Mikoyan/Gurevich I-320

To meet a requirement for a twin-engined all-weather fighter formulated in January 1948, the MiG OKB proffered the Izdeliye R, a side-by-side two-seat swept-wing fighter with the engines disposed in tandem. Competing with proposals from the Lavochkin and Yakovlev bureaux - all three contenders being awarded three-prototype contracts - the MiG fighter was assigned the official designation I-320. The nose intake fed a plenum chamber around the forward engine compressor, this engine exhausting below the fuselage and a duct leading back to the rear engine which exhausted via an orifice in the extreme tail. Armament comprised two 37mm N-37 cannon, and the first prototype, the R-1 flown on 16 April 1949, was powered by two 2270kg RD-45F engines, whereas the R-2 and R-3 were each powered by paired 2700kg VK-1s. The VK-1-powered prototypes could take-off and cruise on the power of either engine, and the I-320 was initially tested with Torii-A (Thorium-A) radar. This single-antenna radar which demanded manual tracking was succeeded by the basically similar but improved Korshun (Kite) radar with which the I-320 was tested during July-August 1951. Development of the I-320 was discontinued when the requirement to which it had been designed was overtaken by a more advanced one.

3-View

A three-view drawing (1660 x 1107)