Ilyushin Il-28

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-28

The Ilyushin Il-28 (Russian: ????´??? ??-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 Il-28 design was conventional in layout, with high, unswept wings and a
swept horizontal tail and fin. The engines were carried in bulky nacelles slung
directly under the wings. The nosewheel retracted rearwards, while the
mainwheels retracted forwards into the engine nacelles. The crew of three were
accommodated in separate, pressurised compartments. The navigator, who also
acted as bombardier, was accommodated in the glazed nose compartment and was
provided with an OPB-5 bombsight based on the American Norden bombsight of the
Second World War, while the pilot sat under a sideways opening bubble canopy
with an armoured windscreen. The gunner sat in a separate compartment at the
rear of the fuselage, operating a power driven turret armed with two
Nudelman-Suranov NS-23 23 mm cannons with 250 rounds each. In service, the
turret was sometimes removed as a weight saving measure. While the pilot and
navigator sat on ejector seats, the gunner had to parachute out of a hatch in
the floor in the event of an emergency. Two more fixed, forward-firing 23 mm
cannon with 100 rounds each were mounted under the nose and fired by the pilot,
while a bomb bay was located under the wing, capable of holding four 100 kg (220
lb) bombs in individual containers, or single large bombs of up to 3,000 kg
(6,600 lb) slung from a beam in the bomb bay.


Role
Medium bomber

National origin
Soviet Union

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 limited service with the 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

Developed into
Ilyushin Il-30

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 Afghan 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 for target-towing duties. They remained in service until the 1980s.

The Soviet Union withdrew the type in the 1980s, while the last Soviet-built
examples were still flying in Egypt into the 1990s.

Specifications (Il-28)

General characteristics
Crew: Three (pilot, bombardier, gunner)
Length: 17.65 m (57 ft 11 in (excluding cannon))
Wingspan: 21.45 m (70 ft 4½ in (excluding tip tanks))
Height: 6.70 m (22 ft 11¾ in)
Wing area: 60.80 m² (654.5 sq ft)
Airfoil: TSAGI SR-5S
Aspect ratio: 7.55:1
Empty weight: 12,890 kg (28,417 lb)
Loaded weight: 18,400 kg (40,565 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 21,200 kg (46,738 lb)
Powerplant: 2 × Klimov VK-1A turbojets, 26.5 kN (5,952 lbf) each

Performance
Maximum speed: 902 km/h (487 knots, 560 mph) at 4,500 m (14,760 ft)
Cruise speed: 770 km/h (415 knots, 478 mph)
Range: 2,180 km (1,176 nmi, 1,355 mi) at 770 km/h (415 knots, 478 mph) and
10,000 m (32,800 ft)
Service ceiling: 12,300 m (40,350 ft)
Rate of climb: 900 m/min (2,950 ft/min)

Armament

Guns: 4 × Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannons (2 in nose and 2 in tail barbette)
Bombs: 3,000 kg (6,600 lb) of bombs in internal bay (1,000 kg (2,200 lb) normal)