the damage and evaluate the durability of the aircraft after repairs tests continued and on July the 22nd the chairman of the state each commission personally took the aircraft up for a test flight and was apparently thoroughly impressed in his post-flight report he noted that the ll-143 aircraft in piloting technique is simple and quite accessible to a medium-skilled pilot compared to the pby Catalina the ll-143 has better maneuverability and seaworthiness easier takeoff and landing and also maintains a more stable attitude during flight removing the burden of constant micro adjustments from the pilot this was a high praise indeed claiming that the Prototype despite being in development had better characteristics in virtually all aspects than perhaps the most renowned flying boat of all time although one could speculate that a thoroughly negative evaluation might have been asking for a one-way trip to a Siberian salt mine either way things looks promising and at this point it became clear that the ll143 had been sufficiently developed to Warrant ceasing the flight tests and to begin the preparations to make the aircraft suitable for mass production this would involve final adjustments to the design and beriff was instructed to make some recommended modifications this included re-engining to the more powerful ash-73 engine and upgrading the weaponry and radio equipment at this stage in development before moving further the ll143s specifications were as follows 23 meters in length with a wingspan and height of 33 and 7.45 meters respectively making the airframe rather large the aircraft's normal takeoff weight was around 21 tons it had a maximum speed of 371 kilometers an hour at sea level and it had a total flight range of 2800 kilometers with normal loading aside from various other small design issues which normally occur when a design is in the Prototype phase the range was highlighted as a shortcoming something which would be remedied in its successor work on the new modernized variant to begin on April the 25th 1947 and it would be built from the existing airframe of the second ll143 which had not been fully assembled as intended it was re-engined with the ash-73 capable of producing 2400 horsepower under takeoff power these had been requisitioned from an existing tu4 strategic bomber though the turbochargers were removed the aircraft's previous Armament was revised replacing the dorsal 12.7 millimeter machine gun with a far more powerful Loadout twin 20 millimeter B20 cannons this aircraft receiving the designation of be6 underwent its preliminary Factory tests in tagonrog from July the 2nd to October the 3rd of 1948. the be6 performed a total of 34 test flights with a total flight time of 43 hours during this time frame along with a single 2000 kilometer long range test over the sea of azov however like the first prototype these tests would not go completely smoothly either one flight ended in a very near Miss as the aircraft began to experience intense vibrations whilst flying at 5000 meters these vibrations were so strong that the battery was ripped from its mounting killing power to the radio equipment the engine radiators were damaged to the point of failure and the entire superstructure of the airframe began to deform watching some of the bolts and rivets literally come away from the framing and paneling the crew was instructed rather sensibly to be ready for an immediate bailout in the end this didn't happen as the pilot MV sepelov managed to bring the aircraft down for an emergency landing before its self-disassembly had actually completed a post-flight evaluation revealed that a bolt securing the left steering column had sheared off in Flight resulting in fluttering of the control line in elevator which caused the aircraft to experience violent oscillations eventually the be6 was repaired after a long stint at the workshop and it was then considered for even further upgrades reflecting the rapid technological advancements being made in the post-war era a naval Scout without radar in 1945 may have been acceptable but even by 1948 it had become clear that any seaplane lacking this was a blatant anachronism further weapon installations were also explored at the same time with all the machine guns in the bell and tail eventually being replaced with 20 millimeter cannons it was also decided to adjust some elements of the design relating to the central Hull and tail along with increasing the crew complements to eight people including a dedicated radio operator and installing anti-icing systems on the aircraft's windscreen these conversions known as the be6tr were completed through late 1949 into early 1950 and were followed by further Factory testing and full evaluations and to this point the aircraft was subject to an extensive and methodical evaluation in comparison to the pby Catalina a design 15 years old by this point the two were compared side by side in terms of ease of control seaworthiness stability flight on one engine ease of takeoff and Landing Armament and versatility of application this is a rather interesting point that's worth delving into as it's hard to stress how unusual it was especially in this era of Aviation to be using a design a decade and a half old as the standard it shows how highly the Soviets regarded the Catalina and also how sound of an aircraft it was a sentiment also mirrored today considering it's one of the few World War II era aircraft that has still flown recreationally outside of their historical significance the performance aspects are also interesting to compare the Catalina was