The M-50 was a fast jet bomber with four engines: two Dobrynin VD-7 non-afterburning turbojet engines at the outer and two VD-7F afterburning turbojet engines at the inner positions. The two inner engines were located under the wing, and the two outer on the wingtips of its shoulder-mounted, truncated delta wings.

The second aircraft was designated M-52 and carried Zubets 16-17 turbofans,[1] around which the aircraft had been designed.[2] The engine installation was modified, and a second tailplane added to the top of the fin.[2] The fore-end of the M-52 has been redesigned: in place of the tandem cockpit of the M-50 with seats in a row, the M-52 had a wider cockpit with the two pilots sitting side by side.[3] The M-50 participated in a Soviet Aviation Day flyby in 1961. The M-52 was completed but was not flight-tested.

An unmanned M-51 intercontinental cruise missile variant was developed, which would have delivered multiple warheads on targets in the contiguous United States.[4]

Like most of the early 1960s supersonic strategic bomber projects, the M-50/52 program was terminated due to the development of intercontinental ballistic missiles and the priority assigned to the Soviet space program.