# Life-limited engines on Soviet jets?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-limited-engines-on-soviet-jets/961137>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 15, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-limited-engines-on-soviet-jets/961137 "2022-03-15T21:31:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [March 15, 2022, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-limited-engines-on-soviet-jets/961137/1 "2022-03-15T21:31:00Z")

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I recall reading that the Soviet Union put life-limited jet engines on at least one of their fighter/attack aircraft for export to the former Warsaw Pact. (Note: When I say ‘life-limited’, I’m not talking about a normal TBO interval; I mean that the engines were intentionally designed not to last long.) As I recall, the reason was to keep the client beholden to Mother Russia. And if anyone got uppity, their fighters would be grounded fairly soon.

1. Am I recalling this correctly?
2. Which specific fighter(s) or attack aircraft did this apply to?

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-limited-engines-on-soviet-jets/961137/2 "2022-03-16T19:16:42Z")

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What I remember reading is that in general, the Soviet Union’s jet turbine industry wasn’t as advanced as the West’s, and for similar power levels, the lifespan of their turbines was significantly shorter, on the order of half the number of hours that a similar western engine would last before needing a serious overhaul.

In fact, the Tumansky R-15 that powered the famous MIG-25 had a time between overhauls of _150 hours_. By comparison, it’s nearest peer engine, the Pratt & Whitney J58 used in the US SR-71 had a time between overhauls of about 400 hours. Which is still very short, but nearly 3x the Tumansky’s time period.

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**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\
**Post date:** [March 16, 2022, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/life-limited-engines-on-soviet-jets/961137/3 "2022-03-16T20:07:39Z")

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> [@bump](#):
>
> In fact, the Tumansky R-15 that powered the famous MIG-25 had a time between overhauls of _150 hours_ .

I recently saw this video (13 mins) that goes into some interesting details about the development of the MIG-25.

[![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/W1L1sU0uI0o/maxresdefault.jpg "This Jet Terrified the West: The MiG-25 Foxbat") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1L1sU0uI0o)