Ilyushin Il-28 Beagle: Light Attack Bomber

The Author s Yefi m Gordon is a Ru ss ian avia tion wri ter a nd photograp her . He has stu di ed Russ ia n (and Sovie t) avia tion history for th e last th irty yea rs . His pr ev ious books include Soviet X-Planes, MiG- i S, MiG-2S, Yakoleo Aircraft, a nd Ai rlife have recently published MiG-29 a nd Su-27. He lives in Moscow. Dm it ri y Komi ssa ro v is a pr ofessi on al av ia tion tra nsl at or a nd a n ed itor worki ng for Polygon Press Ltd . He has stud ied Ru ss ia n (and Sovie t) av iation hi st ory for th e last ten yea rs. His previous book s include Ilyushin 11-76 (Russ ia n and English language ed itions) a nd Mil Mi-24 Hind Attack Helicopter. He ha s also tran slat ed into En glish most of th e book s wri tten by Yefim Gordo n. He lives in Moscow.

Relat ed titl es published b )' Airlife Mil Mi -24 Hind Attack Helicop ter by Yefi m Gordon & Dmitriy Komi ssarov

Sukhoi Su-27 Flanker Air Superiority Fight er by Ye fim Gord on Mikoya n MiG-29 Fulcrum M ulti-role Fighter by Yefim Gord on Monin o - The Russian Ai r Force Mu seum by Co lin W. Prenti ce

n~hinn-28 Beagle

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LIGHT ATTACI{ BOMBER

Yefim Gordon and Ihnitriy Komissarov

Airlife

Co pyright
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British Libra ry Cataloguing-in-Puhlica tion Data

A cata logue record for thi s book is available from the British Library ISB N I 84037 351 2 All rights reserved. No part of th is book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means. electronic o r mechanical including photocopying. recording or by any informati on storage and retrieval system. without permission from the Publisher in writing. This book contai ns rare. early colour photographs and the Publisher has made every endeavour to reproduce them to the highest quality. Some. however. have been technica lly impossible to reproduce to th e standard that we no rma lly demand. but have been included beca use of their rarity and interest value. Typeset by Rowland Phototypesetting Limited. Bury St Edmunds. Suffolk Printed in Hong Kong

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The a uthors wish to express their gratitude to N igel Eastway of the Russian Aviatio n Research Trust (RA RT), who, as usual, provided assistance with photos from his extensive a rchive; to Sergey Komissarov who also supplied several previously unpublished photos; to And rey Yurgenson fo r the line drawings and Sergey Yershov for the excellent colour side views.

CONTENTS

Introduction

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1 Breeding the Beagle 2 The Il-28 Family 3 The Beagle in Service 4 Beagles World-wide 5 The Il-28 in Detail Appendix I Acronyms and Glossary Appendix II Detail Plans

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Index

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The fa mo us Soviet airc ra ft designer Sergey Vladim irov ich Ilyu shin . the fo under o f OKB-240 a nd th e creato r of many o utsta nding includin g the 11-28 tacti cal bomber. ( SlT~' .aircra . . ft .- . ... . '''. <11/.1 Dmitrtv. Komissan» r arch!.... )

I NTRODU CTION

ike the o ther Allied nations. the Soviet U nio n was very active designing new types of _ weapons a nd military technol ogi es in the early years after the Second World War. The advent of the turbojet engine a ffected fir st and foremost figh ter design. Jet fight ers enjoyed top pri ority. while jet bombers were in effect relegated to second place. a ltho ug h the turbojet inevitably found its way to bombers as well. Having examined German war booty aircraft and the state of Nazi Germa ny's aero na utica l research, U S. British a nd Soviet aircra ft designers reached the sa me conclusion : ind izeno us jet design s were needed . Research in this field event ua lly led to ma sterpieces o f aviation engineering, such as the Nort h A merica n F -86 Sabre a nd Mikoyan/G urevich Mi G-IS (NAT O code name Fagot ) fighters. the English Electric Ca nber ra bomber a nd. so me time later. the Boeing B-52 Stratofo rtress. Tupolev Tu-1 6 Badger and Tu-95 Bear heavy bombers. (T he latter is admitted ly a turbopro p a irc ra ft: however. turboprops are gas turbine engines as well. so the Tu-95 deserves mention. too. ) The well-k nown Sov iet Ilyushin 11-28 tactical bomber ca n a lso be re garded as a n extrao rd inarv aircraft. Few jet fighte rs of the time could keep up with the 11-28 in terms of production. Accord ing to contem po ra ry Soviet military strateav, co nven tiona l a nd nuclear strikes again st target s ~

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in t he enemy's tactical area we re to be made by tactical (i.e. light) bombers. Development wo rk o n jet tactical bombers in the U SSR was probably kicked o lT in 1945 by the design bureau led by A rkhip Mikha ilovich Lyulka which was then working on the 1.300 kgp (2. 865 Ib sn TR-I ax ial-now tu rbojet - the first indigenous jet engine to reach the hardware stage. (Pre-war projects devel oped by Lyulka re ma ined paper engines. The o nly o ther jet s ava ilable to Soviet aircraft designers at the time were reve rse-e ngineered versio ns o f the German turbojets - the BM W 003 and Jun kers ./umo 004.) Jet bombers were under development at O K B156 1ed by Andrey N iko layevich Tupolev. O K B-240 led by Sergey Vl adimirovich Ilyushin a nd O K B-51 led by Pavel O sipovich Sukhoi . Eve n OKB-l led by the G erman wa r booty designer Brunolf W. Baade j oined the race. ' Ea rl y stud ies by Ilyushin in this direction resulted in the 11-22 (the first aircraft to carry thi s designatio n),' the first Soviet fo ur-jet bomber. It had a circula r-section fuselage, sho ulde r-mo unted stra ight wings, a conventional tail unit. a tricycle landing ~

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I O K B = opvtno-k onstrook torskoyc hY1l1"O - experimental design bureau . T he number is a code allocated lor securit •v rea son s. 1 T he designation was reused much later lor a purpose-built airborne command post version o f the II -I SD turboprop airliner (NATO code na me Cool: the 11-2 ' was code-named COOl-C) .

The 11-..,.., was th e Ilyushin O K B's first jet bomber. Though not a successful design . lessons learn ed wi th it acco unted in a la rue for the success of the 11-"'8. ( S " ' W .... degree ..... . -I' <1".1 Dmitri.v Komissan» archiv« j

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ILY USHI N I L-2 8 B EAGLE

The experimental 'aircraft 71' (Tu-12) bomber which was a stra ightforward development of the Second World Warvintace Tu-2 . ( reti", Gordon archivc)

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wit h a twin -whee l nose unit and larue zle c- sin cmainwhee ls. T he TsAG I ' l-A-1O aero foil was utilized on the inner win gs a nd the TsAG I 1-V- I0 aerofo il on the o uter wings. with a 12 per cent thickness-to-chord ratio in bo th cases. The four T R-I turbojets were carried almost en tirely a head of the wing leading edge on short horizont al pylons; this was a first in world jet aircraft design . All the bombs were to be carried internallv, a nd the largest weapon carried by the 11-22 was a 3.000 kg (6.6 13 lb ) bomb. which was a lso the aircraft's maximum ord na nce load. The defen sive arma ment com prised a pai r o f Berezin B-20E 20 mm (.78 ca libre ) ca nnon in a n electrica lly powered rem ote-cont roll ed d orsal barbette and a sin ule 23 mm (.90 ca libre) N udelman/Sooran ov NS-23 cannon in an II-K U- 3 tail turret designed in-house.' Another NS-23 cannon was m ounted o n the sta rboard side of the forward fuselage. ti ring forward . T he five-man crew consisted of two pilots seated side by side in an extensively glazed nose (reminiscen t of the Boeing B-29 Superfort ress ). a navigator/bomb aimer, a gunner/rad io opera tor who worked the do rsal ba rbette. a nd a tail gunner. Accord ing to th e project the 11-22 was to have a range of 1.250 km (776 miles) with a 2.000 kg (4,409 lb ) nom inal bomb load . The maximum takeoff weight was 24.000 kg (52.9 10 lb) a nd the neverexceed speed was set at 800 krn/h (432 kt ). o r M ach 0.75. Development and prototype cons tr uction pro ceeded extremely fas t; piloted by two brothers. Vladimir and Konsta ntin Kokkinaki. the 11-22 made its maiden fl ight o n 24 July 1947. However. tests q uick ly showed that its perform ance was clearly inadeq uate - mainly because the engines. which suffered from teethin g troubles. had to be derated to 940 kgp (2.072 Ib st) . Hence the MTOW had to be limited to 20.000 kg (44.09 1 lb) for the manufacturer's flight tests. The ra nge turned o ut to

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be merely 86 5 krn (53 7 miles) and the top speed at 7.000 m (22.965 ft) was 7 18 krn/h (388 kt) instead of th e req uired 800 km/h. Hence the Ilyush in OK B chose not to submit the aircraft for State acceptance trial s; a ll further development work wa s di scontinued and the so le prototype was relegated to the Bureau o f New Hardware (a division o f the Ministry o f A irc ra ft Industry). where it could be stud ied by leading industry experts. The 11-22 was no more than a stepping sto ne to m ore etTicient design s. Meanwhile. Tupolev came up with the Tu -77 experimental bomber (aka Tu-12). a heavily moditied Second World War-vintage Tu-2 with two turbojets and a tricycle la ndi ng gear. and later the Tu-73/Tu-78/Tu-8 I/Tu-89 famil y. The last aircraft in th e series was eventua lly to see limited production a nd serv ice as th e Tu-14 (NATO code name Bosuns. The German team led bv Baade refined the Junkers EF 131 project which culminated in the Type 140. a n experimenta l bomber with forward-swept wings. Sukhoi built a prot ot ype o f the Su-I O four-j et light bomber. but it wa s scrapped without ever being fl own when OKB-51 was di ssolved in 1949. There wa s yet another contender. Vladimir Mikhail ovich M yasischchev with his VM -24 (aka RB-1 7) fourturbojet bomber project. H owever. it never materiali zed because M yasischchev was o ut o f favour with Soviet leader Josef Stalin and consequently his p rojects received a thumbs-d own at the time. This was basica lly the situatio n in which the 11-28 was born the Soviet Un ion's first opera tional jet bomber. which entered serv ice with the VVS (VO•l'e1l11O vozdooshnyye S(!(!ZI' - [Soviet] Air Force) in 1949.

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3 TsAGI = Tscntrahl'nvy aero- i g !litll'oclil/llllli<,!I<,skiy institoot Cen tra l Aero dvna m ics & Hvd rodvnarnics In st itute. named • • a fter N iko lav. Ycuo rovich Z h ukovs kiv . -I K U stan ds fo r /':III'IIIII I 'tlrll [s l l'<,/kOl'lIy ll ] 1I0sl(///OI'/':1I - tail barbette. •

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• BREEDING THE BEAGLE

he I1-28 project was conceived in late 1947. On 3 1 October that year Sergey V. Ilyu shin wro te to the then Minist er of A ircraft Industry. N ikolay A. Bulganin, p roposi ng a tactical bomber powered by two Rolls-Royce Nene I centrifugal-flow turbojets. wit h a first tl ight date tenta tively set for J uly 1948. T his tight sched ule was due in no sma ll pa rt to the experience acc umulated with the I1-22 wh ich wo uld allow the new bomber to be developed quickly. The objective was to achieve a pe rfor ma nce far superio r to that of the 11-22 a nd the projected I1-24 bom ber (aga in the first aircra ft to use this designation ). ' T h is wa s made possible by reducing the crew a nd rethinking the defensive armament co ncept. The I1-28's gene ra l arra ngemen t was sim ila r to its predecessor's. H owever. the a irc ra ft was rather sma ller a nd diff ered in a number o f impo rta nt respects. This was becau se of the new bomber's higher speed a nd differen t serv ice cond itions: unli ke the I1-22. the 11-28 was designed to o pera te mainly from tactical airfields with un paved strips. The crew was reduced to three - pilot. navigato r/bom b aimer a nd tail gunne r/radi o o pe ra to r. The decisi on to elim ina te the co-pilot a nd forward gunner wa s dictated fir st o f a ll by th e limited mission time o f a tactica l bomber. At a cruising speed o f 650- 750 km/h (36 1-4 16 kt) a so rtie wo uld typica lly last 2 o r 2.5 ho urs - four hours at the most. A n autopi lot wo uld be inst alled to ea se the pilot's work load d uring cruise. The arma ment would probably best be described now. beca use the 11-28 was. as o ne Russi an writer pu t it. 'designed a ro und the tail' - o r. to be p recise. the ta il turret. Trials of the I1-22 had shown that the remote-con trolled do rsa l barbette was inelTicien t because the tai l unit created la rge blind secto rs. A lso. the gunner's sta tion was located well awav fro m the barbette: hence some a reas whe re th e ca nnon co uld be b rought to bear o n th e target were concea led from the gunner's view by the wings a nd fuselage. Vario us a rma ment arra ngements were stud ied. Event ua llv the engineers decided that a single tai l turret offered adeq uate protection against enemy fi ghter attacks fro m the rea r hemi sphere. provid ing the traversing/el evatin g a ngle a nd speed o f the ca n non were increased and the bomber made ~

