During the 1950s and 1960s the
United States instituted several programs using high-altitude reconnaissance balloons, released over friendly territory to ascend into the jetstream and be transported over the
Soviet Union and
People's Republic of China.
Subject 34 To combat these high-altitude balloons, Myasishchev proposed
Subject 34 a single-seat turbojet-powered twin-boom high-aspect-ratio aircraft. Armament of the single-seat balloon interceptor was to have been two air-air missiles (AAM) and two
GSh-23 cannon with 600 rounds per gun in a dorsal turret. Before
Subject 34 could be developed into operational hardware, the threat receded due to the success of the
Keyhole reconnaissance satellites of the
Corona program and the emergence of the
Lockheed A-12. The first prototype of
Subject 34 was completed in secret at the
Kumertau helicopter plant in
Bashkirya, but whilst carrying out taxi tests in December 1978, the prototype
Chaika piloted by K. V. Chernobrovkin lifted off to avoid hitting snow banks and was destroyed after hitting a hillside in zero visibility. On 28 March 1990, M-17
CCCP 17401 piloted by Vladimir V. Arkhipenko set an altitude record of in class C-1i (Landplanes: take-off weight 16 000 to 20 000 kg).
M-55 Geophysica The M-17 balloon-interceptor-based model was terminated in 1987 and replaced by the M-17RN, later known as the M-55 Geophysica,
NATO reporting name
Mystic-B. On 21 September 1993, an M-55 piloted by Victor Vasenkov from the 8th State R&D Institute of the Air Force named after V. P. Chkalov at
Akhtubinsk reached a class record altitude of in class C-1j (Landplanes: take-off weight ). A dual-control version, the M-55UTS, was developed by adding a second cockpit behind the original, displacing some avionics and/or sensor payload. An Irish-headquartered company Qucomhaps, with a focus on Southeast Asia, has entered a 1-billion USD deal to use the M-55 as a
high-altitude platform station for digital communications. == Service history ==