Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle

Summary

Description

The Il-28 Beagle was a Soviet jet bomber developed immediately after the end of World War II. Moscow recognized the importance of jet bombers in future aerial warfare at that time and launched projects to develop such an aircraft. The Ilyushin design bureau proposed its Il-22, a twin-engine aircraft that used RD-10 jet engines derived from the German Junkers Jumo 004 engine recovered after the war. However, the Jumo engines were not powerful enough for the Il-22, which proved to be underperforming. Fortunately, the Soviet Union managed to obtain several Rolls-Royce Nene engines from the United Kingdom, the same engines that later equipped the MiG-15 Fagot fighter.

In June 1948, the improved Il-22, renamed Il-28, made its first flight with the new Nene engines. Compared to the Tupolev Tu-14 competitor, the Il-28 was preferred by bomber crews, although it did not have the same capabilities as the Tu-14. Production of the Il-28 began quickly, and the first aircraft entered service in 1950.

Its design was relatively conventional for the time, with a straight-wing twin-engine configuration. The engines were placed in the middle of each wing, housed in nacelles attached underneath. The tail section had a swept shape to improve aircraft control at high speed and during dives. The Il-28 had a raised cockpit offering good visibility to the front and sides. The glazed nose housed the navigator-bombardier and the sight, while a glassed section at the rear housed the tail gunner.

Nicknamed Beagle by NATO, the Il-28 became the standard light bomber for Soviet and Warsaw Pact forces in the 1960s. It was used for various missions, ranging from strategic bombing to reconnaissance and conventional attacks. The aircraft was equipped with 23mm caliber cannons in the nose and rear turret, and it could carry up to 3 tons of external loads, such as bombs or torpedoes. There was even a version intended for carrying the Soviet atomic bomb, known as the Il-28N.

The Soviet production figures were impressive, with nearly 6,300 Il-28 aircraft built, plus around 400 units produced in China under the designation Harbin H-5/HJ-5. Although the Soviet Union never engaged the Il-28 in combat, it was used by other countries in various conflicts. Egypt used the Il-28 during the Biafra War, the Yemeni Civil War, and the wars against Israel in 1967 and 1973. Israeli forces frequently targeted and destroyed parked Il-28 aircraft. Chinese planes were deployed against Taiwan and Tibet, while Afghan planes participated in operations with Soviet forces but were destroyed during subsequent civil wars.

Main versions: - Il-28: basic version, intended for bombing - Il-28N (or Il-28D): version intended for nuclear bomb delivery - Il-28P (or Il-20): demilitarized version, intended for mail transport and delivered to Aeroflot - Il-28R: reconnaissance version, equipped with four to five cameras and surveillance equipment - Il-28T: version intended for the Soviet Navy, armed with torpedoes - Il-28U "Mascot": unarmed dual cockpit version for crew training.

Technical specifications

Current operating countries

Country		Units
	North Korea	80

Numbers in parentheses, e.g. '(+5)', indicate units ordered but not yet delivered.

All operators

Afghanistan • Albania • Bulgaria • China • Cuba • Ex-East Germany • Algeria • Egypt • Finland • Hungary • Indonesia • Iraq • Morocco • Nigeria • Poland • North Korea • Romania • Somalia • Syria • Ex-Czechoslovakia • Ex-USSR • Vietnam • Yemen

Armament

Bombs payload:

• Nuclear Izdelyie 407N
• Low-Drag JSC NPO Basalt FAB-500
• Nuclear KB-11 RDS-4 Tatyana

Photo of Il-28 Beagle

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