[Coming Soon] Tu-1: Fire from above

Historical Note

Tupolev designers, working on the Tu-2 military bomber, thought about the possibility of creating on its basis a versatile aircraft for various tasks, including the escorting of bombers at high altitudes and intercepting enemy aircraft. One of its key elements was to be a radar, which would allow the detection of targets at any time of day at distances of up to 8 kilometers. Tupolev personally attended lectures on aviation radars and enthusiastically began to adapt the latest developments of the military industry on his aircraft.

During work on the fighter, its firing characteristics were significantly enhanced. Two 45-mm NS-45 cannons were installed in the forward part of the bomb hatch, and 23-mm cannons (first VYa-23 and then NS-23) were installed in the wing mounts.

The first test flight of the heavy fighter prototype took place in the spring of 1947. Despite the good results of the factory and flight tests, Tupolev's project was not continued. The era of jet aviation came, and changed the appearance of warplanes.

Tu-1 (Rank VII)

SWOT Analysis

• Strengths: powerful forward-firing weapons of 45mm and 23mm cannons, high payload weight, defensive turrets.
• Weaknesses: insufficient maneuverability, low speed with a full load.
• Opportunities: hunting tanks and heavy bombers, low altitude bombing raids.
• Threats: SPAAG and fighters.

In battle

The Tu-1 is a very special airplane, it will be the absolute record holder of War Thunder Mobile for the weight of a second salvo of forward-firing weapons. In addition, it is able to take into battle a very large payload weight, while having a fairly good speed and defensive turrets.

The hallmark of the Tu-1 is its forward-firing weapons of two 45-mm and two 23-mm automatic cannons. This hurricane power is enough to send even the heaviest bomber to the hangar with one short burst, and belts with armor-piercing shells can hit tanks and SPGs. As a “gunner” Tu-1 has a good speed in horizontal flight, especially at high altitudes. Of course, because of the large mass of the aircraft, the maneuverability of the Tu-1 loses to single-engine fighters, but it is quite enough to hunt for bombers or destroy ground vehicles.

Tu-1 can be used in an interesting way as a bomb carrier - since the plane is a direct relative of the Tu-2 bombers, engineers left the possibility of loading this heavy fighter with bombs weighing up to 3000 kg or two torpedoes! With the load, the Tu-1 loses in speed, but is still faster than most bombers. A pair of turrets with large-caliber UBT machine guns in the upper and lower turrets will help the pilot to fend off fighters.

The Tu-1's weaknesses include a rate of climb that is not the best, which is reasonable for such airframe dimensions - the pilot will have to climb quite a long time to heights at which the engines can give maximum speed. Otherwise, this aircraft - as a cannon fighter, as a tank hunter, as a light bomber - will bring a lot of fun and hundreds of great frags!

Premium ♠Tu-1♠︎ (Rank VII)

The Premium variant of the ♠Tu-1♠︎ is an extra plane for your roster! The premium ♠Tu-1♠ maintains the same performance as the standard variant, though it comes in a unique camouflage. With the premium ♠Tu-1♠, you’ll be able to enjoy faster Silver Lion and Research Point gains, and earn some Golden Eagles in your battles.

If you’re lucky enough to unlock both the premium and the standard variants, you will be able to use them both in the same battle!

*Vehicle specifications and camouflages are still work in progress and may differ on release.

The fighter Tu-1 (Rank VII) will appear in the game in the “Frozen Front” update in the Medium and Big Trophies of the Aviation Campaign.