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approp riate defensive manoe uvres. Besides, th e use of on ly a single tail turret reduced empty weight a nd improved aerodyn amic etTiciency. Yet desi gnin g a new tai l tur ret turned out to be q uite a cha llenge: the engineers had to meet stringent specifications while keeping the unit's weight to a mi nimum . The I1-22's tai l turret turned out to be to o sluggish: a new power drive and remo te control system had to be developed . The result wa s the highly effic ien t I1 -K 6 ball turret' - o riginally mounting the sa me NS-23 ca nnon which were later replaced by N udelman/Richter N R -23s with 225 rpg. The new weapons had th e sa me ca libre but a much higher rate o f fire (850 rounds per minute versus 550 rpm for the ea rlier model). The II-K 6 wa s the first Soviet electrohyd ra ulica lly powered remote-controlled turret: it had a traversin g a ngle of + 70° a nd a n elevat inc a ngle o f +60° to - 4 0°. In norm al mode the cannon moved a t a rate of 15-1 T" per second . the motion increasing to up to 36° per seco nd in boost (emergency) mode. The power drive enabled the turret to o pera te adequately at ai rspeed s in excess of 1,000 km/h (555 kt) , At 340 kg (750 lb ), the turret wa s relatively li gh tweight. By co mpa rison. th e DK-3 turret used o n the Tu-4 BIIII bomber (a reverse-en gineered Boeing 8-29) ha d traversing a nd eleva ting angles of o nly +3 0°. 390 kg.... (860 lb ). while weighin ........g nearlv "' The power drive o f the I1- K6 turret was built aro und a n un o rt hodox swivell ing hydrau lic pump unit driven bv two 5 kW electric mo tors. The o utput o f the pumps a nd hence the motion speed of the can no n depended o n the a ngle at which the p ump un it was tilted: with the pump unit in a neutra l positio n the t urret remained motionless. Th is made it possible to d ispense with slide va lves. reservoirs a nd other unreliable com ponents. resulting in a simple a nd safe hydraulic system. The amm unition boxes were built int o the body of the turret. all owing th e ~

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I A derivative of the 11-22 powered by fo ur 3.300 kgp n.275 1b sO MikuJin Al\I -T KRD-O lturbojels and equipped with an ll-K tJ-L twi n-canno n tail turret . The designation was , later reused for the IJ -24N long-range ice reconna issance aircraft - another spin-o ff of the II-I SO. 2 Once aua in. K stands for kO"'}lo \'I1I'(/ strclk ovavu oostunovk a . . - tail barbette.

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ILYUSHI N I L- 2 8 BE.~ GLE

customary belt feed and tightening mechanisms to be dispensed with. which aga in made fo r higher reliability. The turret was electrica lly contro lled by means o f a highly reliable and p recise potentiometric tracking system. Targeting was done by a comp uting gunsight which automat ically made adj ustments for the target's motion. shell velocity a nd trajecto ry. cannon traversi ng a ngle. fl ight a ltitude a nd a irs peed . T he sight received feedback fro m the turret to minimize miscoordi nation be tween the two. Thus. miscoord ination in t he horizontal plane was three times less than the limit set by genera l o pera tio na l requirements of the time. The 11-28 also fea tured two fi xed forward-firing N R-23 ca nnon with 100 rpg inst alled on both sides of the nose on quick-relea se mount s. These were fired by th e pilot and could be removed by sim ply disco nnecting an electrica l connect or and turning a locking lever. The decisio n to use only a single power turret and red uce the crew to three ena bled th e designers to make the 11-28's fuselage nearly 3.5 m (II ft 5.79 in.) shorter than that of the 11-22 a nd reduce win g area by 13.7 m' (1 47.3 sq. It), which led to a signifi ca nt reduction in empty weig ht. Hence the second major difference was the powerplant. The basic projected size and weight allowed the new bomber to be powered by two Rolls-Royce Nenes rated at 2.270 kgp (5.000 Ib st). The Nene. which entered licen ce p roducti on in the USS R in 1947 as the Klimov RD-45 .' had by then reached a high degree of reliability and boasted a 25-30 pe r cent lower specific fuel consumption as compa red to the TR-l. On the other hand. a major . drawback of this en gine was its large diameter. ca used by the centrifugal compressor. T his. a nd the necessit y to keep the a ir intakes as far away fro m the gro und as possible in o rder to avoid fo reign-object damage (FO D )- a must since the aircra ft was to o pera te fro m dirt airstrips - led the designers to mount the engines in nacelles adhering directly to the lower surface o f the wings (i .e. without pylons). For centre-of-gravity reaso ns the engines were located well forward in t he nacelles. Thus. the large diameter of the engine's compresso r a nd the sm a ll jet pipe allowed the main gea r units to be relocated from the fuselage nacelles. ........ giving a .... to the engine .... wide track which was a bonus on sem i-p repa red strips. The shock struts were attached to the nacelles' main frames. and as they ret racted fo rward ~

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th e single mainwheels turned th rough 90° by means o f a simp le mechanical link to lie fl at in the bott om o f the nacelles beneath the jetpipe (be hind the com bustion cham be rs ). Incident ally. here the Ilyushin OKB made a virtue o ut o f necessit y: the landing gear str uts were noticeably longer than o n the 11-22. ....givin ....g a large ........ground clearance under the fuselage .... a nd easing the bomb-loading procedure. In co ntrast. the 11-22 had a verv sma ll ground clearance. needing to be jacked up whe n 2.5 00 kg (5. 5 11 lb ) and 3.000 kg (6.61 3 lb) bombs were hooked up. To meet the high speed requirement the 11-28's wings em ployed a new TsAGI SR-5S high-speed aerofoil developed under the guidance of Yakov M. Serebri yski y and Maria V. Ryzhova - again with a 12 per cent thickness-to-ch ord rati o. Thi s ena bled the bomber to reach a maximum speed o f Mach 0.82 at 7.000- 8.000 m (22 .965-2 6,246 fn without any adverse effects on stability and control characteristics caused by shock wave formati on. The p rovisio n o f simple slo tt ed flaps assured th e 11-28 go od fi eld performance. The high design speeds called for a swept tail unit which ens ured good stability a nd handling th rougho ut the speed range. The tail unit emp loyed symmetrical aero foil sectio ns with a slightly higher th ickness-t o-chord rati o than th at o f the 11-22. The fin was swept back 41 ° at quarter-chord. wh ile the sta bilizers were swep t back 30°; thi s delayed dangero us Mach bufTeting to a speed well a bove the aircraft's never-exceed speed . In add itio n. the sweep back increased the rudder a nd elevato r arm . which all owed the a rea and weigh t o f the tail surfaces to be reduced. One of the complaints voiced by the 11-22's pilot s during.... flight tests concerned the flight deck glazing.... .... .... .... (which wa s blended entirely int o the nose co nto ur £1 la B-29). The curved glazing panel s di st orted the view and generated annoying reflections. and the heavy framework created numerous blind spots. Since the 11-28 wou ld be fl own by a single pilot. the engineers provided him with a fighter-t ype cockpit encl osed by a sideways-o pening bubble ca no py with a bullet-proof windscreen. The extensive no se glazing was still there o f necessit y. but now the navigat or/bomb aimer had the gla zed nose a ll to himself. The crew was seated in two pressurized com pa rtment s - one for the pilot a nd navigat or/bomb aimer. th e o the r fo r the gunner/radio o pera tor. At low a ltitudes these were pressurized by the slips tream: fro m I. 700 m (5.580 ft ) upwards the compa rt men ts were sea led off a nd pressurized by engine bleed air via fi lters. The pressurizati on system was com bined with the heating and ventila tion systems. The cockp it

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B REEDING THE B EAGLE'

a nd navigat or's compartment were equipped with upward-firing ejection seats: ejection was triggered by jettisoning the canopy or entrance hatch respectively. The gunner baled out via the ventral entrance hatch: the hatch cover doubled as a shield protecting him from the slipstream. As had been the case with the 11-22, the II -28's wing panels and tail surfaces had a manufacturing joint running along the chord line. Each half of the unit consisted of a number of panels incorporating stringers and ribs. This allowed different panels to be manufactured simulta neo usly at different workstations while improving working conditions: noisy a nd labour-intensive manual riveting was replaced with high-quality machine riveting. The fuselage was also designed in two hal ves with a manufacturing joint running the full length of it: it went together just like a plastic model kit! For the first time in Soviet aircraft production, all structural mem bel'S of the fuselage were readily accessible, allowing riveting and assembly operations to be mechanized and various internal equipment to be fi tted quickly and efficiently. The fu selage was also divided lengthwise into four sections, facilitating the installation of equipment in bays which would not be accessible once the structure was fully assembled. Finally, the fu selage had longitudinal recesses on both sides covered by removable skin panels. These facilitated installation of all wiring and pipelines during manufacturing, as well as checking them and replacing fault y components in service. This feature reduced pre-l1ight check time and enhanced combat effi ciency. The slight weight penalty (about 4 per cent) incurred by the new technology more than paid ofI The surface fini sh was significa ntly improved: lab our intensity was cut by 25-30 per cent for production airframes and by 30-40 per cent for internal equipment installation. As a result. the twinjet bomber was hardly more complicated to build than a tactical fighter. Also, th is allowed Ilyushin to avoid a problem which affected some early Soviet jets - the propen sity to uncommanded bank at high airspeeds, called val'ozhka in Russian. (This problem, which had manifested itself on the Mikoyan/Gurevich MiG-9 Fargo and the MiG-IS Fago t-A , was ca used by aerodynamic asymmetry ca used by the wings having slightly different aerofoil sections because of insufficiently high manufacturing accuracy. This str uctural asymmetry meant that the wings produced different amounts of lift: this was not critical at low speeds, but as airspeed increased the difference became appreciable.) The Ilyushin OKB had accumulated a lot of design and operational experience with hot air

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de-icing systems and put it to good use when work ing on the 11-28. The turbojet engines powering the aircraft supplied lots of bleed air, enabling the engineers to quickly create the most effic ient deicing system of the time. This was the Soviet Union's first automatic hot air de-icing system: it was lightweight. reliable and simple to operate and had no parts disrupting the airtl ow. This feature greatly improved the bomber's combat efficiency and !light safety in adverse weather - particularly because the relativelv thin aerofo ils used in the wings and tail unit made icing much more dangerous than in the case of slower piston-engined aircra ft utilizing thick aero foils. All-weather and night-tlying capability was ensured by the provision of a comprehensive avionics and communications suite which enabled the crew to navigate the aircraft and detect, identify a nd destroy ground targets without maintaining visua l contact with the ground. The avionics suite incl uded an OSP-48 instrument landing system (\ LS) fo r use in instrument meteorological conditions (\M C ). The ground part of the system included two range beacons. three marker beaco ns. communications radios and an HF or VH F radio direction fi nder to facilitate approach and landing in bad weather. The system's components installed on the aircraft comprised an ARK-5 Amur (a river in the Soviet Far East: pronounced like the French word amour) automatic direction find er, a n RV-2 Kristall (Crystal) low-altitude radio altimeter and an MRP-48 Dyatel (Woodpecker) marker beacon receiver.' The OSP-48 was fairly simple a nd had le w components, which rendered the gro und part suitable for use on ad hoc tactical airfields (in truckmounted form ). The aircraft was also equipped wi th an AP-5 autopilot and an identification friend-orfoe (\ FF) transponder. Unlike the 11-22. the II-28's normal bomb load was 1.000 kg (2.204 lb): the ma ximum bomb load in overload condition remained the same at 3,000 kg (6.6 13 lb). Th e bomb bay located in the centre fuselage featured four bomb cassettes and one beamtype bomb cradl e. The former could ca rry bombs of 50-500 kg (\ 10-1.1 02 lb ) ca li bre. while the latter was designed for bombs weighing fro m 1.000 to 3,000 kg (2,204- 6,612 n». In visual meteorol ogical co nditions (V MC) the navigator/bomb aimer used a n OPB-5S optical ~

