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Beriev A-60
Role	Airborne laser laboratory
Manufacturer	Beriev
First flight	August 19, 1981
Primary user	Soviet Air Force
Number built	2
Developed from	Ilyushin Il-76MD

The Beriev A-60 is a Soviet airborne laser laboratory aircraft based on the Ilyushin Il-76MD transport.

In the 1970s a special aviation complex was established by the Soviets at Taganrog machine-building factory to develop airborne laser technology for the Soviet military.

In 1977 Beriev OKB started the design of a flying laboratory designated '1А'. The purpose was to solve the complex scientific and engineering problems regarding the creation of an airborne laser and also to facilitate research on the distribution of beams in the top layers of an atmosphere. Work on this topic occurred with wide cooperation between the enterprises and the scientific organizations of the USSR, but the basic partner OKB was TSKB Almaz headed by B.V.Bunkin.

[edit] Design

The Il-76MD was selected as a base aircraft for the flying laboratory. In order to accommodate the laser a lot of changes were done on the basic Il-76 design. These modifications have drastically changed the appearance of the plane.

In front, instead of the regular nosecone it was fitted with steerable beam director turret for targeting lidar (Several years later Boeing used similar concept in YAL platform, although for main laser, not targeting).
Large retractable dorsal turret was installed for main laser firing, as engineers found it impossible to fit the main laser aiming optics into the nosecone turret.^[1]
Two large nacelles were installed along the lower edge of the fuselage, which housed the turbogenerators used to power the laser, and another one with the targeting lidar's APU replaced the "chin" cabin.
The rear cargo doors were removed, although the ramp was kept, as it was a structural element.
The tail gunner position was also removed.

Hence the problem of accommodating the laser gun was solved and it did not spoil the aerodynamics of the base aircraft. Little is known about the type of laser used in the system. Much of the system still remains a secret.

The '1A' flying laboratory first flew on August 19, 1981 under E.A. Lakhmostov.

On August 29, 1991, the crew led by test pilot V.P. Demyanovski flew the second flying laboratory which received the name '1А2' СССР-86879. There a new variant of a laser system was installed as a result of various tests on '1А'.

Apparently, after being mothballed for more than a decade and half, the project recently was reactivated, according to the eyewitness accounts about an A-60 spotted flying in Rostov and Taganrog region^[2].