Zveno!

This is coolbert:

Before there was the B-36 with parasitic fighter F-85 Goblin there was the Soviet Tb-3.

Came across this quite by accident.

Zveno! Five Soviet fighter planes as getting a "lift" from the Tb-3. Two biplanes [I-4], two I-16 and hanging from the belly of the Tb-3 one I-Z.

"Zveno . . . was a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zveno_project">a parasite aircraft concept developed in the Soviet Union during the 1930s. It consisted of a Tupolev TB-1 or a Tupolev TB-3 heavy bomber acting as a mother ship for between two and five fighters. Depending on the Zveno variant, the fighters either launched with the mother ship or docked in flight, and they could refuel from the bomber. The definitive Zveno-SPB using a TB-3 and two Polikarpov I-16s, each armed with two 250 kg (550 lb) bombs, was used operationally with good results against strategic targets in Romania during the opening stages of the German-Soviet War."

Herewith an artists rendition of a Tb-3 carrying four I-4 fighter planes. "By lashing two or more aircraft together, the combined machines can often accomplish things that neither vehicle is capable of on its own."

Yet one more image of a Tb-3 with parasites. Two I-4 fighter planes attached.

Devoted readers to the blog can read further that entire aspect over many decades the bomber aircraft carrying a parasitic fighter plane.

coolbert.