The Soviet’s had a supersonic airliner that was faster than Concorde…but there was a catch

Everyone knows about Concorde, the world’s only successful supersonic airliner – but did you know the Soviet Union also had its own version, called the Tu-144?

Yup, thanks to spies, espionage, and a push to beat the West, the Soviets built their version of Concorde, the Tupolev Tu-144.

Dubbed Konkordski by those outside the USSR, the Tu-144 could fly faster than its Western counterpart and even carried more passengers.

However, the Tu-144 flew for just a handful of years, and fewer than 100 of its commercial flights ever carried passengers.

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How the Tu-144 came into existence

Espionage played a large part in the Tu-144’s development.

Soviet spies stole some of the plans for the Anglo-French aircraft from France.

The USSR wanted to match and exceed the achievements of the West, so they also conducted their own research into ‘Supersonic Transport‘, which they called SST.

The Tu-144 first flew in 1968, beating Concorde into the air by a few months.

Its resemblance to Concorde was uncanny, hence the unofficial nickname of Konkordski.

Powered by four Kolesov RD-36-51 turbojets, the Tu-144 was faster than Concorde with a top speed of 1,600MPH, or Mach 2.15.

Konkordski was also bigger, as it carried 150 passengers compared to Concorde’s max of 120.

Konkordski wasn’t as advanced as Concorde

However, the Konkordski was less aerodynamic than Concorde, and weighed more.

The aircraft was also not as advanced as the Western jet when it came to flight systems, engines, and overall design.

However, it did end up with a ‘droop snoot’ just like Concorde.

To combat lift problems, it also had two tiny wings above the cockpit that folded in and out for takeoff and landing.

The British and French, however, weren’t particularly worried by the Tu-144, believing it inferior to Concorde.

The aircraft made its worldwide debut at the Paris Air Show in 1973.

At the show, it flew a series of displays directly after Concorde had done so.

The Soviet supersonic program unraveled quickly

During the Paris show, the Tu-144 crashed after a steep dive.

The Soviets claimed this was due to the crew avoiding a Mirage fighter that had been taking spy shots of the aircraft.

Despite this, national airline Aeroflot launched the Tu-144 into service in 1977.

However, the rush to design and develop the aircraft was apparent early on.

Out of only 102 scheduled flights, the jet carried passengers on just 55 of them.

The aircraft would only fly one route – from the capital, Moscow, to Almaty in Kazakhstan.

Plus, many of the scheduled flights involving the aircraft would be canceled, with the supersonic airliner proving hopelessly unreliable.

A story of one flight filled with Western journalists aboard has become infamous, with multiple alarms sounding for the duration of the 75-minute flight.

The Tu-144 lasted just three years in service

By 1978, the Tu-144 was retired from commercial travel in Russia due to its unreliability and the fallout of the Paris accident.

The aircraft would continue to fly for limited use as a laboratory, or for transporting cargo across the Soviet Union.

Remarkably, NASA, Rockwell, and Boeing would all utilize the Soviet aircraft for test flights.

At the time, America had seriously considered building a new supersonic airliner.

It was a costly exercise, though, with America paying $350 million to convert one of the Tu-144s into a flying lab.

The final flight of the Soviet supersonic aircraft took place in 1999.

Several examples of the jet are now preserved in Russia or in storage.

Just one is on display outside the country, located at the Sinsheim Technik Museum in Germany.

This is the only place in the world where a Tu-144 and Concorde are displayed together.

Concorde, meanwhile, flew on until 2003.

It proved beyond doubt that the West really did have the upper hand in supersonic commercial aviation.

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