Tupolev Tu-141


The Tupolev Tu-141 Strizh is a Soviet reconnaissance drone that served with the Soviet Red Army during the late 1970s and 1980s.

Development

The Tu-141 was a follow-on to the Tupolev Tu-123 and was a relatively large, medium-range reconnaissance drone. It was designed to undertake reconnaissance missions several hundred kilometers behind the front lines at transonic speeds. It could carry a range of payloads, including film cameras, infrared imagers, EO imagers, and imaging radar.
As with previous Tupolev designs, it had a dart-like rear-mounted delta wing, forward-mounted canards, and a KR-17A turbojet engine mounted above the tail. It was launched from a trailer using a solid-propellant booster and landed with the aid of a tail-mounted parachute.
The Tu-141 was in Soviet service from 1979 to 1989, mostly on the western borders of the Soviet Union.

Combat usage

The Tu-141 was pressed back into service by the Ukrainian Air Force for the War in Donbass.

Specifications