TsKB-54 escort plane
Updated on January 4, 2013
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TsKB-54-1

Drawing by Tapani Tuomanen

The Central Design Bureau. was charged to build a stronglt armed plane to escort formations of DB-3 bombers.

The first prototype TsKB-54-1 was an early DB-3 witrh narrow canopy and M-85 engines, whose machine guns on the turrets were replaced by ShVAK 20 mm guns, and under the fuselage was mounted a remotely-controlled ShKAS machine gun.The dorsal turret was wider than usual, and the rear fuselage was lowered, creating a distinctive step, to allow a greater field of fire rearwards.
First flight was made on February 1938, flown by the test pilot V.K.Kokkinaki.
All surfaces were unpainted anodized aluminium alloy, probably with a greenish shade..

 

 

TsKB-54-2

 

The second version was built on the base of a later wide-canopy DB-3 with M-87A engines. The new armament of the turret was preserved, but with the deletion of the remotely controlled ventral gun pod, replaced by two lateral trasparent bubbles armed with a ShKAS gun each. The step behind the turret on the rear fuselage was even wider than on the first prototype.
Engines 2x M-87A. First flight March 39 V.K.Kokkinaki
This aircraft was painted of silver paint.

The aircraft did not go into production because it could not fulfil all the functions of the escort fighter.