Ilyushin Il-28
| Il-28 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Basic version of Il-28 in Polish Air Force colours | |
| Role | Medium bomber |
| Manufacturer |
Ilyushin Avia (B-228 and CB-228) Harbin Aircraft Manufacturing Corporation (H-5) |
| First flight | 8 July 1948 |
| Introduction | 1950 |
| Retired | 1980s (Soviet Union) |
| Status | In Service- Korean People's Air Force |
| Primary users |
Soviet Air Force People's Liberation Army Air Force Czechoslovak Air Force Polish Air Force |
| Number built | over 6,635 |
| Variants | Ilyushin Il-30 |
The Ilyushin Il-28 (Russian: Илью́шин Ил-28 NATO reporting name: Beagle) is a jet bomber of the immediate postwar period that was originally manufactured for the Soviet Air Forces. It was the Soviet Union's first such aircraft to enter large-scale production. It was also licence-built in China as the Harbin H-5. Total production in the USSR was 6,316 aircraft, and over 319 H-5s were built. Only 187 examples of the HJ-5 training variant were manufactured. In the 1990s hundreds remained in service with various air forces over 50 years after the Il-28 first appeared. The only H-5s in service currently are approximately 80 aircraft which operate with the Korean People's Air Force. The Il-28 has the USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 27" and NATO reporting name "Beagle", while the Il-28U trainer variant has the USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 30" and NATO reporting name Mascot. The Finnish Air Force nickname of the Il-28 was Nikita.
After a number of attempts at a four-engined bomber (the Lyulka TR-1 powered Ilyushin Il-22 and the unbuilt Rolls-Royce Derwent powered Ilyushin Il-24), the Ilyushin Design Bureau began development of a new jet-powered tactical bomber in late 1947. Western Intelligence focused on the four-engine developments while the twin-engine Ilyushin Il-28 was created to meet a requirement for a bomber to carry a 3,000 kilograms (6,600 lb) bombload at 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph). The new design took advantage of the sale of a number of Rolls-Royce Nene jet engines by Great Britain to the Soviet Union, which allowed Soviet engineers to quickly produce an unlicensed copy of the Nene, the RD-45, with Ilyushin designing the new bomber around two RD-45s.
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