In the prewar period the Beriev Design Bureau, following the requirements of the Navy, developed aircraft based on ships. The Be-2, and later the Be-4 seaplanes, were all-metal aircrafts with folding wings, which took off from ship catapults. Under the management of G.M.Beriev designs for well-made collapsible seaplane scout aircraft were developed, intended for the arrangement in the small section hangars of submarines. However, these designs were not further developed.
In 1937 the Consolidated was awarded a license contract for the manufacture of flying boats PBY-1 for long exploration on the high seas. Nevertheless, the Soviet Navy, did not show a great deal of interest in the aircraft, named GST. Among the main roles of the "gidrosamoletov" were carrying out exploration at sea and in the air, escorting convoys transport, protection from submarines, torpedo boats or aircraft and laying mine supply in enemy areas. They proved indispensable in the search and rescue crews of downed aircraft and ships sunk.
On the basis of the experience of World War II, and taking into account the development of contemporary aviation technology, the design bureau of G.M. Beriev developed the design of the Be-6 flying boat. Design started in 1945. The aircraft was equipped with powerful piston air-cooled engines and with equipment needed for patrol service and combat operations in the open sea. It was assumed that Be-6 would have a large duration of flight and a range up to 5,000 km.
In 1946 by order of the NKAP the Pilot Maritime Aircraft School was founded in Taganrog under direction of Beriev himself. The town factory was converted into a federal state plant for building maritime aircraft. At the end of June 1947 test flying boat Be-6 began.
Soviet military specialists considered that there was a sharp need for contemporary domestic seaplanes which did not require high flight velocities. The need for such machines was even worse due to the weak development of the network of naval airfields. It is not possible to exclude the subjective reasons: the majority of officers of the highest leadership of Navy aviation had completed schools on flying boats. Failure to produce the seaplanes would doom this direction of aircraft construction to the complete loss of scientific and production base. Therefore the command of the naval aviation supported Beriev in the development of the new flying boat.
The experimental scout bomber Beriev aircraft LL-143 was an all-metal, high-wing monoplane, which had two Shvetsova ASH-72 radial engines with an output of 1492 kW (2000 hp). The armament consisted of a tail-mounted remotely controlled turret with 23-mm cannons, and a nose turret with 23 mm cannon. First flight from water was made on 14 November 1947. After modifying the design, the aircraft was manufactured in series as the Beriev Be-6. The serial plane was different from the experiemental design and carried improved equipment, including a modified bow of the fuselage without a gun weapons.
The Be-6 was a long-range marine reconnaissance hydroplane. A twin-engined patrol flying boat, its configuration resembled that of the US PBM Mariner. It is a gull-winged aircraft with twin, oval tailfins on top of a deep fuselage. The payload of mines, depth bombs, torpedoes was suspended on pylons under the wings. After the completion of the first test aircraft, it was decided the Be-6s should be used primarily for long-range maritime reconnaissance, search and destroy surfaced submarines. In addition, the aircraft could be used as search and rescue, as well as to raise mine and fence the bombing on poorly protected marine and coastal targets.
Overall, the combat effectiveness of Be-6 significantly exceeded outdated Catalina, which still remained the main Marine reconnaissance aircraft in the Soviet Union. However, the maintenance routines for daily operation of Be-6 was much more difficult than for American amphibians, which led to revise the state aviation and aviation-technical individual squadrons, as well as the rules on kits of parts and tools. In subsequent series of aircraft tail turret gun was replaced by equipment MAD (magnetic anomaly detection). The aircraft Be-6 was designed Madge in the NATO code.
On 31 March 1949 the Madge was put into serial production and on August 22 1951 it was finally accepted by the Navy for long-range marine reconnaissance. Up to 1957 Taganrog built 19 variants of the Be-6, with a total of 60 aircrafts completed. It remained in service until the late 1960s. |
