Tupolev Tu-75

The Tupolev Tu‑75 was a Soviet transport project that emerged in the late 1940s as a direct derivative of the Tu‑4 strategic bomber, itself a reverse‑engineered copy of the American B‑29 Superfortress. Conceived by the Tupolev Design Bureau, the Tu‑75 was intended to provide the Red Army with a long‑range, heavy‑cargo aircraft capable of operating from the same airfields as the bomber fleet. Its layout retained the Tu‑4’s four‑engine low‑wing configuration, employing four Shvetsov ASh‑73 radial engines that delivered approximately 2,400 hp each. The fuselage was lengthened and reinforced to accommodate a spacious cargo compartment with a rear loading ramp, allowing carriage of up to 3,000 kg of materiel or 30 fully equipped soldiers. Designers projected a maximum range of about 4,200 km at a cruising speed near 420 km/h, giving the aircraft true intercontinental capability.

Although a prototype was slated for construction, the program was cancelled before any airframe left the drawing board, as Soviet planners favored the purpose‑built Ilyushin Il‑12 and later Il‑14 transports. Nonetheless, the Tu‑75 illustrates the post‑war Soviet strategy of adapting captured or copied bomber technology for logistical roles, and its design studies informed later large‑aircraft projects such as the Tu‑104 jet airliner and the Tu‑154 cargo variants.

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