The Soviet Union's Secret Weapon: The Zveno Flying Aircraft Carriers
In August 1941, three lumbering Soviet bombers head towards Nazi-allied territory. But these are no ordinary bombers. For years, the Soviets had been secretly developing a new kind of weapon: flying aircraft carriers designed to pierce through enemy lines and deploy a swarm of fighter planes and dive bombers. Nothing like it had ever been seen before. With the Soviet Union's darkest hour approaching, these massive juggernauts were about to make history, heading straight for enemy territory.
🌍 The Early Days and Development of Zveno
By the 1930s, it was clear that aircraft would play an essential role in future conflicts. But there was a problem that had plagued aircraft designers from the very beginning.
💡 The Core Challenge of Escorting Bombers
Large heavy bombers could carry lots of fuel, enabling them to fly great distances. In contrast, fighter aircraft, which needed to be light and agile, could only carry enough fuel to cover short distances. This mismatch had dire consequences: while bombers could fly deep into enemy territory, their fighter escorts couldn't. And over hostile airspace, the bombers were often on their own, with only a handful of machine guns to fend off enemy fighters, making them vulnerable and resulting in heavy losses.
🛠️ Vladimir Vakhmistrov’s Radical Solution
In 1930, Soviet engineer Vladimir Vakhmistrov came up with a radical solution: Have the bombers carry the fighters. This way, fighters could be transported over great distances and deployed whenever they were needed. At first, Vakhmistrov's idea fell on deaf ears. The Red Army was focused on strength through numbers and not on gambling with unproven ideas. But Vakhmistrov pressed on.
Comrades, flying aircraft carriers have tremendous potential. The fighters could not only protect the bombers but also be fitted with their own bombs to make precise strikes against more challenging targets. Another advantage would be carrying them far out to sea to attack naval fleets otherwise out of range.
Fighters could clear the path for bombers by destroying enemy anti-aircraft guns or blinding them with smoke screens, making accurate targeting impossible.
Flying aircraft carriers could also patrol borders, remain airborne, and be ready to intercept enemy bombers before they could reach their targets.
The strategic benefits were undeniable, even to the Red Army. The platform for Vakhmistrov's aircraft carriers would be the mighty TB-1 and TB-3 bombers, the largest of their time. But figuring out where to attach them was the tricky part.
🛩️ The Zveno Configuration Challenges and Trials
⚙️ Ingenious Design Trials
In the wrong spot, the fighters could interfere with the bomber's control or the airflow would make launching them impossible. In an era before sophisticated wind tunnels, this needed to be figured out through extensive trial and error.
Vakhmistrov called his creation Zveno and ended up flight testing more than a dozen configurations. In some models, the fighters were mounted above the wings; in others, they were suspended below. One arrangement saw five fighters carried at once. Remarkably, instead of weighing the bomber down, the fighters helped boost its performance. During flight, the fighters would run their engines continuously while drawing fuel from additional tanks fitted to the bomber. This setup allowed the bombers to fly faster, climb higher, and lift more than they could otherwise.
🚀 Launching and Docking Dynamics
Launching the fighters was fairly straightforward. As long as the bomber was kept steady, any skilled pilot could manage to detach. But reattaching to the carrier was another matter. In later versions, a trapeze-like system allowed pilots to dock with the carrier to take on more fuel. Such docking was a skill requiring considerable practice to master.
During flight, the fighters communicated with the carrier using a telephone system. A series of lights mounted in front of their gunsights further signaled commands. Everyone was pleased with how Zveno flew, but ground logistics were more challenging.
Loading the fighters over the wings required extensive manpower, often calling in mechanics and ground controllers to assist.
It wasn't until the Communist Party provided us with a tractor that the task became manageable.
Despite these challenges, the flying aircraft carrier concept was viable. Vakhmistrov laid the groundwork for something truly remarkable.
🚀 Aiming for the Skies: Vision and Execution
Vakhmistrov envisioned building enormous airborne mother ships, capable of carrying more than twenty fighters. He also wanted to develop purpose-built fighters that wouldn’t need heavy landing gear and could be built with smaller wings for greater speed and maneuverability. Nevertheless, these ideas would have to wait until the Zveno carriers had proven useful to the Red Army. But after years of development, that was far more difficult than anticipated.
⚔️ Back to the Drawing Board
Back in 1932, the Red army seemed eager to accept the first version. But when new I-5 fighters became available, Vakhmistrov was ordered to modify his design. The same thing happened when the more powerful four-engine TB-3 bomber was introduced. Eventually, in 1939, nearly a decade after the project started, the Red Army finally accepted the carriers, placing an order for 40, equally divided between the Navy and Army.