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blind land in g equipment : ARK = avtomaticheskiy raluliokompas - ADF: RV = 1'Il11i/i OlT SO! O//l1!/' - radio altimeter: MR P = markern vv rahdioprecyomnik. Th e MRP--lS has also been designated Khrizantern a (Chrysanthemum) in some sources. •

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l.t · ILYUSHI N l L-2 8 B EAGLE

bomb sight iopticheskiv pritsel bombardiro vochnvvv which enabled him to take aim a ut omatically at stationa ry and moving target s in level flight. Interestingly, the navigat or had to leave his ejection seat and sit sideways on a specia l jump seat in the extreme nose on the starboa rd side to use the sight. The OPB-5S computed the sighting angles and dropped th e bombs a utomatica lly at the correct moment by means of a n electric release mechanism. The sight was gyrostabilized to prevent the aircraft 's manoeu vres from affecting bombing accuracy and linked to the a utopilot. enabling the navigator to set the aircraft's course o n its bombing run. In IM C bomb-aiming was assisted by the PS BN-M sea rch/bomb-a im ing radar tpribor sle p ovo bombometahniya i navigahtsii - blind -bombing a nd 0 navigati onal device). with a 360 fie ld of view. The radar was located in the aft fuselage just a head of the gunner's statio n and enclosed by a fl ush dielectric fairing. ~

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craft wa s so st ro ng that he decided to carry on with the 11-28 and build a protot ype at his own risk - all the more so because the Soviet Air Force was in desperate need o f a tactical bomber meeting the stringent new requirements. (It is worth noting here that Ghenrikh Vasilvevich N ovozhil ov, who succeeded Ilyushin as th e OKB's head in 1970, sta rted his career at the Ilyushin OKB by taking part in the preparati on o f the 11-28 prototype's manufacturing drawings.) The 11-28 was not o fTicia lly included in the Mini stry of Aircraft Ind ustry's experimental aircraft construction plan until 12 J une 1948, when the Soviet U nio n's Council o f Ministers issued directive N o. '052-804 to this effect - one m onth before the protot ype was ro lled out. Bea rin g no serial or even nationa l insignia, the prototype (powered by a uthen tic Roll s-Royce Nene turbojets imported from the U K) com menced gro und test s at Moscow-K hodynka on 29 May 1948. O n I July the aircra ft was d isman tled and trucked to the F light Resea rch In stitu te named after Mik hai l M . Gromov (U I - Lvotno-issledovatel'skiv • institooti in Zhukovskiy, so ut h o f Moscow, where most Soviet aviation O K Bs had their flight test iskiv was assigned engineer in facilities. V. N. Booza ....."' ..... ..... charge o f the flight tests. The company chief was as good as his word: the bomber took to the air for the fir st time o n 8 July 1948 with Ilyushin O K B chief test pilot Vladimir K. Kokkinaki at the controls: N. D. Sorokin was the flig ht engineer (sic - obviously the navigator) and B. A. Yerofeyev was the radio operato r. Kokkinaki ~

~

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Taking a risk

•

G eneral Designer; Sergey V. Ilyushin approved the 11-28 adva nced development project on 12 January 1948, giving the go-ahead to complete a set of man ufacturing drawings a nd sta rt protot ype construction. By th en, however, Tupolevs OKB-156 - the Soviet Union's leading a uthority in bomber design had received a n assignment to design and build a simila r jet -powered tactical bomber. OKB-240 had no such assignment. Still. Ilyushin's belief in his air~

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T he Rolls-Royce Nene-powered fi rst proto type of the Il-28 was totally devoid of markings. Note the complex framework of the cockpi t ca nopy and the flush installation o f th e navigation/bomb-aiming radar. ( l i:tim Gonlonarchivc}

BR EEDI NG TH E B E.·/GI.£ · 15

•

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Tupolevs "aircra ft 73". the three-engined forerunner of the Tu-14 bomber; note the air inta ke and nozzle o f the centre engine. This confi guratio n wa s to change soo n.. . ( Yef im Gordon archive )

was pleased with the aircraft's handling, saying that the 11-28 was easy to fly, both during take-off and in cru ise, and climbed well. Speaking o f serials, until the mid -1 950s Soviet milit ary a ircra ft had three- o r four-digit serial numbers. These a llowed more o r less positi ve identifica tio n, since they tied in with the airc ra ft's construc tion number - usually the last o ne or two digits of the batch number plus the number of the aircraft in the batch. 1n 1955, however, the VVS switched (probably for sec urity reasons) to the curren t system o f two-digit tactical codes which, as a rule, a re sim ply the aircra ft's number in the unit opera ting it. making positive identificati on impossible. Three- o r four-digit tactical codes are rare and are usu ally worn by development aircraft o nly, in which case they still tie in with the c/n o r fuselage number (manufacturer's line number) ." A t the same time the sta r insignia on the a ft fu selage were deleted, remaining on the wings a nd vertical ta il o nly. So far, however, no Soviet Air Force 11-28s with pre- 1955 seria ls related to the eln have been ident ified .

5 The offi cial title of Soviet O K B heads. 6 On military transport airc raft. however. three-digit tactical codes do not relate to the c1n or I1n: they are the last three o f the former civil registration (many Soviet/Russian Air Force transports were. and still are. qua si-civilian I. 7 PSR = porokho vaya startovaya rakcta - solid-fuel rocket booster. S The Tu-73 was powered by two R R Nenes in wing-mo unted nacelles and one R R Derwent V in the rear fu selage. On the otherwise identical Tu -7S these were replaced by two RD45Fs and one R D-500 respectively (the R D-500 was the licence-built versio n of the Derwent).

The 11-28 had good directional and lateral stability th roughout its operationa l envelope. When properly trimmed the aircraft new stably in level night even whe n the controls were released. Low-speed handling was q uite good, with no tendency to stall o r spin. Stra ight and level night with one dead engine was no problem either, the yaw being easily co untered without excessi ve loads on the rudder peda ls. The aircraft had good field performance and co uld operate from existing airbases and tactical a irfields. At a normal gross weight of 17.220 kg (37,963 lb) . the take-off run was just 560 m (1.837 ft) if the aircraft was fi tted with two PS R- 1500- 15jetassisted take-off (JATO ) rockets' with a 13-second burn time developing 1.600 kgp (3,527 lb st ) each. The 11-28 could easily operate from dirt strips; in fact, the test pilots exp ressly recom mended operating the bomber from dirt strips in order to prolong the tyres' service life. During manufacturer's ni gh t tests the Nenepowered first p rototype atta ined a top speed of 833 km/h (462 kt) at 5,000 m ( 16.404 ft). and reached Mach 0.79 at 7,000- 8,000 m (22,966- 26.246 ft ). T he test pilots reported that the aircraft behaved norma lly at these speeds and could go even faster if appropriate changes were made. Hence the O KB set about streamlining the airframe a nd insta lling more powerful engines. The Tu-73 and Tu- 78 trijet bomber prot otypes' were undergo ing manufacturer's flight tests at the same time. One day General Designer Andrey . Tupolev saw the 11-28 prototype at the airfield of LI I. Being, by many accounts. an ill-tempered person and a man who did not care about competition ~

16 · ILYUSHI NIL-28 B EAGLE

(to say the least). Tupolev was open ly scornfu l at first. 'Humph! Whose basta rd child is this'?' he asked the technicians working on the a ircraft. However. after examining the competitor's product cl osely and studying the specifications he had a long talk with his aides, and it was easy to see that he was • very displeased. The reason for Tupolev's displeasure was obvious: on their jet bombers the Tupolev engineers had copied the defensive weapons arrangement of the piston -engined Tu-2, which led to excessively large overa ll di me nsions. a n excessively large crew and hence excessive weight, not to mention the decidedly complex powerplant. The ultimate Tu- 81 (Tu-14) and Tu-89 (Tu-14T) d ispen sed wi th the centre engine and two remote-controlled gun barbettes in favour of a single tail gunner's station - inspired by the 11-28. no do ubt. On 30 December 1948 the second proto type 11-28 powered by production R D-45F engines" entered flight test, again flown by Vladimir Kokki naki, New models of tyres were tested concurrently with the aircraft itself, as the original ones were tota lly wo rn out after just ten land ings on concrete strips. The ~

best results were attained with tyres made of perlone, a syn thetic rubber. which lasted for more th an 100 landi ngs. Apart fro m the powerplant, the second prototype d iffe red fro m future production 11-28s in avionics and eq uipment fi t. T he aircraft was equipped with R SB-5 and R SU- 1O radios. an SPUF-3 intercom. an M R P-46 marker beaco n receiver. AFA-BA and AFA-33/50 or AFA-33/75 aerial ca meras, two GSN-3000 generators. three sets of KP-14 breathing apparat us wit h 8-litre (1.76 imp. gal .) liquid oxygen bottles. an RUSP-48 ILS, etc. " After the successful completion of the initial fli ght test progra mme, the second prototype was turned over to the Soviet Air Force Research Institute (N Il VVS - Naoochno-issledovatel'skiy institoot vo venno-vozdooshnvkh seeI) for State acceptance trials, which la sted from February to April 1949. The formal act of acceptance was signed on 18 May. The spec ifications of the RD-45F-powered second prot otype 11-28 atta ined at the State acceptance trials are de tailed in Table I. .

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Ta ble L RD-45F-powered second prototype; specifi cations attained in S tate acceptance trials

17,45 m (5 7 It 3 in.) Length overa ll 6.0 m (19 It 8.22 in.) Heiuht on b"round b Wing span 21.45 m (70 It 4,48 in.) \Ving area 60 .8 m: (653 .76 sq. It) Wing loading 28 8 ku/m: (1,400 Ib/ft' ) Power loading at sea level 3.38 kg/kgp Ob/lb st) No rmal all-up weight 17.500 kg (38,580 lb ) Maximum all-up weight 20.000 kg (44.091 Fuel load 6,300 kg ( 13,888 n» Top speed: at sea level 750 km/h (405,4 kt) " at 5, 750-6,000 m (18,864- 19.685 It) 843 km/h (455 .67 kt ) 820 krn/h (443.24 kn at 10,000 m (32, 808 ft) Landing speed 178 km/h (96.2 kn Ra te of climb: at sea level 10.9 m/sec (2.1 45 It/min) at 5,000 m (16,404 It) 8.3 m/sec (1.633 It/min) at 10,000 m (32,808 ft) 3.6 m/sec (708 It/min) Time to height: 5,000 m 8.6 min 10.000 m 22.6 min Range: at "'0,000 kg TOW. 5,000 m and 542 km/h (293 kt) 1,8 I5 km ( I. I27 miles) at 20,000 kg TOW. 10.000 m and 546 km/h (295 kt ) 2,370 km (1 ,472 miles) Endurance at 10,000 m cruising altit ude and 546 km/h cr uising speed 4 hr 13 min Take-ofT run Ll50 m (3,773 1t)/650 m (2.132 It )** Take-ofT distance 2, 540 m (8 ,333 1t)/990 m (3 .248 ft) ** Landing di stance 1.730 m (5.678 It)*** ~

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Notes: * Speed limited at alt itudes up to 1,750 m (5,741 It) owing to 2,700 kg/m' (13.122Ib/It') dynamic strength limit. ** Without boosters/with two PSR -1500- I5 JATO bott les. ** * With a 13,500 kg (29. 762Ib) landing weight.

