Tu-123
Missile · Russia
Original archive entry. The text, images and links below are kept as they were written.
Russian intercontinental boost-glide missile. Exotic design for an intercontinental missile using a gas core fission reactor for cruise propulsion. Studied circa 1957.
The Tu-123 was an exotic missile design using an airbreathing kerosene/nuclear mixed propulsion engine. It was proposed as an alternative upper stage on the 'DP' winged rocket system in place of the Tu-130 hypersonic glider. The engine would have given the missile a range in excess of 4000 km (perhaps essentially unlimited, as the American SLAM/Project Pluto) at a speed of 3000 km/hr. Other sources assign the Tu-123 designation to the conventional missile also known as Tu-133.
Number Standard Warheads: 1. Standard warhead: 205. Boost Propulsion: Kerosene/Nuclear. Maximum speed: 3,000 kph (1,800 mph). Minimum range: 4,000 km (2,400 mi).
Subtopics
- Tu-123 cruise vehicle Nuclear/Air propellant rocket stage. Turbojet using mixed propulsion, either burning kerosene or heating air directly with a nuclear reactor.
Related
- Family
- Boost-glide
- Country
- Russia
- Agency
- Tupolev bureau