Myasishchev M-4 and 3M

Red Star Volume 11
By Yefim Gordon
Midland Publishing, 2003
ISBN 1-85780-152-0
128 Pages, Softbound
Available from Specialty Press for $29.95

Reviewed by Chris Banyai-Riepl

The first truly intercontinental jet bomber for the Soviet Union, the Myasishchev M-4 was the answer to the Boeing B-52 in the Cold War race for strategic projection. Code-named the Bison by NATO forces, the M-4 was a mainstay of the Soviet strategic forces until retired and scrapped according to START treaty requirements. While much has been written on its Western counterparts, little has been known about this large aircraft. This book takes care of that omission with a well-detailed history of the M-4, and the later, improved 3M bomber families.

Like other titles in the Red Star series, this book follows the development and construction of the M-4, as well as the operational record. Interestingly, the Myasishchev OKB was brought back from the dead to build this bomber, as the bureau had been disbanded a few years earlier. After a short gestation period, the first M-4 took to the skies in January of 1953. At the annual May Day Parade in 1953, the M-4 flew over the crowds, stunning the West. From then on, the M-4 was the main front-line long-range bomber of the Soviet Union, as well as a tanker aircraft. After the START treaty retired the type, the Bison became the basis for the VM-T Atlant cargo aircraft designed to carry components of the Energiya rocket and the Buran space shuttle.

The photo content alone is amazing and well worth the price of the book. Most of these photos have never been seen before in the West and include both black and white and color images, making this a very important reference for Soviet Air Force researchers. Complementing the photos are several scale drawings depicting the different variants of the Bison.

If you are interested in the counterpart to the B-52, this is a book well worth picking up. My thanks to Specialty Press for the review sample.