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B REEDING TH E B EAGLE'

17

Table 2. Performance comparison between the 11-28 and Tu-14 Tu-14

11-28

14.940 (32.936)

I" .795 (28.207 )

") 1.000 (46. 296) 25.350 (55. 886 ) 25 .350 (55 .886)

180400 (40.564 ) 21.069 (46,448 ) 23.069 (50. 875 )

Top speed at take-olT power/normal AUW. krn/h (kt ): at 5.000 m ( 16,404 ft ) at 10.000 m 02. 808 ft)

845 (456. 75) 8 11 (43 8.37)

893 (4 82 .7 ) 850 (459.45 )

Top speed at take- off power/maximum AUW. krn/h (kt): at S/L at 5.000 m ( 16,404 ft ) at 10.000 m 0 2.808 ft )

774 (41 8.3 7) 823 (444 .86) 773 (4 17.83 )

800 (432 .43 ) 857 (463.24) 823 (444 .86)

11.200 (36. 745)

12,300 (40. 354 )

Maximum range at 10.000 m/normal AUW. km (miles)

2. 870 (1. 782)

"04 15 (UOO)

Take-off run. m ( ft)

L200 (3. 93 7 )

9650. 166)

Landing run. m (It)

i .: 00 (3. 609)

9600. 149)

Bomb load. kg (Ib): normal maxlinum

LOOO (2.204)

LOOO(". "04)

3.000 (6. 613)

3.000 (6.61 3 )

Empty weight. kg (lb) All-up weight. kg (Ib): normal in overload co nfi guration ~

•

m a ximum

Service ceiling at normal AU W. m ~

(It)

•

Table 2 gives a performance comparison of the I1-2 8 and Tu-14. Note that the figures stated for the [1-28 differ from those in Table I; however, in both cases they originate from official documents. A possible ex pla na tio n is that different examples of the Beagle were involved - o r that whoever prepared the compa rative table was not very honest. doctoring the fi gures to benefit the I1-2 8. ~

T he Tu-14 was being tested concurrently: the Powers That Be were to choose between the two. so that in effect Ilyushin and Tupolev had a flyoff even though the term was unknown in the Soviet Union at the time. Hence the VVS top brass was in a turmoil; some of the generals and marshals lobbied for the Tu-14. which had somewhat longer range. while others supported the Il-28. which was much easier to build and operate. The discussion raged o n at ministerial level; the chief of N Il VVS denounced the I1-28 and strongly urged the Minister of Aircraft Industry. Nikolay A. Bulganin, to give the go-ahead for the Tu-14. Still. even Bulaanin failed to resolve the issue. ~

9 F = j i,rsl'l'rorllllllyy - uprated. 10 A FA = aerofotoapparaht - aircraft camera: KP = k islorodnyv prcebor - oxygen eq ui pmen t.

Finally. o n 14 May 1949 a special com m issio n chaired by Stalin himself analysed the test results and compared the performance of the two types. According to Ilyushin. after examining the reports carefully and listening to his military advisers. Stalin picked the I1-28. H owever. Ilyushin was requested to increa se the speed of producti on a ircraft immediately to 900 km/h (486 kt ) by re-engining the I1-2 8 with more powerful and fuel-effi cient Klimov VK-I turbojet s: Counc il of Ministers directive No. 1890- 700 to this effect appeared o n the same day. (It makes yo u wonde r if the p ro-Il yushin lobby had prepared the directive in advance. foreseeing this victo ry ' ) The VK-I was a version of the RD-45F uprated to 2.700 kgp (5.950 Ib st). As a consolation prize. Tupolev was requested to develop a versio n of the Tu-14 (likewise powered by VK- ls) for the Naval air arm.

Defining and refining Building o n the results of numerous wind tunnel tests at TsAGI. the Ilyushin O K B developed new engine nacelles for the producti on VK - I-powered form of the I1-28 . U nlike the proto types' nacelles. which were bulged around the middle. the new ones were distinctly area-ruled . the wa ist being narrowest ~

18' I LYUSHIN I L-2 8

B EAGLE

In designing th e 'aircra ft 8 I', a deri vative o r th e ' 73' and ' 78' trijets which entered production as the Tu-I4, the Tupolev OK S clea rly borrowed Ilyu shin's defensive armament concept employed on the 11-28, ( l ,:/illl Gordon ar..hire)

where the wing sectio n was at its thickest. This siznificantlv• reduced harm ful interference between wing and nacelle, especially at transonic speeds, res ulting in a major improvement in the II-28's perfor ma nce, (As a point of interest. in the USA the area rule was formulated in parallel by R , Whitcomb, but did not find practical use until 1954, when Co nvair brought o ut the F-102 Delta Dagger interceptor.) Other changes were made after the initia l fl igh t tests and State acceptance tria ls, The PSBN -M radar was relocated from the aft fuselage to a position immediately after the nosewheel well in o rder to improve its operating conditions and encl osed by a teard rop-shaped radome. The rudder's horn balance was enlarged to reduce rudder forces, Some ~

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minor cha nges were made to t he hydrau lic system and the nosewheel steering actuator/shimmy damper. T he fuselage fue l cells were equipped wit h a nitrogen pressurization system to reduce the danger o f explosi on if hit by enemy fire, enhancing survivabilit y, The angular cockpit windscreen o f the prototypes gave way to a more stream lined one featuring an elliptical Triplex windshie ld and curved sidelights, and the fra me of the hinged canopy portion was simplified by int roducing a two-piece blown tra nsparency, The navigat or's glazi ng was a lso modifi ed , The pre-p rod ucti on 11-28 powered by YK - l s commenced fl ight tes ts on 8 August 1949; the crew was the same as on the day of the type's maiden fligh t a yea r earlier, At a normal gross weight of ~

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An uncoded pre-prod uctio n 11-28 powered by Klirnov VK-I engines in area-ruled nacelles, This view illustrates well the sleek lines or Ilyushin's jet bomber. ( 1,:/illl Gordon ar..hive}

B REEDI NG THE B EAGLE'

19

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Three-quarters rear view of the sa m e aircraft, showing the I1-K6 ball turret.

18AOO kg (40,564Ib), the aircraft had a top speed of 906 km/h (503 kt) at 4,000 m (13,123 ft), The pilots noted the aircraft was stable at any speed: control forces could be trimmed down easily. At the maximum allowed speed of Mach 0.78 the back pressure o n the control column gradually increased: then, if elevato r trim remained unchanged, the load reversed, the control column would move forward and the aircraft would tend to go into a dive. If elevato r trim was selected up, the aircraft could reach Mach 0. 81 o r 0. 82, but this caused severe Mach buffet, wa rn ing the pilot to slow down. The producti on-standard II-28's top speed at various altitudes is indicated in Table 3. ~

(l ei/III Gordon archive )

With a 1,000 kg (2,204Ib) normal bomb load and a 21,000 kg (46.296 Ib ) MTOW, the 11-28 had a maximum range of 2A55 km (1,525 miles) and was generally superior in performance to the pistonengined Tu-2 which was the mainstay of the VVS's tactical bomber force at the time. On 24 August 1949 the production-standard VK-I-powered aircraft was handed over for State acceptance trials and passed them with !lying colours. On 16 September the State Commission recommended that production be sta rted forthwith, and so it was. Starting in September 1949, it entered production at three major aircraft fa ctori es: No. 30 Znamya truda (Banner of Labour, pronounced ~

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Table 3. Production-standard II-28's top speeds at various altitudes I ndicated airspeed

sea level 4,500 m (14. 763 ft)

""0 m (·17.-"''''4' !·t)· )- ._) 8.000 m (26 .246 ft ) 12.000 m (39 .370 ft)

Mach number •

at c ruise power

at full military power

at cruise power

at full military power

786 km/h (424.86 kt) 846 km/h (45 7.29 kt) 848 km/h (458. 37 kt) 837 krn/h (452.43 kt ) 710 krn/h (383 .78 kt)

800 km/h (432.43 kt) 900 km/h (486.48 kt) 897 km/h (484.86 kt) 876 km/h (473.51 kt) 805 krn/h (435. 15 kt)

0.642

0.655

0.73

0.776

0.738

0.782

0.759

0.79

0.67

0.757

20· ILYUSHI NIL-28 B EAGL E

Individual factory• construction number systems • S •Ystem 1: 4

Red. eln 5030 II 06:

50 30 II 06

year of manufacture ( (950); = Moscow Machinery Plant (MM Z) No. 30; batch number; number of aircraft in the batch (up to 100'7) .

The cln is ste nci lled on the fuselage nose and sometimes under the horizontal tail as well. ~

S •ystem

8: unkn own. eln 43051 230 I:

4 30 51 "'3 oI

in-house version designator: izdeliye (p roduct) 4 = 1l-28R; = MM Z No. 30; yea r of manufacture (1 951 ); batch number; number of airc ra ft in the batch.

I'" Red. cln 53005 11"' :

5

in-house version designator: izdelive (prod uct ) 5 = 1l-28. izdeliye 6 = 1128U ; yea r of manufacture ( 1953); = MM Z No. 30 (the first digit is omitted for securitv . reason s to confuse would-be spies ); batch number; number o f aircraft in the batch (up to 100?).

System 3: •

3

o 05 1 12

~

The eln is someti mes stencilled on the fuselage nose a nd under the horizontal tail. Svstem -l: 184 Black. cln 590 1207: •

System 5: code •

System •

un kn own . cln 645030 I:

6: 0 I Red. cln 2402 10 I:

01'" 07

of manufacture (1955); veal' • = Irkutsk aircraft fact ory No. 39 (the first digit is omitted fo r secu rity reasons); batch number; number of aircra ft in th e batch .

64 50 3 01

fa ctory number (Vo ronezh aircraft fact o ry) ; • • year of manufacture (1 950); batch number; number of aircraft in the batch .

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•year

5 9

... 02 1 01

of manufacture (1 952); = Voronezh aircraft factory No. 64 (the first digit is omitted fo r security reasons); batch number; number o f aircraft in the batch. •

The cln is somet imes stencilled on the fin or under the horizontal tail. SYstem •

7: un kn own. eln 04 1660 I:

04 166 oI

batch number: fact ory number (Omsk aircraft fact ory): number o f aircra ft in the batch .

System •

8: 33 Red. cln 56605 70"':

5 66

•

057 02

veal' of manufacture (1 955); = O msk aircraft fact o ry No. 166 (the first digit is omitted fo r security reason s); batch number; number of aircra ft in the batch .

The cln is sometimes stencilled under the horizontal tail.

BR EEDING TIl E B EAGLE '

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T he 11-28 was built by several Soviet aircraft fact ories. These two Beagles. 26 Blue and 27 Blue. we re ma nufactured by the Moscow Machinery Facto ry No. 30; the former aircra ft carries th e c/n 55006424 on th e nose. ( l i:! !1I1Gonlon arrhivv)

znahtnya troodaln a t Kh odynka a irfield right in the centre of Moscow. No. 64 in Voronezh and No. 166 in O msk - sta rte d gea ring up to build the 11-28. A No. 39 in Irkutsk. al so be ga n 11-28 fo urt h fac to ry. product io n sho rtly a fte rwa rds (see next chap te r ). " Each fac to ry had its own construction number systenus), expla ined o n pa ge 20: ~

After the type's fir st public appearance at the 1950 May Day pa rade in Moscow. NATO's A ir

Sta nda rds Co-ordinating Comm ittee (ASCC) in itially a llocated the code name Butcher to the Il-28. H owever. this was prom ptly changed to Beagle to avo id confusio n with the Tupolev Tu-1 6 medium bomber. which was code-named Badger. ~

I I Some so urces state the 11-28 was al so built by plant s No. l. No. IS (bo th in Kuibvshev, now Samara) and No. 23 in Fili. • th en a suburb of M oscow. bu t thi s appears highly unlikely.