significantly smaller than the be6 and was almost half of the weight in terms of speed the pby could just about manage 315 kilometers an hour at sea level compared to the 377 of the be6 not a huge upgrade in speed considering the time difference between them and the fact that the Catalina's engines are half the power of the ash-73s Armament wise the be6 of course wins out sporting five Auto cannons in comparison to the Catalina's four machine guns though the Catalina wins hands down in terms of ease of manufacturing ease of piloting is harder to determine as US and Soviet reports both tend to lean heavily towards their own aircraft which is not really surprising but it was likely the Catalina if we're being impartial as it was a significantly more simple and reliable aircraft with fewer systems to worry about the final barrier of test report submitted on August 31st 1950 concluded that the E6 met the requirements and was a superior platform than the Catalina which was a fair conclusion although by no means was the Catalina considered significantly worse in any case the be6 was then transferred to State Specialists for their evaluation the state tests generally agreed in barriers assessment though countered that they believed the aircraft's Armament should once again be upgraded this time with 23 millimeter nr23 cannons replacing the previous units following the suggestion the Armament was changed to five 23 millimeter cannons which were installed in three remote controlled turrets the aircraft also received a radar upgrade some revisions to the fuel supply system and a brand new navigation system due to the new equipment a significant redesign to the hull was also necessary with the new variants now being called the be6m this the main production variant at last featured a range of 4800 kilometers a maximum speed of 377 kilometers an hour at sea level and the capability to carry up to 4 000 kilos of Ordnance or cargo this perhaps shows the optimism of the original specification which required a speed of 400 kilometers an hour a range of up to 5 000 kilometers a flight duration of 20 hours and the capability to carry 4 000 kilos of General Ordnance as despite seven years of development the be6 still fell short in the speed and range Department though admittedly not by much old be 60r airframes were correspondingly upgraded to the new be6m standards which underwent tests until February of 1951 receiving almost unanimous praise for the aircraft from those who manned it and so after further safety testing and verification of flight systems the aircraft was finally cleared by the state and launched into mass production in 1952. in order to produce the

necessary documentation for the workers who would produce parts for the aircraft the number of barrier of employees was temporarily boosted by three or four times at the usual number despite the vast number of personnel the be6 was an extremely complicated aircraft to produce and every worker at the plant either drafting plans or building the first be6 reportedly worked large numbers of overtime hours these hurried working conditions rather understandably had a negative effect on the fruit of their labors as the first production aircraft sent to the Navy for tests was something of a disaster the aircraft was shoddily put together and required the replacement or tightening of over 700 rivets by by Navy staff whilst the hull of the aircraft designed for extensive use upon the water was not in fact watertight and it often leaked when it rained soaking and destroying the expensive equipment that had just been installed upon receiving complaints that he had delivered a hopeless product bereave blamed the tight deadlines that had been placed upon the factory he vowed to eliminate further defects but could only guarantee this if the workload was moderated and so when full production followed this was done at a more sensible Pace with a total of 123 aircraft being constructed by 1957 when the last of be6 rolled off the production line in the following years the be6 would be used in a variety of different roles including search and rescue these aircraft designated as the be6ss were stripped of weaponry and became the first dedicated search and rescue aircraft of the Soviet military an anti-submarine green variant was also produced designated to the be6pl and it featured a hydroacoustic search and detection system this variant was accepted as a modification to the be6 in 1955 and it was able to detect a submarine at a depth of up to 50 meters this version of the be6 was very easy to recognize as the tail turret was replaced by a protuberance that housed the detection equipment the last major attempt at modification was the be6kl in 1965-67 which was intended to be capable of communicating with Soviet submarines without the necessity of the submarine to surface tests were carried out in early 1967 but produced generally subparm results and the project was canceled shortly thereafter the be6 was operated by the Soviets in Patrol Maritime reconnaissance and anti-submarine duties until the early 1970s the aircraft also served as a test bed for some experimental Weaponry such as the High Altitude bt-4554 torpedo operating with the 289th regiment the aircraft performed torpedo bombing training runs in Anna Bay also conducting long-range reconnaissance test flights surveying large areas of Greenland and the Kara Seas some of the aircraft in this regiment were also fitted with extra fuel tanks which improved the aircraft's already impressive endurance to just over 20 hours during the 1950s Crews of reconnaissance