Myasishchev DB-108

The Myasishchev DB-108 was an experimental Soviet long-range bomber of the 1940s, a development of the Petlyakov Pe-2 that Vladimir Myasishchev took up after Vladimir Petlyakov died in January 1942. The DB stood for long range bomber, and 108 was an NKVD number rather than a design bureau number. Three prototypes were built, known by their designer's initials as the VM-16, VM-17 and VM-18, and only two of them flew. All shared a mid-mounted cantilever wing, engines in long fairings ahead of the leading edge that also held the main landing gear, and a semi-glazed nose. The VM-16 first flew on 30 December 1944 with a crew of two and one remotely operated tail gun, the VM-17 was rebuilt as the VB-109, and the VM-18 flew in 1946 before the programme was cancelled with its flight tests unfinished.