• THE IL-28 FAMILY

11-28 Beagle bomber -

- he ba sic bomber versio n was built in Moscow, Voro nez h and Omsk ; the first production a irc ra ft left the M o scow producti on lin e in M arch 1950. The a ircra ft wa s built in huge numbers (no fewer than 6.3 16 copies o f all versions were built in the U SSR alone in 1950-51), becoming one of the m o st prolific types in service with the VVS. MMZ No. 30 in M o scow, which wa s the main manufacturer o f the type, turned o u t m ore than 100 aircra ft per m onth at peak periods. Vario us improvements were introduced in the course o f p rod uction. Among o ther things, the Il-2 8 received more effecti ve formation lights for stationkeeping during !lights o f bomber formations at night. The cockpit wind sh ield received an electric and hot air de-icing de-icing system, . - wa s introduced on the engine air intake leading edges. Optically flat winds h ield sideligh ts were tested (probably on an uncoded exa mple with the c/n 52005714) in an elTort to reduce dist ortions a nd improve cockpit visibility, but this feature was ap pa ren tly not fitted to sta ndard producti on aircraft . ~

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Four shut-off va lves were introduced in the fuel system to sea l o ff a punctured tank in the event o f battle damage, preventing loss o f fuel (eventually the Beagle got self-sea lin g fuel tanks, which theoretically took care of the problem). Fuel cell N o.3 was di vided into cells Nos. 3A and 3B; the capacity o f these cells was carefully calculated in order to preserve the C G position a s the fuel was burned 011 obviating the need for fuel transfer. (Note: Some so urces claimed that the C G sh ift problem associated with fuel burn-olT was still there and was, in fact, the II-28's o n ly major shortcoming which was never eliminated, because o f the lack o f an automatic fuel transfer svstem maintaining C G . position. Since the forward fuel cells accommodated more fuel than the rear fuel cells, the II-28's CG gradually shifted forward. This wa s especially unwelcome during landing; the pilot had to keep an eve on the fuel meters and activate the fuel transfer • pump at the right moment. The pump worked slowly, and as the pilot had to concentrate o n !lying the aircraft during the landing approach he o ft en

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The I1-28 incorporated va rio us changes made in the course of production: among other things, the transparency immediately aft of th e cockpit where the OF aerial was located was replaced by an o paque dielectric fairing. ( Ycfin: Gordon arcliiv« I

THE I L-28 FAMILY' 23

•

•

A tri o o f red-coded Beagles c ruises in V formation . ( Ycfin: Gordon archi vc)

5 1 Blue. a production Il-28. in fli ght. No te that th e tail canno n a re in the fully raised positio n. ( l i:/illl Gordon archivc)

This view ill ustrates th e clea n lines of the Beagle. as well as the la rge diameter of th e engine nacelles. Komissurov arc/lire )

( S er):"." and Dmitr i r

2.t· ILYUSIIIN IL-28 B EAGI. E

01

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This 11-28. 30 Red . is unusual in h avin g three non-standard rod aeria ls under the aft fuse lage. (. Yctin: Gordo" urchivc} .

forgot to turn it ofT in time. As a result . the CG wo uld now be too fa r aft and the aircraft assumed an excessively"' nose-high attitude. with hi gh angl es .... .... ..... of attack which were difficult to co unter by elevato r input. To make up for the missing system. 11-28 pi lots wo uld ask the navigators to remind them to switch off the pump in time.) ew ejection seats we re fi tted. replacing the earlier model: these featured leg restrai nts. a fa ce protecti on visor and a seat belt tightening mechan ism. Finally. a brake parachute was provided to sho rten the landing run: this feature was tested on 11-')8 cln 2007 1 pursuant to a Ministry of Aircra ft Industry (MA P) order of II January 1951 . However. every• • thing comes at a price. and these modi fi cations were expected to increase empty weight by 240 kg (529 lb), Hence Ilyush in engineers took measures to achieve an identical weight reduction. lightening the rear fuse lage structure. tail unit and II-K6 turret. removi ng the anti-n utter weights from the wings. etc. Additionally. air bleed va lves we re incorporated in the engine nacelles to prevent engine surge. and

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I() Red . an other 1\-28 bristling with non-stan d a rd aeria ls. ( S crgt'y and Dmit riy Komissarov anhivc}

the OSP-48 ILS wa s repla ced by a more advanced SP-50 Mat erik (Continent) ILS. Table 4 details the chan ges int roduced at the production lines. For the development of the 11-28 bo mber. Sergey V. Ilyushin . M. F. Astak hov, Valeriy A. Borog, V. N. Boouaiskiv, N. F. Zo tov. A. Ya. Levin. . G. M. Lit vin ovich. M. I. Nikitin, B. V. Pavlovskiv, • K. V. Rozov, Yeo I. Sankov and V. A. Fvodorov were . awa rded the prestigious Sta lin Prize (2nd Class ) on 11 Ma rch 1951 fo r outs ta nding inventi ons and improvements in the field of mac hinery design. The basic bomber soon evolved into a range of specia lized versions which expanded the Beagle's combat potential percept ibly.

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I O nly th e batch number a nd num ber o f a ircraft in the batch were stated in MA P d ocum ent s; however, con siderinu the time when th e o rder was iss ued. the aircraft wa s probably Mo scow- built and the full eli: may be 503U2007.

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Table-t. 1\lanufacturing changes introduced at production lines 1\ loditication

Incorporated (starting with aircraft cln ...) Plant

o. 30

Plant No. 64

Plant N o. 166

Round ventilatio n wind ow m oved from hinged canopy sec tion to port windshield sideligh t to improve visib ility a nd canopy strength; ventilatio n window red uced in d iameter a nd gla zing thickness reduced for better tran spa rency

5030 1408

a ll aircraft (from cln 64 5000 1 o nwa rds )

all aircraft (from cln 00 1660 1 o nwa rds )

A nti-fl utte r weigh ts between win g ribs "'8 and 3") deleted

53005005

3402701

36603509

A n ti-s urge bleed va lves in stalled

5030 180 1

645030 1

04 1660 1

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T HE l L-28 FMlILY •

25

A night-time sho t o f a typical producti on Beagle. ( Yctln ) Cordol/
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"'""' , T he unserialled pro to type of th e 11- ' SU trainer undergoing evaluatio n with th e Soviet A ir Fo rce in ea rly 1950. ( Yclirn Go rdon archivc)

A no the r unserialled exa m ple, thi s tim e a production Mascot , t

Yctin, Gordon archive}

11-28U Mascot trainer Specia lized versions began appearing before long. Predictably. the fir st of these was a convers ion trainer easing the transition from Second World War-vintage piston-engined types to th e jet bomber. T he O K S was im mediately tasked with creating

such an a ircra ft: development work began in September 1949, and on 14 October Sergey Y. Ilyu shin approved the adva nced development proj ect of the Il-28U trainer (oo chebnvv tra ining, used .. attributively) powered by VK- I engi nes.

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26 · ILYUSHIN IL-28 BEAGLE

Soviet Air Force Il-28U 85 Red comes in to land. ( l i:filll Gordo" a rchire)

The Il-28U - erro neo usly ca lled U Il -28 in so me so urces - d iffered from the basic bomber primarily in having a new nose grafted o n in place o f the extensively glazed navigat or's sta tion (up to fuselage frame No.6). It incorporated the instructor's cockpit wit h a stepped windscreen, rather like the flight deck of a n ai rl iner ell miniature: the trainee pilot sat

in the sta nda rd cockpit. According to some Western a utho rs, what Ilyushin did was the best way to ruin the sleek lines o f the 11-28: the result certainly looked bizarre, but both the trainee a nd the instructor enjoyed a n unrestricted field of view. The trainee's cockpit was virt ua lly identical to th at o f the sta nda rd bomber excep t for a cut -out in

T his view of 87 Red shows clearly th at the i\fa.l'cot lacked ar ma me nt and ra da r. ( l i:filll Gordo"

a rchi ve}

THE I L-28 FAMI LY ' 27

the instrument pa nel permitting visual contact with the instructor. which required some of the flight instruments to be relocated. The front cockpit fea tured a complete set of fl ight controls and instruments; the instructor had complete control over the trainee's actions and could take over if necessary by !lipping so me switches. barring the trainee from !lyina the aircraft. All armament and bomb-aiming equipment. including the radar. were deleted. Sti ll. the Il-28 U could be used for training gun ners/rad io operators. for whic h the former gun ner's station was suitablv equipped. T he capacity of th e fue l system was reduced to 6.600 lit. ( 1.452 imp. ga l.) and the fue l load to 5.500 kg (\2 ,125 lb ). To ma int a in CG position the I1- K 6 ta il t urre t was subs ti tuted by 250 kg (55 1 lb) of ba llast o n the p rototype. Acco rd ing to OK B calcu lations. prod uc tio n a irc raft we re to have 200 kg (440 Ib ) of ballast. but it was fo und possible to reduce this to 130 kg (286 Ib). Other changes included removal of the RV- IO radio altimeter and the fuel tank inert ga s pressurization system . The Il-28 U was eq uipped wit h an RS IU -3B radio (instead of the bomber's R SU-5 ). an AP-5 autopilot. a Ba riy-M (Barium-M) IF F transponder. an SPU -5 intercom. an RV-2 radio a ltimeter and a Materik-B ILS with SO- I distance• • mea sunng eq uipment. On 21 February 1950 a standard Beagle was delivered to Ilyushin's experimental sho p at Khodynka (MMZ 0. 240 ). stra ight o lT the MMZ ~

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No. 10 production line. for conversion int o the Il-28 U prototype. Pil oted by Vlad imir K. Kokkinaki. the trainer took to the a ir o n 18 M arch. with B. A . G ol oobev as fliuht en gineer and B. A. Yerofeyev as radio o pera to r; A. P. Vinogradov was the engineer in charge of the fl iaht tests. It wa s soon discovered that performance a nd handling were virt ua llv identical to that o f the sta ndard bomber. except for the marginally better climb rate. The Il-28U was stable throughout its flizht envelope. remaining we ll balanced at Mach 0.78 . It performed all manoeuvres the bomber vers ion was to make: turn s with 70- 80° bank could be made witho ut any tro uble and the aircraft gained 2.000 m (6.560 ft ) during a yo-yo man oeu vre. Flying the aircraft from the instructor's sea t was just as simple a nd enjoyable as from the rear cockpit. Like the ot her vers io ns. the trainer could be fitted with PSR-1 500-1 5 JATO boosters. T he specificatio ns of the Il-2 8 U prototype obtained at the manufacturer's night tests are indio. cated in Table 5. ~

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Notes: * With 250 kg (551 lb) of ballast. ** Ilyushin OKB data . ~

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The manufacturer's !light test programme was completed o n 30 March 1950. By then a bomber regi ment comm anded by Lt -Col A. A . A npilov, Hero of the Soviet U nio n . was taking delivery o f production Il-28 bombers. Therefore it was decided to hand over the 11-28 U prot otype to that unit for eva luatio n in o rde r to speed up conversio n training. This enabled Anpil ov's unit to achieve initial o pe ra tio na l

Ta ble 5. 11-28 U prototype specific atio ns obtained at manufacturer's fli ght tests

Length overall Height on ground Span Wing area Wing loading Power loading at sea level Operating empty weight No rma l a ll-up weight Payload Fuel load Top speed: at 3.000 m (9.8..P ft) at 5.000 m ( 16A04 ft) Rate o f climb at sea level with a 17.020 kg (37.522Ib) TOW Climb time to 5.000 m with a 17.0"0 kg TOW Maximum range with a 17.020 kg TOW Take-off run Lan ding run

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17.65 m (5 7 ft 10.88 in.) 6.0 m (1 9 ft 8. 22 in.) 21 .45 m (70 ft 4.48 in.) 60.8 rn' (653 .76 sq. ft) 288 kg/m: (I AOO Ib/ft' ) 3.25 kg/kgp (lb/lb st ) 11.760 kg (25.925Ib) * 17.560 kg (38.71 " Ib) 5.800 kg (12. 786Ib) 5.500 kg (12.125Ib ) 843 krn/h <455 .67 kn 820 km/h (443."4 kt ) 17.0 m/sec (3.345 It/min ) 5.5 min ., AOO km ( I A 90 miles ) 800 m (2.624 ft )** 1.1 70 m (3 .838 ft )**

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28· ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

An Il-28U makes a fl ypast during a military parade, flanked by two MiG-1 9P Farmer-B all-weather interceptors.

