Lavochkin La-17 targets on the Soviet 18th Air Defence Training Center in the seventies

The Soviet Air Defence Forces needed new aerial targets. The Lavochkin design bureau designed the new radio controlled La-17 aerial targets in the fifties. The Soviet Air Defence Training centers used this unmanned aerial vehicle during the Cold War.

The Tupolev Tu-4 ‘Bull’ bomber carried the La-17 early version. Both air defence training center used this four-engine carrier aircraft type in the sixties. The La-17M version was launched using a RATO booster under each wing root. In the seventies, both training centers received new La-17K versions. This version was optimized for low-level flight..



Next pictures: 18th Air Defence Training Center used La-17 targets in the seventies at Caspian Sea eastern coast.
 

Photos: Vladimir Harolin, Alexandr Grebenjuk collection