Ilyushin Il-28

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Ilyushin Il-28


Description
Role	Bomber
Crew	Three - pilot, bombardier, gunner
First Flight	July 8 1948
Entered Service	1950
Manufacturers	Ilyushin, HAMC
Dimensions
Length	17.60 m	57 ft 9 in
Wingspan	21.50 m	70 ft 6 in
Height	6.70 m	22 ft 0 in
Wing area	60.8 m²	654 ft²
Weights
Empty	11,890 kg	26,210 lb
Loaded	17,700 kg	39,000 lb
Maximum takeoff	21,200 kg	46,700 lb
Powerplant
Engines	2x Klimov VK-1
Thrust	53.8 kN	12,090 lbf
Performance
Maximum speed	900 km/h	560 mph
Combat Radius
Ferry Range	2,180 km	1,350 miles
Service ceiling	12,300 m	40,400 ft
Rate of climb	900 m/min	2,950 ft/min
Wing loading	291 kg/m²	59.6 lb/ft²
Thrust/Weight	1:3.2	3.1 N/kg
Avionics
Avionics
Armament
Guns	2x Nudelman NR-23 cannons in nose 2x NR-23 cannon in tail barbette
Bombs	3,000 kg (6,600 lb) of bombs in internal bay

The Ilyushin Il-28 is a jet bomber aircraft that was originally manufactured for the Soviet Air Force and was the USSR's first such aircraft to enter large-scale production. It was also licence-built in China as the Hong H-5. The NATO reporting name for the type is Beagle for the bomber, Il-28R reconnaissance version, and Il-28T torpedo-bomber, and Mascot for the Il-28U trainer version. Estimates for total production in the two countries ranges from 2,000 to as high as 6,000. In the 1990s, hundreds remained in service with various air forces, over 40 years after the Il-28 first appeared.

Image:Il-28 RB1.jpg

The aircraft is conventional in layout, with high, unswept wings carrying large engine nacelles beneath them. The bombardier is accommodated in the glazed nose, and the other end of the fuselage carries a turret for two machine guns. These features make it resemble the World War II medium bombers that preceded it, but the swept tail surfaces and the pilot's bubble canopy and ejector seat were more similar to other aircraft of its own era, making it a blend of old and new features.

The Il-28 was widely exported, serving in the air arms of some 20 nations ranging from the Warsaw Pact to various Middle-Eastern and African air forces. Egypt was an early customer, and targeting Egyptian Il-28s on the ground was a priority for the Israeli Air Force during the Suez Crisis, Six Day War, and Yom Kippur War. The Soviet Union was in the process of providing the type for local assembly in Cuba when this was halted by the Cuban Missile Crisis, after which Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove them. The type also saw limited use in Vietnam and with the Soviet forces in Afghanistan. Four ex-Egyptian and two ex-Soviet Il-28s (all with Egyptian crews) were operated by the Nigerian Air Force in the Biafra Wars. Yemeni Il-28s took part in the civil war in that country. Finland also had four examples of this type delivered between 1961 and 1966. They remained in service until 1980s.

The Soviet Union withdrew the type in the 1980s, while the last Soviet-built examples were still flying in Egypt into the 1990s. Chinese-built Il-28s designated H-5 and built by HAMC were also flying in the 1990s, with several hundred in China itself, and a smaller number in North Korea and Romania. The three main Chinese versions are the H-5 bomber, followed by the HJ-5 trainer, and the H-5R (HZ-5) long range (in comparison to the reconnaissance version of Shenyang J-6)reconnaissance aircraft, and later, HD-5 ECM/ESM version. The latter two has been phased out.

1 Variants
2 Users
- 2.1 Civil Operators
- 2.2 Former Operators
3 First Il-28 in the West
4 External links
5 Related content

[edit] Variants

Il-28 Beagle - Bomber version.
Il-28R - Reconnaissance version.
Il-28T - Torpedo bomber version.
Il-28P - Civil conversion for Aeroflot mail service.
Il-28U Mascot - Training version.
H-5 - Chinese bomber version.
HJ-5 - Chinese trainer version.
H-5R or (HZ-5): Phased out Chinese long range photo reconnaissance version.
HD-5 - Chinese ECM/ESM version being phased out.
H-5 Testbed - Chinese testbed for ejection seat, eventually replaced by the testbed version Shenyang J-6.
B-5 - Export designation of the H-5.
B-228 - Czechoslovakian Air Force designation.

[edit] Users

[edit] Civil Operators

Aeroflot.

[edit] Former Operators

Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, China, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Egypt, Finland, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Morocco, North Korea, North Yemen, North Vietnam, Nigeria, Poland, Romania, Somalia, South Yemen, Soviet Union, Syria, Vietnam.

[edit] First Il-28 in the West

On November 11, 1965, Li Xianbin (李显斌), a PLAAF captain of Ilyushin Il-28 of the 8th division defected by flying his bomber numbered 0195 from Jianqiao (笕桥) air base in Hangzhou to Chiang Kai-shek International Airport, and this was the first fully operational Il-28 in western hands. The radio operator / tail gunner Lian Baosheng (廉保生) was found dead at the scene and the navigator Li Caiwang (李才旺) was captured alive after failed suicide attempt. Both survivors were honored and rewarded positions in the Republic of China Air Force. Li Xianbin (李显斌) was rewarded 2,000 taels (approximately 70 kg) of gold, while Li Caiwang (李才旺) was rewarded 1,000 taels (approximately 35 kg) of gold. Since Lian Baosheng (廉保生) was dead, his reward of 1,000 taels (approximately 35 kg) of gold was divided evenly among Li Xianbin (李显斌) and Li Caiwang (李才旺).