( Boris

1'c!o l'('lIko )

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An Il-28U about to become airborne. The picture does not show how close the bird on the right is to the aircraft. ( Ycfin: Gordon arrhivc)

capabi lity in time to participate in the 1950 May Day parade in Moscow (which o f co urse was largely a matter of prestige); the trainer prot ot ype took part in th is parade, together with producti on Beagles. Then the I1-28U was turned over to NIl YYS fo r State accept ance trial s which took place on 13- 27 May; the act of acceptance was signed by Soviet A ir Fo rce C-in-C A ir Marshal P. F. Zhiuarev on 8 June. The type entered large-scale production at MMZ No. 30 pursu an t to an M AP o rder of 21 July 1950 (a ll I1-28U s were bu ilt in M oscow), and remained the principal trainer for Soviet and WarPac tactical bomber pilots well int o the 1970s. Soviet trainers ~

were assigned NATO code names in the miscellaneous aircraft category at the time - a practice later discontinued: accordingly the 11-28U was codenamed Mascot. On production 11-28U s the empty operating weight rose to 11,900 kg (26,234 lb) and the all-up weight to 17,700 kg (3 9,021 lb), reducti on in ballast notwithstanding. The transition from the I1-28U to the bomber version did not req uire additional training. The report o f the State commission sa id that a pil ot with from the 350-400 hI'S' total time o n anvthinz . Polikarpov Po- ') ab initio trainer to the Tu-2 bomber could fly . the I1-2 8 sol o after onlv two to four flizht s on the trainer version . The Naval Air A rm (AYMF ~

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TH E IL-28 FAMI LY · 29

Stills from a motion picture showing an Il-2SU in action , t Scrgcyund Dmitri v Komissurov archive]

- A viahtsiya voyenno-morskovo flotai al so operated the Mascot; the first naval aviation unit to receive the 11-28U in Octo ber 1951 was the 943rd MTAP tminno-torpedny ') ' aviapolk - minelaying and torpedo-bom ber regiment) .

The IIvushin O K B delivered a set of manufact ur• ing d ocuments for the ejection trainer to M MZ No. 30 on 5 March 1954. Unfo rt unately it is not kn own h ow many Mascots, if a ny" were built in this confi gurauon.

I1-28U ejection trainer version

I1-28R tactical reconnaissance aircraft

O n 10 D ecember 1953 the Minister o f Aircraft Indu stry issued an o rder concerning the development o f a version of the 11-28U specially modifi ed fo r training Beagle crews in ejection techniques. This aircraft 's raison d'et re was that th e crews were ap p rehensive about the bomber's fir st -generation ejection sea t, fearin g serious injuries in the event of a n ejectio n at low a ltitude o r on landing, when mo st accide nts happen . It was necessary to overco me this psychol ogi cal o bs tacle a nd build up the pilots' confide nce in the aircra ft.

O n 5 March 1950 a not he r Moscow-built 11-28 powered by VK-I engines wa s delivered to MMZ No. 240 for conversion int o the prot otype o f the II-28R ([salllo(rot-] razvedchik s reconnaissance aircraft. The un serialled ai rcraft entered fligh t test on 19 April 1950, o ne m onth and one day after the fir st flight o f th e 11-280. fl own by pilot Vladim ir K . Kokkina ki, fl ight engi neer I. B. Ki.iss and radi o operato r B. A. Yerofeyev. Once aga in A. P. Vinozradov was in cha rge of the flight tests. The 11-28R was intended for tactical photo

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T he prototype o f the Il-2SR photo reco nna issance aircraft . ( Ycf nn Gordon arrhivc)

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30· ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

Anothe r view of the I1-28R prototype. Note the twin rod ae rials o n the upper fuselage. ( Ji:/ im

reconnaissance (PHOTINT) to meet the objectives of fronts (in a war scena rio), fleets and air armies. Fo r day reconnaissance the aircraft could carry a PH OTINT suite comprising two AFA-33/l00 or AFA-3 3/75 ca me ras o n A KAFU mounts in the fo rward and centre parts of the (fo rme r) bomb bay fo r high/medium-altitude phot ography, one AFA-33/20 or AFA-42/20 (A FA-R B/20) d ownward-looking came ra in the rear part of the bomb bav, and one AFA-33/50 o r A FA-3 3/75 camera mounted obliquely on the po rt side in a special camera bay in the a ft fuselage. Alternatively, some aircraft were fi tted with two AFA-42/l00 o r A FA-42/75 cameras o n the forward mount. For night reconnai ssance the Il-28R carried either two NAFA-3S/50 cameras or one NAFA-M K-75 (o r NAFA-M K-50) camera in the fo rwa rd part of the bomb bay. The rest of the bay was occu pied by twelve 50 kg (11 0 lb ) FotAB-50-35 fl are bombs:' thi s number was reduced to six if a long-range fuel tank was fi tt ed. The bombs were dropped using an N K PB-7 bomb sigh t which could be used at up to I L500 m (37,729 ft). (It should be noted th at one Russian so urce gives rather different dat a: three AFA-33 cameras with varying focal lengths ( 100, 75 and 20 em .) and one AFA-RB camera for day so rties and two NAFA-3S cameras fo r night so rties, assisted by FotAB-100-60, FotAB-50-35, SA B- IOO-55 or SAB-100-35 flare bo mbs.) The came ras were installed in special containers heat ed by air fro m the cockpit heating and pressurizati on system to prevent the lubricant from ~

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Gordon arr 'liivc)

cameras. howfreezing....... at high altitude: the night .... ever, did not have such containers. To extend range the capacit y of the fuel system was increased to 9,550 lit./8.000 kg (2 ,1 0 1 imp. gal./1 7,636Ib). This was done by instal1ing a 750 lit. (1 65 imp. gal.) long-range tank in the aft portion o f the bomb bay, which required the sta nda rd fuel cell No.3 to be removed , and two 950 lit. (209 imp. gal. ) drop tanks at the wingtips. As compared to the sta ndard bomber, this amounted to 1,650 lit. (3 63 imp. zal.) o f additional fuel. ' The increased mission time -(up to five hours) necessitated the provision of additional oxygen for the crew. Depending on the equipment lit the reconnaissance versi on's MTOW was 22,685-22, 720 kg (50,01 1-50.088 lb), Therefore the main landing gear unit s were reinforced and fitted with bigger wheels mea suring 1,260 x 390 mm (49 .6 x 15.35 in.) instead of the usual l,I50 x 355 mm (45 .27 x 13. 97 in .): besides, the landing gear was actuated hydraulically, not pneumatically. and retracted in just eight .

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2 NA FA = 1I0c!1I/0.l' aerofotoappuraht - aircra ft camera for night operatio ns; A KA FU = avtoniatichesku va ka chayuschchayasvu 1l
T HE

IL-28 FAM ILY ' 31

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A production I1-28R operated by th e Polish Air Force. No te the black anti-glare pan els on the wingtip tanks.

( JJ i lj sk Ol ra

A gcnc]« Fotograficzna )

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Close-up of th e wingtip drop tan ks o n the same ai rcraft. 03 Red; the d rop tan ks were the chief recognition feature of the reconnaissa nce version. ( JJ i i jskOl ra A •~"!lci(/ J • FOlo~rafiC=!I(/ •• •

32 • I LYUSHIN I L- 28 BE.IGI.E

seconds - much faste r than on the sta nda rd bomber. T he higher gross weight of the Il-28R a lso led the designers to introduce a unique feature minimizing wear and tear on the tyres: the mainwheels were spun up a utomat ically by hyd raulic mot ors when the gear was extended . Acco rdi ng to the crews. this resu lted in a n exceptio na lly smooth touchdown. Owing to the inst allation of ca mera controls the starboard fixed R-23 ca nnon had to be deleted as a weight-savin g measure. The PSB N-M rad ar was some times removed as well: in that case 11 0 kg ('42 .5 lb ) of ball ast was ca rried in th e navigat or's co mpa rt ment for C G reason s. Some changes were made to th e avionics fit: th e reconnaissance versio n featured a Magniy-M (Magnesium-M) IFF interrogator. an RSB-5 communications radio with a US-P receiver. an RSI U-3 command radio. an SP U-5 intercom. RV-2 and RV-IO radi o altimeters. an SP-50 Mat erik ILS. etc. For overwater Iliahts the Il-28R co uld carry an LAS-3 inllatable rescue dinghy ilodka avareeyno-spasahtel'ua va i in the bom b bay: thi s could be d ropped by either the pilot or the gunner a nd inflat ed a uto ma tically by a rip cord . The perfo rma nce of the Il-28R was broadly ~

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sim ila r to that of the basic bomber. except that range in hiuh-altit ude cruise increased to 3. 150 km ( \. 702 nrn): the combat radius 740 km (400 nrn ) at 5.000 m (1 6.404 ft) and 1.140 km (6 16 nm ) a t 10.000 m (32.808 tt). Indicated airspeed was limited to 750 km/h (41 6 kt ) at up to 4.000 m ( 13. 123 ft), a nd M ach 0. 78 above that a lt itude. Kokkinaki reported th at handling a nd cock pit visibility remained unch anged . High-speed aeria l phot ography at va rio us a lt itudes did not affect piloting techniques. The a uto pilo t. as well as the heated a nd pressurized cockpits. reduced crew fatigu e. wh ich is especially important for a reconnaissance aircraft. Initial flight testing was completed o n 29 June 1950. After pa ssing the State acceptance trial s o n 23 N ovember. the 11-28R wa s ordered int o production on 8 December 1951 and joined the VVS invent ory. Initially the reconnaissance versio n wa s built in M oscow. but from 1953 onward s 11-28R production wa s passed on to aircraft fact ory N o. 39 in Irkutsk. which had previ ously built the Tu-14T. The performance o f the production 11-28 a nd 11-28R is compared in Table 6. ~

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The field performance of the bomber and reconnai ssance versions is compared in Tabl e 7.

Table 6. Performance comparison: production 11-28 and I1-28R 11-28

I1-28R

Empty weight. kg (lb)

12.720 (' 8.0·P)

13.250 (29.21 0)

All-up weight. kg (lb): normal in overload co nfigura tio n

18.-100 (40.564) ,),,'.000 (48.500)

20.020 (44.135) 22.-190 (49.58 I)

Fuel capacity. lit. (imp. gal .)

8.00D( 1.760)

9.550 (' .101)

Top speed. km/h (kt) at altitude. m ( ft)

902 (487) 4.500 ( 14.763)

876 (473) 5.000 ( 16.404)*

Service ceiling. m (ft)

12.-100 (40.682)

12.300 (40.354)

Time to service ceiling. min

37

42

Range. krn (miles): at 5.000 m ( 16.404 ft) cruising at. km/h (kt) at 10.000 m (32.808 ft) crui sing at. krn/h (kt) at 10.000 m (3"' .808 ft) cruising at. krn/h (kt)

1.790 (1.1 II ) 556 (300 ) 2.450 ( 1.52 1) 698(377) 2.580 ( 1.6(2 ) 690 (373)

' .0'0 ( 1.242) 547 (295) 2.780 ( 1.726) 670 (362) 3.040 ( 1.888 ) 670 (362)

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TH E

IL-28 FA ~II LY • 33

Table 7. Comparison of field performance: bomber and reconnaissance versions TOW. kg .n»

Unstick speed. krn/h (kt)

Take-otT run. 111 (ft)

Landing speed, krn/h (kt )

Landing run. m (ft)

240 (129)

IAOO(4.593)

1.500 (4.921 )

19.800/22.200

259/"174

1.61 012.1 50

(43.650/48.94 1)

( 1401148)

(5.282/7.053)

200- 205 (108- 110 ) 220-225 ( I 19-1 21 )

240 ( I"19)

1.700 (5.577)

l.200 (3.93 7)

19.800/22. "100

2591274

1.72012.300

(43.650/48.941 )

(14011 48 )

(5.643/7 .546)

200-205 (1 08-11 0) 220-225 (119-1 "II )

a) paved ru nway 20.1 00 (44.3 P) 11-28 11-28R

b) unpaved run way (dirt strip) 20. 100 (44.312 ) 11-28 11-"I 8R

1.620 (5.315)

1.300 (4.265)

I1-28RTR ELINT aircraft

I1-28REB (?) EClVl aircraft

Apart fro m the IJ-28R PH OTI NT aircra ft. the Beagle a lso had an electronic intelligence (E LINT) versio n designated IJ -28RTR ( [salllo~ro t] rahdiotek hnicheskoy raz vedki i reconnaissance aircra ft powered by VK- I engines. Outwardly it co uld be identified by a second tea rdrop-shaped dielectric fairing ins talled in lieu of the faired -over bomb bay doors, T he IJ-28RTR was supplied to both the VVS and the a ir fo rces of some of the Soviet Union's allies. including Czechoslovak ia and Hunga ry.

Another specialized version was intended for electronic co untermeasures (ECM) . Some sources claim the aircraft was designated I1-28REB (rahdioelek tronnava bor 'bah - ECM). The main identification feature of thi s version was the cylind rica l wingtip pods reminiscent of the I1-28R 's d rop tanks, but feat uri ng dielectric front and rear po rtions co ncealing emitter antenna s, The ECM versio n was also supplied to Czechoslovakia .