squadrons were involved in supporting roles usually using two or four be sixes based out of the bay in Novia zemlia the archipelago mainly used for Soviet nuclear tests some of the crews operating from this area were given the rather unfortunate job of flying through the radioactive mushroom cloud at different altitudes and intervals to measure the nature of the decline of radioactivity these aircraft were not specially armored or protected against radiation and fitted only with extra measuring equipment which doesn't paint a happy picture for the long-term health of the Airmen that had this particular job most commonly and famously be sixes along with their Crews were kept on high alert around the clock to ensure the Rapid Rescue of Airmen or seamen lost in the bitterly cold seas around Russia many of these aircraft were not the be6ss variant but instead standard be e6ms occasionally fitted with high-powered steer one beacons which were capable of being seen for up to 80 kilometers and Illuminating patches of dark sea in an area of up to 10 kilometers along with success with the Navy barrier that did end up securing one Export customer for the be6 as well and that was China 20 examples sold between 1959 and 1960 served in similar roles as their Soviet counterparts but they significantly outlived them the ash-73 engines apparently wore out long before the airframes did being replaced with a chinese-made open wj-6 turbo props which were capable of outputting an impressive 4250 horsepower 12 of these aircraft was still in operation with the Chinese Navy in 1999 and two were verified as being active as late as 2003. though the aircraft itself became obsolete by the end of the 1950s in the Soviet Union the be-6 served as a test bed for the new generation of anti-submarine equipment and it helped to develop at that particular area of Aviation though the equipment was fairly finicky it was reported to that The anti-submarine Radars could give a range of between four to five kilometers in the barrant sea but that fell to a measly two to three hundred meters in the Black Sea the aircrew's difficulties in the early days of such technology partially due to Squadron leaders and higher-ups in the Soviet aviation industry not understanding the temperamental nature of such technology and expecting far too much far too soon of it resulted in them scrapping the idea when it didn't meet expectations despite this the be sixes did see some success one be six is successfully monitored a submarine in 1958 for four and a half hours whilst remaining undetected by the early 1960s the technology had matured a little and on the 23rd of March 1961 two dedicated anti-submarine be6 squadrons were founded their work was fairly uneventful but with one notable exception on March 23 1963 the crew of an mi4pl anti-submarine helicopter discovered an unidentified submarine at the combat training ground of the northern Fleet a number of anti-submarine be sixes were dispatched and they coordinated with the helicopters and service vessels to track the unknown contact despite the attempts of the submarine to break away from the pursuit the hydroacoustic equipment on the be6 allowed it to me continuously monitored for 33 hours having run out of battery power at this point the British porpoise class diesel Boat s07c Line was forced to Surface after this incident Britain only dispatched nuclear sub Marines to conduct reconnaissance in the Barons sea with the nuclear submarines monitoring them became an impossibility for the be6 due to the increased depths and Times of submersion but for a Time the be sixes would be a fairly common sight for American fighters during the Cold War on their long Meandering and often low altitude patrols named match by NATO missiles certainly rendered to the Gunners somewhat obsolete though they were a fairly new technology for much of the 1950s in any Close Quarters combat involving Gunnery the 23 millimeter cannons would have made the match quite hard to approach as even a single round from the nr-23s contained enough explosive filler to or outright to destroy a fighter eventually its inability to effectively counter submarines after the early 1960s resulted in the replacement of the be6 by more capable and modern airframes the fundamental design of the be6 did not end here though as the tried and tested airframe would serve as the Genesis for its own successor as far back as the late 1950s the idea of fitting the aircraft with turbo props had been floated by barryev and the idea eventually led to the be12 the be12 would carry on the lineage of the be6 pretty much into the modern day it outlived the Soviet Union it Saw Service with multiple countries throughout the 80s 90s and early 2000s and even a few are still kicking around today though their operational status is somewhat nebulous but the be12 is deserving of its own full video so we will look at that another day as always thank you all so much for watching and a big thank you of course to the patron supporters as I'm away at the moment this list cannot be updated but I shall Endeavor to do so for the next video that should be going up a few days after my return a big thank you of course to our wing command that here patrons our highest tier members and seeing as I'm currently away I'm hoping to post some photos of my travels on the patreon page so please keep on out for that but thank you all so much for your continued support I'm going to chill out for a bit longer and then I will see you all again soon goodbye

2023-04-13 04:22

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