However, skepticism arose among military planners. The TB-3 bomber was now obsolete, appearing crude next to modern aircraft like the American B-17. Doubts surfaced about whether the slow, lumbering bombers could still be effective in combat. Meanwhile, the situation in Europe became increasingly unsettling for the Soviets.
🌍 Shifting Priorities Amidst a Growing Conflict
By 1940, Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe, and Soviet military planners were worried that their country would be next. With war on the horizon, resources were shifted to more proven weapons, resulting in only five Zveno carriers being delivered. These were eventually pulled from duty in the summer of 1940, dismantled, and put into storage.
It seemed that Vakhmistrov’s efforts would amount to nothing, but with the Soviet Union’s darkest hour fast approaching, Zveno carriers were about to make history.
⚔️ Combat Debut: Zveno Flying Aircraft Carriers in Action
🛠️ Scramble for Survival
On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany launched a massive attack on the Soviet Union. Unprepared, Soviet defenses quickly crumbled. The Red Army in the south scrambled to slow the advance towards vital port cities like Odesa and Sevastopol by launching counter-attacks on Nazi-allied Romania.
A critical target for the Soviets was the King Carol the First Bridge. Its destruction would cut a vital railway and oil pipeline, disrupting the flow of supplies to Romanian troops. Over several days, conventional bombers tried and failed to destroy the bridge, each time missing their targets and facing heavy resistance.
🎯 Precision Needed
It became clear that only precision dive bombers could destroy the bridge, but the Soviet Union was critically short on capable crews and existing fighters lacked the range to reach the target. This urgency led the Red Army to pull the Zveno carriers from storage and recommission them into working order.
Ordinarily, an I-16 fighter loaded with nearly a third of its weight in bombs would have never made it off the runway. However, the heavily loaded Zveno carriers could lift off without any trouble. Before targeting the bridge, the Zveno pilots practiced by attacking an oil refinery.
Forty kilometers from the target, four fighters detached from their carriers and approached the refinery. Assuming they were friendly, patrolling fighters didn't intercept the I-16s, allowing them to make a devastating attack. The first-ever use of Zveno in combat was a huge success, catching the enemy by surprise and achieving significant destruction.
💥 Key Missions and Successes
In the early hours of August 10, three Zveno carriers departed to attack the King Carol the First Bridge. Although one carrier had to turn back due to mechanical problems, the remaining fighters pressed on. Taking heavy anti-aircraft fire, they managed to strike the bridge, though it remained standing.
Three days later, the attack was repeated with six fighters launching from the carriers. Again, despite fierce anti-aircraft fire, the nimble I-16s managed to score five direct hits, completely destroying one of the bridge's spans. They returned home without any losses.
The Zveno carriers were beginning to prove far more useful than originally thought, capable of executing sudden and unexpected attacks on hard-to-reach targets.
On August 17th, Zveno carriers destroyed a dry dock in Constanta.
On August 28th, they destroyed crossings on the Dnieper River, significantly slowing the advance of Nazi troops.
On September 9th, another successful bombing raid saw two I-16 fighters shoot down a pair of Bf-109s.
But after that, the records stop. The Soviet Union was at the beginning of the most devastating war in history. Zveno carriers continued to fly under increasingly dire circumstances, with little known about their ultimate fate. But they had at least thirty successful missions under their belt.
🔍 Legacy and Influence of the Zveno Carriers
Although outdated by the time they saw action, the carriers proved highly effective, even if they were a desperate attempt to do what could have been achieved with modern, capable dive bombers. Once larger numbers of dive bombers and well-trained crews became available, Zveno fell out of favor.
🛠️ Continuing the Vision
Vakhmistrov wasn’t alone in his dream. The United States experimented with enormous aircraft-carrying airships and later bombers to carry fighters over great distances. Yet, the concept always seemed a bit too ahead of its time.
That is until the late 1960s when emerging technologies promised to open up new possibilities. Advances in aerodynamics, exotic materials, and propulsion began paving the way for aircraft many times larger than those previously in existence.
📈 Lockheed’s CL-1201 Study
In 1969, Lockheed examined the strategic advantages that a true airborne carrier could offer through the Lockheed CL-1201 study, one of the most bizarre and fascinating aircraft studies ever produced. This idea explored the future of airborne aircraft carriers, delving into the potential benefits and technical details.
From the innovations of Vladimir Vakhmistrov to Lockheed’s futuristic visions, the concept of flying aircraft carriers has sparked imaginations and driven advancements in aviation technology. While the early Soviet attempts with Zveno may have been a temporary solution, they paved the way for visionary projects and marked a significant chapter in aviation history.
Despite the hurdles and the eventual decline in usage, the Zveno carriers’ moment in history as a bold, innovative solution to a pressing wartime problem will always stand out in the annals of aerial warfare.