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A Hu ngarian Air Force 11-28RTR ELINT aircraft . showing clearly the dielectric teardrop fairing over ELI NT equipment aft of the sta nda rd rad ome. ( }<:tilll Gordon urchivc)

30t • I LYUSHI N I L- 2 8 B EAGLE

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-A Czech Air Force example o f the ECM versio n sometimes referred to as Il-28R EB. ( Ycf i n: Gordo l/ archive}

11-28 radiation reconnaissance aircraft The Soviet Air Force's 647 th Special Composite Support Air Regiment operating in support of the 71st uclea r Weapons Proving Ground in Totskoye, Orenburg Region. ope rated two 11-28s fitt ed with air sampli ng pods fo r rad iation reconnaissance. Compressed-a ir bottles were installed in the bomb bays to pressurize the cockpits. ensuring that radi oactive product s wo uld not enter. As an addi tional pro tective measure the cockpit wa lls were lined with lead . and rad iometers were provided for the crew. Toget her with simila rly modified a ircra ft and helicopters of various types. these Beagles flew through radi oactive clouds in the wa ke of nuclear tests. measuring radiation levels. ~

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11-28 torpedo-bomber conversion The AVM F also operated the Beagle afte r Augus t 1951: this ai rcraft sui ted the Soviet avy better than the Tu-14. bein g lighter and more agile. Initially the naval 11-28s were operated in standa rd bomber confi gurati on; however. as early as I June 1950 the C'Ouncil of Ministers o rde red the development of a to rpedo-bom ber version. The bomb bay was modified to carry one RAT-52 rocket-propelled torpedo internally. Developed by N II-2: this weapon was conceived as a homing torpedo. but the guidance system was conside red too complicated a nd was deleted in the production version. The torped o

weighed 627 kg (I ,382Ib) and had a 243 kg (535 lb) warhead . Before dropping the torpedo the navigat or set it.s travel depth (2- 8 m/6.5-26 ft) , charged the torped o s condensers and began the run-in to the target as usual. A t the appropriate moment the bomb sight automatically triggered the drop mechanism. One second lat er the small propeller-shaped drag pa ra chute deployed and the torpedo descended verticallv, dropping quickly like a bomb. The main parachute depl oyed at 500 m (1 ,640 ft ), reducing descent speed . It sepa rated after the torped o entered the wate r. then the foreplanes were brought int o play to turn the torpedo horizontally a nd wer.e jettisoned immediately afterwards. Then the so lid-fuel rocket mo tor fired and the torpedo accelerated to 58-68 kt (107-130 km/h): by comparison. conventional torped oes with steam turbines could not travel faster than 40-45 kt. Time from d ro p to impact was o nly about 35 seco nds. which left the target no time for evasive action. The chief shortcoming of the RAT-52 was the rocket motor's sho rt burn time. resulting in a range of o nly 550-600 m (1,804-1,968 ft), which took the bomber uncomfortably close to the target (within range of the ship's air defences). On the other hand. ~

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ot Later became the Sta te Research Institute of Aircraft Systems (Gos N II AS - Gosooduhrst \'0111.\ '.\' naoochno-issledova tel'sk i.1' institoot aviutseeonnykh sistcm s.

T HE IL-28 FAMILY ' 35

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A n 11-28 converted into a torpedo-bomber is abo ut to be loaded with a R AT-5 1 torpedo. No te the foreplanes o n th e weapon's nose bringing the torpedo into level att itude after splashdown . ( Yefin: Gordon archive}

IO Red. a no the r Beagle converted for to rpedo-bo m be r duti es. is prepa red for a mission (no te fue l hoses ). (l'1im arc/lire )

Gordon

36' ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

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T he second protot ype of the purpose-built I1-28T torpedo-bom ber. The non-standard nose glazing is clearly visible. as are the ang ular cockpit windshie ld and undernose blister for the PT N-5' optical sight. ( )<:/1111 Gordon archive )

the torped o could be dropped at any altitude between 1.500 m (4.920 ft) and the aircraft's service ceiling at a speed of up to 800 km/h (444 kt). which was of particula r importance for jet torped obombers. Live d rops at the Soviet N avy's test range showed a kill probabilit y of 17-38 per cent in a single-to rpedo attack. During tri als held o n the Black Sea in September-Novembe r 1952. Tu-14T and modified 11-28 torpedo-bombers successfully dropped 54 RAT-52 torpedoes, both inert and live; targeting was done using an OPB-6SR sight on bo th aircraft. The RAT-52 was officially included in the AVMF invent ory on 4 February 1953. It could be carried by Tu-14T torpedo-bombers a nd converted 11-28s (deliveries of the latter began the sa me .yea r.). With one torpedo the modified 11-28T had an 18.400 kg (40.564 lb ) TOW a nd a top speed of 906 km/h (503 kt): service ceiling a nd range were 12.500 m (4 1.0 10 ft) and 2,400 km ( 1.490 miles) respectively. However. the convert ed 11-28 had some serio us deficiencies. It carried only about one third of its design payload and could not carry ot her models of torped oes int ernally. as they were too lo ng to fit into the sta nda rd bomb bay. Also. the Soviet Naval Air Arm had large stocks of pre-war 45-36M A N torpe~

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does (i.e, 450 mm/l7. 7 in. ca libre. 1954 model; MAN = [t orped(f ] m oderuizeerovannaya, aviatsionnaya. nizkovvsotnuya - updated aircraft torped o for low-altitude attacks) which it wished to use o n the 11-28. However. it turned o ut that the bomber's high speed rendered these torped oes unsuitable. The weapon had to undergo a lengthy upgrade programme. emerging in 1956 as the 45-56 NT torpedo (NT = nizkoye torpedontetahniye - low-a ltitude torped o attack) which could be dropped at 120-230 m (393-754 ft) and 550-600 km/h (297-324 kt).

I1-28T torpedo-bomber (first use of designation) Appa rently the engineers we re awa re of the shortcomings of the quick-fix torpedo-bomber conversion all alo ng. because development of a dedicated torpedo-bomber. designated 11-28T ttorpedonosetsi. also began in 1950 . The mock-up review commissio n signed the act of acceptance o n 7 July that yea r. The a ircraft was intended for high- and low-altitude to rpedo attacks and mi nelaying. It differed from standa rd 11-28s and those converted int o torped o-bombers primarily in having a weapons bay lengthened from 4.1 8 m (13 ft 8.56 in. ) to 6.66 m ~

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THE IL-28 FAMILY · 37

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I

The sa me aircra ft. pictured most probably at Moscow-Kh odynka. with an 11-12 a irl iner in the background . The c/n 5030 II 0-1 is visible o n the nose. ( 1<:/1111 Gordo" archivc)

(21 ft 10.2 in.) and having the wings moved back 100 mm (3.93 in.), with appropriate changes to the fuselage struct ure. The modification o f the weapons bay and the provisi on of an LAS-3 rescue d inghy required changes to fuel cells Nos. 2. 3 4 and 5. T his reduced interna l fue l capacity from S.OOO lit. (1.760 imp. ga l.) to 4.770 lit. (1.269.4 imp. ga l.) and the fuel load fro m 6.600 kg (1 4.550 lb ) to 5.0S0 kg ( 11.1 99 lb ). To compensate for this the 11-2ST had provisio ns for 950 li t. (209 im p. ga l.) tip tan ks. each hold ing 750 kg ( 1.653 Ib) of fue l. as on the I1-2SR . The starboa rd fixed N R-23 ca nno n a nd its ro und counter were deleted. as was the AFA-33/75 (or NAFA -MK) camera. Instead. two AFA- BA/400 vertica l cameras and an AKS- I hand-driven cinecamera were insta lled to record the strike resu lts. Other new equipment items included a Magniy IF F interrogator. a PTN-45 low-altitude sight (pritsel torpednyv nizko \'.1 'sotnyy - sight o ptimized for lowlevel torpedo drops) and a sepa rate PP-I high-altitude sight a lso used for dropping anti-shipping mines: a M odel 1010 electric heater was provided to defrost the sighting window o f the PT -45. Some of the existing equipment items were rel ocated. and add itiona l armo ur protection was provided for the pilot a nd navigator. ~

~

~

~

The normal o rd na nce load was 1.000 kg (2.204 lb). which permitted carriage of o ne torpedo o f va rio us models (45-3 6AVA. TAS. TAV. RAT-52 o r A-2). o r two AMD-500 anti-shipping mines. or one AMD-IOOO. AMD-M or Type A mine. If necessa ry the II-2ST could carry up to 3.000 kg (6.613 lb) o f weapon s at the expense o f a reduced fuel load and hence sho rter range. In that ca se possible weapons configurations were two 45-46AMV torpedoes tota lling 1.940 kg- (4.276 lb), o r o ne 1.500 kg (3 .306 lb) TOZ torpedo. o r o ne 1.1 00 kg (2.425 lb) AMD-IOOO m ine. or four AMD-500 mines (2.000 kg/4.409 lb ), or two Serpey mines (2.500 kg/5.5 11 lb ), or two Lira (Lyre) mines ( 1.940 kg/4.276 lb ), or two Desna mines ( 1.500 kn). ' Despite the rel ocated wings. the external dimensio ns were identical to those of the 11-2SR. The 11-1ST could be refitted and used as a conventional bomber with a bomb load eq ua l to that of the sta ndard Beagle. Prototype conversio n was completed in 1950. The first p rototype I1-2ST (c/n 503011 06 ) first new on ~

~

~

~

5 The mea n ing o f the name Scrp ".\' is no t kn own bu t it so unds suspicio usly like an a nagra m o f Pcrsey (Perseus).

38 ' ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE Table 8. 11-28T specifications i\ lanufacturer's es tima tes

Man ufacturer's flig ht tests

S ta te acceptance tria ls

308 ( I A 97 ) JA 13.085 (28.847) 18AOO(40.564 ) 21.330 (47.023) 13.840 (30.51 1) 3.600 (7.936) 6.580 ( 14.506) 5.315 (11.717) 8.245 (1 8.176)

308 ( l.497 ) JA8 13 .370 (29 A75 ) 18.760 (4 1.358)* 21.620 (47.663)* n.a . 3.800 (8.377) 6A75 (14.274) 5.390 ( 11.882) 8.') 50 (1 8.1 87)

308 ( I A97) JA8 13.370 (2 9A75 ) 18.763 (41.364 )* 21.630 (47.685)* n.a . 3.800 (8.377) 6A8 5 ( 14.296) 5.390 ( 11.882) 8.')60 ( 18.209)

n.a.

802 (433.5)

at 5.000 m ( 16A04 It)

n.a.

874 (472.4)

at 10.000 m (32 .808 ft)

n.a.

836 (45 1.8)

n.a.

lUI.

785/800** (424.3/432A) 827/877** (447.0/474.0) 802/840** (433.5/454.0) 178 (96.2)

n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. 2.200 (1.366) ***

13A (2.637) 7.8 (1.535) ') 3 ( 1-') )-) 8.0 26A 11.500 (3 7.729) 1.64412.2") I # ( 1.021 I 1.379 ) 3 hr 03 minI 3 hr 33 min # 875/1 A50 t (2.870/4.757) 770 (2.526) ; 1.570/') A 60 t (5.151/8.070) 1.300 (4.265) ; 94013 .084) ; ; n.a .

Wing loadin g. kg/rn (lb/sq. It) Power loading at S/L. kg/kgp tlb/lb st ) Empty weight. kg (lb) No rmal AUW. kg (lb) Maximum AUW. kg (lb) Landing weight. kg (lb) In ternal fuel load. kg (lb) Fuel load wi th tip tanks. kg (Ib ) Pavload , kg (l b ): normal . • maximum Top speed (wit h tip tanks). km /h (kt ): at 1.000 m 13.280 ft)

-

- -

-

-

-

Landing speed. km/h (kt) Rate of climb. m/sec tft/miru: at S/L at 5.000 m at 10.000 m Cli mb time. min : to 5.000 m to 10.000 m Serv ice ceiling. m ( ft) Maximum range with tip tanks and one 45-36Al'vIV torpedo. km (miles) Endurance with tip tanks and o ne 45-36AMV torped o. km (miles) Take-off run. unassi sted . m (It)

-

n.a. n.a.

Ta ke-off run with JATO bottles. m (It) Ta ke-o ff d istance. una ssisted. m ( rt )

lUI.

Take-off d ista nce with JATO bo ttles. m (It) Landing run . m (ftj n.a. Landing dist ance. m (ft)

n.a. n.a. n.a.

