The Tupolev 144, nicknamed the Concordski, was a Soviet supersonic aircraft modeled after the Concorde. It crashed during an air show in 1973, ending Tupolev’s hopes for success in jet aircraft. Industrial espionage and a collision with a French Mirage fighter contributed to the crash, killing six people on the plane and eight more with its debris. Despite attempts to continue manufacturing, another crash in 1977 destroyed Tupolev’s reputation, and they stopped building the Concordski in 1985.
The Concordski was a Western European nickname given to the Soviet Russian supersonic aircraft called the Tupolev 144, similarly modeled on the Anglo-French Concorde. At a time when the United States, Russia, Great Britain, and France were engaged in a technological race, the Concordski represented possible innovations by the Soviets over other nations. However, the plane crashed under suspicious circumstances during an air show in 1973, thus dashing hopes of Tupolev’s success in jet aircraft.
Developing and designing a safe, feasible, and high-capacity aircraft that could carry people and cargo at speeds greater than the speed of sound was a prestigious and important undertaking. All the developed nations of the world in the 1960s investigated aerodynamics and mechanics towards the end of building, testing and manufacturing a large supersonic aircraft. It wasn’t until the Paris Air Show in 1973 that the opposing developers had a chance to show their models: the Anglo-French Concorde and the Russians the Tu144, the Concordski.
Such fierce competition spawned industrial espionage between the factions and created private spy programs. The Russians were rumored to have stolen plans for the Concorde. The Concordski had some individual features, such as carrying its engine in the fuselage instead of in the wings. It also added smaller wings, or canards, to stabilize the vehicle. It was curiosity about these canards that ultimately led to disaster on June 3, 1973 in Paris. Both planes had already been carrying cargo, but this was an opportunity to end the rivalry by naming a winner in capability, performance and grace.
Unfortunately, the French sent a small Mirage fighter with the intention of spying on the functionality of the canards while they were airborne, unbeknownst to the Concordski pilot. On a cloudy day, the Mirage lost track of the Tu144 while climbing a steep climb, demonstrating its dynamic capability. Unfortunately, the planes met on opposite paths with a collision imminent. The Tu144 dived sharply, stopping the engines. While he avoided the initial collision, he was barely able to restart the engines in time to stop himself from crashing and ending up putting so much force on the body of the plane that it broke up in midair. This accident killed six people on the plane and eight more with its debris.
This event alone did not force Tupolev to abandon manufacturing. By 1977, they were confident enough to start flying passengers. However, another crash that year, near Alma-Ata airport, so destroyed their reputation that they stopped building the Concordski in 1985. Although the Concordski beat the Concorde by breaking the sound barrier as a commercial airliner, in 1969 , arguably, it lost the longest race to become a feasible and profitable commercial aircraft.
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