I-320 "R-3" Limited Edition

Modelsvit 1/72.

• The Mikoyan-Gurevich I-320 "R-3" (also known as P-3) was the final modified configuration of a Soviet prototype twin-engine, all-weather night interceptor developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. 

  While it shared aesthetic DNA with the smaller MiG-15 and MiG-17, the I-320 was a much larger, heavier aircraft designed to carry an early onboard radar system and a two-man crew. 

  Key Features and Design

  • The Tandem Engine Layout: The aircraft featured a highly unusual engine layout, packing two Klimov VK-1 centrifugal-flow turbojets in tandem inside the fuselage. One engine was placed in the nose, exhausting under the middle fuselage, while the second engine was housed in the rear, exhausting traditionally out of the tail. 
  • Side-by-Side Cockpit: To facilitate co-operation between the pilot and the radar operator during complex night or foul-weather interceptions, the crew sat side-by-side inside a heavily widened, pressurized cockpit. This ballooned the fuselage diameter to a massive 1.90 meters. 
  • The "R-3" Modifications: The original first prototype (R-1) flew with weaker RD-45F engines. The second prototype (R-2) upgraded to the VK-1 engines but crashed during factory testing due to a severe uncommanded wing-drop issue. The airframe was rebuilt and designated R-3 to fix these aerodynamic flaws. Modifications included:
    • Reducing the wings' dihedral angle (transverse V-shape).
    • Adding an extra boundary-layer fence (aerodynamic comb) to each wing console to control airflow.
    • Extending the length of the wing spoilers. 
  • Heavy Armament: It was packing serious firepower, fitted with three 37 mm Nudelman N-37 autocannons to ensure it could quickly tear apart heavy enemy strategic bombers