The Ilyushin Il-28 (NATO reporting name "Beagle") was the Soviet Union's first jet bomber to enter large-scale production. Licence-built in China as the Harbin H-5, as well as in the Czech Republic, total production in the USSR alone was 6316 aircraft. The aircraft drew on captured wartime technology, as well as benefitting from the sale to the USSR of Rolls-Royce Nene jet engines, reproduced for soviet use as the RD-45. 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. The aircraft also saw limited use in Vietnam and with the Afghan forces in Afghanistan, while Finland had four examples delivered between 1961 and 1966 for target-towing duties, which remained in service until the 1980s.
The aircraft was also used to a limited extent in Vietnam and by the Afghan armed forces, while between 1961 and 1966 Finland took delivery of four examples for towing target drones, which remained in service until the 1980s.
Group
Books (first-hand)
Author
Yakubovich, Nikolay
Title
Ilyushin Il-28
Details
English text, paperback, many bw-photos, 8 pages with colour profiles, scale drawings, large format. 68 pages.
