Alekseyev I-218
# Alekseyev I-218

The I-218 was an attack aircraft designed and built in the USSR from 1947.

## Development

Alekseyev designed the I-218 as a heavily armed, and armoured, attack aircraft for use in close support and anti-tank missions. The twin boom aircraft had a central nacelle housing the pilot and gunners cockpits as well as the engine and forward firing armament. All armoured and highly stressed parts were manufactured from 30KhGSNA nickel-steel. Flight testing may have commenced in 1948, but there is no direct evidence of this. Shortly after completion Alekseyev's OKB was closed and Alekseyev was sent to TsAGI (Tsentrahl'nyy Aerodinamicheskiy i Ghidrodinamicheskiy Institoot- central aerodynamics and hydrodynamics institute) before being given the task of supervising Dr. Brunolf Baade and his German team at OKB-1. The designation I-218 is in doubt and the aircraft may have been called, simply 218.

## Variants

* I-219 - (a.k.a. I-218-Ib) Tailwheel undercarriage, revised crew compartment and swept fins.
* I-221 - (a.k.a. I-218-II) Enlarged jet-powered aircraft with one Lyulka TR-3 turbojet
* I-220 - (a.k.a. I-218-III) The I-218-III powered with the Dobrynin VD-4 without turbo-chargers, driving pusher contra-props at the rear of the fuselage.

## Specifications (I-218)

General characteristics

* Crew: 2
* Length: 13.88 m (45 ft 6.5 in)
* Wingspan: 16.43 m (53 ft 10.75 in)
* Wing area: 45 $m^2$ (484.4 sq ft)
* Gross weight: 9,000 kg (19,840 lb)
* Powerplant: × Dobrynin VD-251 , 1,491 kW (2,000 hp)

Performance

* Maximum speed: 530 km/h (329 mph, 286 kn)
* Service ceiling: 6,600 m (21,650 ft)
* Rate of climb: 16.67 m/s (3,280 ft/min)

Armament

* 2 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon, 1 each in remote-controlled barbettes fitted on the outside of each tail boom.
* 4 × 23mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannon fixed in the lower forward fuselage.
* 1500 kg (3,307 lb) of bombs on under-fuselage pylons.
* 16 rockets carried under the outer wings.
