Tupolev Tu-98

The Tupolev Tu-98, given the NATO reporting name Backfin, was a Soviet prototype swept-wing jet bomber designed by the Tupolev bureau OKB-156 as a supersonic replacement for the Tu-16. Work began under a Council of Ministers resolution of April 1954, with D. S. Markov as chief designer. The single prototype was built in 1955 and first flew in 1956, powered by two Lyulka AL-7F turbojets mounted in the rear fuselage with raised side intakes. It was shown to a visiting American delegation at Tushino in June 1956, and Western analysts briefly credited it with series production under the invented designation Yak-42. It never passed state tests or entered service because of unresolved manufacturing difficulties, but it served as a flying laboratory for the Tu-128 interceptor and informed the Tu-22. The prototype was written off after an undercarriage collapse on 21 November 1960.