What the Soviets needed in the 1970s was a way to transport components of the Energia rocket and Buran orbiter, and they found the 3M.
The Cold War, through necessity, was a time of rapid advancement in military aircraft technology. This makes perfect sense. Given the distance that was expected to have to be covered to engage in combat, should the worst happen and open warfare ensue, aircraft would have been key. As a result, the era produced some fantastic jets, including the MiG-21 and F-4 Phantom II.
One of the most intriguing Cold War planes, however, wasn’t a fighter. It was a bomber. The Soviet Union’s Myasishchev M-4 may be lesser-known than some of the aforementioned aircraft, but it would go on to have a very special trick up its sleeve.
Sometimes, a variant of a military aircraft only changes in a subtle way, with something like its interior configuration. In the case of the M-4, though, the Soviets tinkered with the bomber to give it a crucial role in their space program. This is the story of the original purpose and development of the bomber, and how it became a key player in the Soviet space machine.The Myasishchev M-4: The bomber
A key weapon that the Soviet Union wanted in its arsenal during the Cold War was a rather obvious one: A bomber that had the range to threaten the United States and a payload to dispense considerable damage upon arrival. In the early 1950s, work on such a long-range strategic bomber began under Vladimir Mikhailovich Myasishchev.
In 1954, the M-4’s development officially began. It was a bomber manufactured in limited quantity.
