The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 is a WW2 Soviet rocket powered interceptor.
Germans are often thought of as the pioneers of rocket powered aircraft in world war two, but the Soviets had a rocket powered aircraft of their own. The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1, named after its developers, Yakovlevich Berenyak and Aleksei Mikhailovich Isayev, was a ramjet powered interceptor aircraft developed for fast response to incoming enemy bombers and fighters.
Work on this prototype was rushed after Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union and it took to the skies many times over the course of the war. This technology was so new that for the final prototype to be tested, the aircraft had to first be towed into the air by another plane before it could startup its engines.
With the war winding to a close, the Soviet brass had little use for a fast, short endurance interceptor and the program was axed. Nevertheless, The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 served as the foundation for the future of the Soviet Air Force, and we can only imagine how history would have been different if these early jet fighters took to the sky and faced off.
Germans are often thought of as the pioneers of rocket powered aircraft in world war two, but the Soviets had a rocket powered aircraft of their own. The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1, named after its developers, Yakovlevich Berenyak and Aleksei Mikhailovich Isayev, was a ramjet powered interceptor aircraft developed for fast response to incoming enemy bombers and fighters.
Work on this prototype was rushed after Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union and it took to the skies many times over the course of the war. This technology was so new that for the final prototype to be tested, the aircraft had to first be towed into the air by another plane before it could startup its engines.
With the war winding to a close, the Soviet brass had little use for a fast, short endurance interceptor and the program was axed. Nevertheless, The Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1 served as the foundation for the future of the Soviet Air Force, and we can only imagine how history would have been different if these early jet fighters took to the sky and faced off.
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