Beriev MBR-7

The Beriev MBR-7 (sometimes Beriev MS-8) was a Soviet short-range reconnaissance/bomber flying boat developed by the Beriev design bureau at Taganrog. It was designed as a successor to the MBR-2 but did not go into production due to lack of engines.

Development

The MBR-7 (Morskoy Blizhnii Razvedchik - naval short-range reconnaissance) was a similar configuration to the earlier MBR-2 but was a more advanced design. A mainly wooden cantilever shoulder-wing monoplane flying-boat. The Klimov M-103 inline piston engine was mounted on struts above the wing driving a pusher propeller. The pilot in an enclosed cockpit in the nose had access to a fixed forward-firing machine gun, the observer/gunner sat underneath a glazed canopy. The observers canopy slid forward to access a pintle-mounted ShKAS machine-gun.

It had an excellent performance but due to the lack of supply of Klimov engines the decision was made to continue building the MBR-2 and the MBR-7 did not go into production.

Operators

Soviet Union

Soviet Navy

Specifications

Data from Orbis.

General characteristics

Crew: 2 (pilot, observer/gunner
Length: 10.6 m (34 ft 9 in)
Wingspan: 13.0 m (42 ft 8 in)
Wing area: 13.0 m² (140 sq ft)
Powerplant: 1 × Klimov M-103 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 710 kW (950 hp)

Performance