Tupolev Tu-16 Badger
The Tupolev Tu-16, known to NATO as the Badger, was a twin-engined jet strategic bomber built in the Soviet Union. Developed as the Tu-88, it first flew on 27 April 1952 and entered service in 1954. More than 1,500 were built in three Soviet plants, in bomber, missile-carrier, reconnaissance and electronic-warfare variants. Egypt and Iraq flew it in combat in Middle Eastern wars, and China licence-built it as the Xian H-6. Soviet and Russian Tu-16s were retired by the 1990s.
Why It Mattered
In the late 1940s, the Soviet Union's only long-range bomber was Tupolev's Tu-4, a reverse-engineered copy of the American B-29 Superfortress. The development of the notably powerful Mikulin AM-3 turbojet opened the way to a large, jet-powered bomber, and the Tu-16 was Tupolev's answer. Vintage Aviation News calls it a cornerstone of Soviet air power during the height of the Cold War. NATO gave it the reporting name Badger. The design has outlived the Soviet Union: a Chinese licence-built version, the Xi'an H-6, remains in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force.
Design Notes
The Tupolev design bureau began work on the Tu-88, the "Aircraft N" prototypes, in 1950. After winning a competition against the Ilyushin Il-46, the design was approved for production in December 1952. Its wing was new, large and swept, and its two Mikulin AM-3 turbojets sat one in each wing root. It typically carried a crew of six or seven, depending on the mission. For defence it carried six to seven 23 mm cannon in dorsal, ventral and tail turrets. It could carry a single massive FAB-9000 bomb, or various nuclear weapons. Production took place in three Soviet aviation plants: Kazan, Kuybyshev and Voronezh.
Operational History
The first production bombers entered service with Frontal Aviation in 1954, receiving the service designation Tu-16. In 1955, a Tu-16 was used to drop RDS-37, the Soviet Union's first thermonuclear weapon, over the Semipalatinsk Test Site. The Tu-16 began as a high-altitude, free-fall bomber, but in the mid-1950s it was equipped to carry early Soviet cruise missiles. The Tu-16KS-1 version, NATO's Badger-B, could carry AS-1 missiles intended primarily for use against US Navy aircraft carriers and other large surface ships. The design was built in numerous specialized variants for aerial reconnaissance, maritime surveillance, electronic intelligence gathering and electronic warfare. Vintage Aviation News puts Soviet production at 1,509 aircraft in all. The type was exported to Egypt, Iraq and Indonesia. Egypt conducted its first combat use of the type in the North Yemen civil war, and flew it later in the Six-Day War and the Yom Kippur War against Israel. In the Six-Day War, Israel destroyed 23 of Egypt's 25 Tu-16s on the ground. Iraq also used the bomber in the Six-Day War, and later in the Iran–Iraq War. Delivery of the Tu-16 to China began in 1958, and the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation licence-produced it there as the Xian H-6. It continued in service with the Soviet Union's air forces and naval aviation, and subsequently Russia's, until 1993.
Afterlife
Soviet and Russian service ended in 1993, and most Tu-16s were retired by the late 1990s and early 2000s. Successor states that inherited Tu-16s from the Soviet Union had taken theirs out of service by 1995. Individual aircraft survive as museum exhibits: a Tu-16 is held at the Monino Museum. An Indonesian Air Force Tu-16KS-1 is displayed at the Dirgantara Mandala Museum. Its airframe also had a civilian career: adapted as the Tu-104, it carried passengers for Aeroflot. The bomber's longest afterlife is in China, where the licence-built H-6 remains in service today.