In production, the Pe-8 was fitted with twin ShKAS 7.62 millimeter machine guns in the nose turret, while the dorsal and tail turrets were fitted with a single ShVAK 20 millimeter cannon. The gunners in the rear of the engine nacelles each fired a single flexibly-mounted Berezin 12.7 millimeter machine gun. There had been considerable variation in armament fit during prototype development, and some late-production Pe-8s were delivered with one ShKAS machine gun in the nose instead of two.
The initial production machine were fitted with AM-35A inlines with 1,010 kW (1,350 HP) each. The scheme involving the M-100 engine in the fuselage to drive a blower system was not used in production machines. Following the initial production aircraft, Pe-8s were then built with Charomskii M-30 and M-40 two-stroke diesels, which proved unreliable to the point of unacceptable, leading to retrofit of AM-35As. Ultimately, problems with delivery of the AM-35A forced conversion to Shvestsov M-82 air-cooled radials, with 1,380 kW (1,850 HP) each. The refit of the air-cooled engines required considerable redesign of the engine nacelles. Aircrews liked the greater power provided by the M-82s but found the old AM-35As more reliable.
PETLYAKOV PE-8 HEAVY BOMBER:
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spec metric english
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wingspan 39.1 meters 128 feet 3.3 inches
wing area 188.68 sq_meters 2,031 sq_feet
length 23.59 meters 77 feet 4.75 inches
height 6.2 meters 20 feet 4 inches
empty weight 18,420 kilograms 40,608 pounds
max loaded weight 31,420 kilograms 69,268 pounds
maximum speed 427 KPH 265 MPH / 230 KT
service ceiling 8,400 meters 27,560 feet
range 4,700 KM 2,920 MI / 2,540 NMI
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The Pe-8 performed the Soviet Union's first bombing raid on Berlin, on the night of 10 August 1941, barely three weeks after the Nazi invasion. It was mostly a propaganda exercise, with only five of the eight bombers on the raid actually reaching Berlin, and then dumping their loads haphazardly. The difficulties with the raid and other Pe-8 operations in the same timeframe were mostly chalked up to the unreliable diesel engines, leading to their wholesale replacement with AM-35As.
Along with conducting long-range night raids, Pe-8s also served as long-range transports, dropping agents and supplies and delivering diplomats. In April 1942, a Pe-8 performed a non-stop flight to England to deliver embassy personnel and mail, and in May one carried Soviet Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov and his staff to Britain and the US.
* It is unclear how many Pe-8s were built. Western sources list only 79 built into October 1941, when the state factory building the type had to be abandoned in front of the German invasion, and that the M-82-powered aircraft were mostly or all refits. More reliable Russian sources claim that the Pe-8 was actually built into 1944 and that total production was 93 or 96, with later production of new M-82 powered machines from a state factory in Kazan.
In any case, by 1944 the Pe-8 was no longer up to first-line combat against much improved Luftwaffe night fighter defenses, and was retired to second-line duties. It operated in various roles in the postwar period, including operation as a testbed and transport service with Aeroflot, and flew into the early 1950s before being phased out entirely.
The report card on the Pe-8 seems a bit mixed. It was an advanced aircraft for its time, comparing well at least on paper with contemporary British and American heavy bombers, but given the small number built it made no major contribution to the Soviet war effort, and was clearly not regarded as a weapon deserving of priority production. The Red Air Force was focused on battlefield support and there was little emphasis on strategic bombing at the time.
In the postwar nuclear period, strategic bombing would become much more important. The USSR would turn to the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, instead of an indigenous design, as the basis for the Soviet Union's strategic bombing force. B-29s forced down in Siberia would be reverse-engineered and produced as the Tupolev "Tu-4", which would ultimately evolve into the most distinctly Soviet of aircraft, the Tu-95 "Bear".
http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/vvs/tupolev/ant42_01.jpg Here some more Russia bombers website
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