Home > >

Tupolev, 1922 Russia, aeronautical manufacturer information

Name: Tupolev
Country: Russia Russia
Founded: 1922

✏️ Edit manufacturer info

Tupolev, a Russian company based in Moscow, is one of the oldest and, at one point, one of the most important aircraft manufacturers in the world. Since the end of 2006, Tupolev has been part of the newly established Russian aerospace consortium, United Aircraft Corporation (OAK).

Tupolev history

Andrei Nikolayevich Tupolev, who, alongside Nikolai Yegorovich Zhukovsky, co-founded the ZAGI (Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute), also headed the Soviet State Committee for the Investigation of the Use of Metal in Aircraft Construction. On October 22, 1922, he established his own design bureau, OKB Tupolev, which he led until 1966, when he passed the management to his son, Alexei Andreevich Tupolev.

Over the years, more than 300 aircraft projects were developed, resulting in around 90 prototypes. More than 40 aircraft types went into serial production. A total of 18,000 civilian and military Tupolev aircraft were produced, but only a few hundred of them were exported. The supersonic passenger aircraft, the Tu-144, held a special technological significance.

In 2000, OKB was transformed into a joint-stock company. This company, in addition to its facilities in Moscow, also had a production site in Ulyanovsk. In 2006, the company was effectively re-nationalized under the umbrella of OAK.

Currently, the medium-range passenger aircraft Tu-204/Tu-214 is still in production, mostly in Kazan. In development are the transport aircraft Tu-330 and the regional aircraft Tu-324/Tu-414. Older models such as the Tu-134 and Tu-154 were often refurbished or fitted with new engines until their retirement.

In addition to its civilian series, Tupolev maintains the military long-range supersonic bomber Tu-160. A new version of this aircraft was intended to be delivered to the Russian Air Force, with a planned production of 50 units starting in 2023. Older models, such as the swing-wing bomber Tu-22M and the turboprop long-range bomber Tu-95/Tu-142, are still being upgraded and repaired, though their production has ceased.

Tupolev aircrafts

« View manufacturers list