-

_. ..

n.a .

14.7 (2.893) 9. 05 (1.7 81) 3.3( 649) 7. I 21.4 11.950 (39.")06) 2. 149 (1.334) ## 3 hr 29 minI ' 1. + .. 3 1 . rr ... ) mill 950/1.395 tt (3. 11614.57 6 ) 1.0")013.346) ; ') .00012.630 tt (6.561/8.628) 2A IO (7.906) ;

+++

2. 125 (6.97 1)

Notes:

* With one 45-36AM V torpedo. ** At N (engine speed ) = 11.200 rpm/ll.560 rpm respec tively. *** With a 1.000 kg(2.204Ib) weapon s load at 10.000- 12.700 m (32. 808-4 1.666 ft) . # At 5.000 m (1 6A04 ft) /543 km/h e93 kt) and 10.000 m (32.808 rt)/645 km/h (348 kt) respectively. ## At 10.000 m (3 2.808 ft) and 652 km/h (352 kt) with a ") 1.632 kg (47.689 lb) AUW. t With an 18.768 kg (4 1.375 lb) normal AUW and a 21. 620 kg (47.663 lb) ma ximum AUW. tt With an 18. 760 kg ( 41.357 lb ) normal AU W and a 21.620 kg (47 .663 lb) maximum AUW. + Wi th a22.I O Okg (48. 72llb )TOW. + ++ With a 15.000 kg~ (33.068 lb ) landing- weight. ++ ; ;; At 10.000 m (32.808 It ) and 65')/569 km/h (3521307 kt) respectively with a 21.632 kg (47.689 Ib) AUW.

-

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-

a

T HE I L-2 8 FAM ILY ·

39

Table 9. Torpedo attack config uration O rd na nce type Q ua n ti ty O rd na nce weigh t. kg (Ib) F uel load . kg (lb) Take-otT weigh t. kg (lb)

45-36AM 1 1.043 (2.299) 6.48 5 ( 14.296) 2 1.600 (4 7.61 9 )

TAS I 1.533 (3,3 79) 6,48 5 ( 14.296 ) 22.090 (48.699 )

A -2 I 6 15(1,355) 6.485 (14. 296 ) 2 1.063 (46.435)

45 -36AMV

,-

2.1 28 (4.69 1) 5.550 (12.235) 21.635 (47.696)

Table 10. Minelaying configuration O rd na nce type Qua nt ity Ord na nce weigh t. kg (lb ) F ue l load. kg T OW. kg (1 b )

.n»

-

A M O -500

AMOLira Serpey Oesna 100M (o n 80-4 rack ) 1000 4 1 1 I 1 I 988 1.268 768 1.01 8 1.01 8 1.958 2.51 8 1.51 8 1.268 '.0 18 (2.244 ) (4,448 ) (2 .244 ) (2.1 78) (4 .31 6) (2.795) (5.55 1) (1.693) (3.346) (2. 794) 6,485 6,48 5 6,48 5 6,48 5 6,485 6,485 5.700 4.800 6. 150 5.550 " 1-:» ( 14.296) (14.296 ) ( 12.566 ) ( 14.296) ( 10. 582 ) (14. ' 96 ) ( 13.558 ) ( 14. 296) ( 14.296 ) ( 1"-.-. "- 1.:> :> 21. 545 21. 61 6 21 .82 5 21. 094 2 1.325 21.626 2 1.57 5 21.640 -"1 .8'- :>(4 7.564 ) (47.707 ) (47.5 64 ) (47.497 ) (47.654 ) (48 . 115) (46.503 ) (47 .0 12) (47 .676 ) (48 .1 15)

,

,

-

,

-r

8 January 1951 with Vladimir K. Kokkinaki at the con trols: N . O. So rokin was the !light engineer and A. P. Vinozra dov was the engineer in cha rge o f the !light tests. The second prototype (c/n 5030 II 04) joined the p rogramme on 12 March 1951, making its m aiden flight from Khodynka - again at the hands of Vlad im ir K . Kokkinaki, O utwa rd ly the I1-2 8T p rototypes ditTered from sta nda rd Beagles in having a small Perspex blister under the nose accom modatin g the lower part o f the PTN -45 sight, a non-st andard navigat or's glazing framework and a non-stand ard angular cockpit windsh ield with a rectangula r windscreen a nd op tically nat sidelights. The m anufa cturer's tests were completed on 17 April 1951 (the test report was endo rsed six days la ter). Then the I1-28T was submitted to the Soviet Navy's Research Institute N o. 15 for State accepta nce trials. which proceeded from 7 June to 25 July 1951 and a lso went successfu lly. In Augus t 1951 the com plete set of m anufacturing d ocuments was tra nsferred to one of the p roduction factories: the type en tered limited production and service wit h th e AVMF." For this achievement a grou p of O K B-240 employees was aga in nominated for the Stalin Prize. The specificatio ns of the I1-28T are given in Table 8. ~

,

~

~

Tables 9 a nd 10 detail the II-1ST's weapo ns op tions.

the AVM F arsenal. fo llowed by the 45-56NT torpedo two yea rs later. Both types were powered by steam engines a nd were ca rried by th e Tu- 14T along with the R AT-52. In orde r to standa rdize the armament carried by Soviet to rpedo-bombers and increase their punch , it was decided to upgrade the 11-28s then in service. To this end a sta nda rd 11-28 torpedo bomber was ret rofitted with two exte rna l BOAT to rpedo racks (bahlochnyy derzhahtel' - bea m-type [weapons] rack ). The increased payload meant that the centre fu selage frames had to be rein forced. The aircraft was also fitted with the new PTN-5 5 low-altitude sight, albeit incomplete. which was concurrent ly being tested o n a mod ifi ed Tu-1 4T T his allowed the navigator to programme the to rped o to move in a zigzag (t his feature was believed to increase kill p robability but demanded a substa ntia l increase in the torpedo 's range) and feed ta rget data into the torped o's con trol m odule up to the m oment of release. The modi fi ed a ircraft - which. ra ther confusingly. was again designated 11-28T - could carry three R AT-52 torpedoes (two externa lly and one internall y) or two 45-54VT or 45-36NT to rpedoes externally: alternatively, two AM O-500 anti -shipping mines co uld be carried externally. The weapon s were dropped at altitudes of 40-400 m ( 13 1-1.3 12 It ) a nd speeds of 360-800 kmlh (200-444 kt). H owever. the Navy was displeased. claiming the ~

I1-28T torpedo-bomber conversion (second use of designation) In 1954 the improved 45- 54VT torpedo (i.e. 450 mrn calibre. 1954 m odel. VT = vysotnove torpedometahniye - high-altitude torpedo attack) was included in

6 So me sources. though. claim th e 11-' ST did not enter production beca use of the protracted de velopment o f th e 45-56NT torpedo and the inability to ca rry two RAT-52 torped oes in ternallv. •

.to . ILYUSHI NIL-2S B EAGLE req uired modificati ons were too extensive. Besides. the high-drag external sto res impaired the aircraft 's performa nce and ca used some restrictions on piloting techni ques. Rotati on at take-off became very diffic ult: the aircraft experienced severe vibration at high speed. almost cert ainly ca used by the turbulence generated by the external torpedo racks. Tailplane buffet was commonly encountered in a sha llow dive when two torpedoes were carried externally: if o ne torpedo was ca rried it generated so much d rag as to render turns in the o pposite direction impossible. The a ircra ft completed its trials programme in 1955 . All its shortcomin -gs notwithstanding. the Navy expected to modify so me o f its 11-28s to this standa rd. However. this conversion programme never materialized because the 11-28 was ge tting long in the tooth and the Soviet bo mbe r and torpedo-bomber force was re-eq uipping wi th the more modern Tu-1 6. Sti ll. the PT N-55 sight did find its way• int o service. ~

~

This Beag/e. with a non-standard deep radorne and d rop tank s. is probably an 11-' SN (1I-2SA) nuclear-capable bomber. ( Ycfin, G"rd"" " rehire!

~

~

Il-28N (1I-28A) nuclear-capable bomber

d ropped , with a day's interval in each case. between 29 Septem ber and 5 Octo ber 1954. A ll in all the test progra m me involved more th an fift y flight s. fifteen of which were weapon drops: the sa fety of landing wit h an unused bomb was checked. among other thi ngs. After the successful completion o f the trials the R O S-4 entered production: so did the nuclear-capable version of the Beagle, which was designated 11-28 tnositel' [spetsboy ep ripallsa] - ca rrier o f special. i.e. nuclear. munitions). A pa rt from the changes to the bomb bav, the aircraft differed from the sta nda rd bomber in having an updated avio nics suite. T he PSB N-M ground -mapping radar was replaced by an R BP-3 unit truhdiolokatseeonnvy bomburdirovochnyv pritsel >- radar bomb sigh t) in a muc h deeper radome.' It indicated headings. di sta nce to gro und waypoin ts, altitude above such waypo ints. gro und speed a nd aircraft po sit ion. The bomb bay was provided with a heating system to keep the nuclear bom b's systems fro m freezing up. a nd the cockpits fea t ured shutters protecting the crew from the fl ash of the nuclear explosion. An R SI U-5V U H F comm unications radi o. a US-8 receiver. a nd RV-1 8 and RV-2 rad io altimeters were fitted . The electrical system was modified to include PO-3000 (ma in) and PO- 3000A (reserve) singlephase AC transformers, The 11-28N 's empty weight was 13.040 kg (28.747 lb). - 150 kg (330 Ib ) more than the sta nd a rd bomber's: TOW was 18.550 kg (40. 895 Ib). The C G had shifted sligh tly aft. but thi s had virt ua lly no effect on the aircraft's hand ling and performance. Fort y-two 11-28N s were briefly deployed to C u ba in 1962 during the Cuban missile crisis, This versio n is sometimes referred to as 11-28A (uhtotnnyv at omic. i.e. nuclear-capable). ~

~

The Soviet military d octrine of the early 1950s • • dema nded that tactical aviation was to possess nuclear ca pability. Several types o f small tactical nuclea r weapons. including the ROSA Tatyana bomb. were under development at the time. and the Soviet govern ment issued a directive demanding the developme nt of new tactical bombers capable of delivering them. H owever. this wo uld clearly . be a time-consuming process. so it was decided to modify existing a ircra ft in service with the VVS. incl uding the 11-28. for the nuclear role. First. two 11-28s were specia lly modified by O K B-30 (the design bureau o f MMZ No. 30). fo r testing the ROS-4 according to the specifications passed by OKB-I I. which had developed the bomb. Among other things. the modification involved heat insulation and heating of the bomb bay. . installation of special equipment to mo nitor the weapon's systems status. as well as test equipment to measure the parameters o f the explosi o n. includ ing cine-ca meras capturing the development of the famo us mush room cloud. The first d rop of an ROSA from the 11-28 took place on 23 Augus t 1953. On that occasion the bo mb was in the so-ca lled check configuration with data link sensors and a conventiona l warhead. T he aircraft was fl own by pilot V. I. Shapovalov, navigator/bom b aimer A. V. Koz'minykh and gunner/rad io operator B. S. Soodakov. The weapon was d ropped at 11 .000 m (36.089 It), det onating successfully at the preset altitude. Four ROS-4 bombs were ~

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TH E IL-28 FAMILY

I1-28S tactical bomber project In 1949-50 OKB-240 so ught ways of further improving the design of the basic 11-2.8. The main objective was to increase the bomber. s speed ~nd ran ge. This was to be achieved by matrng the existing ~fuselage and tail surfaces with all-new wings swept back 35° at quarter-chord and installing m.ore powerful and fuel-efficient Klim ov V~-5 .centrIfugal-flow turbojets. The VK-5 was a derivative of the prod uction VK- IA uprated to 3.\00 kgp (6. 834. Ib st) for ta ke-off and 2.760 kgp (6.084 Ib st ) for cruise. differing mainly in having a more effi cient compressor: the'engine's dry weight and external dimensions rema ined unchanged. This undoubted achievement was made possible by the use of new heat-resistant alloys. a higher turbine temperature ~lI1d .more efficient cooling. Specific fu el consumption (SFC) was 6 per cent lower than that of the production VK- IA. However. preliminary design studies showed that the swept-wing Il-28S tstrelovidnove krvlo - swept wi ngs) o ffe red no significa nt ad vant ages over the prod uction Beagle. Mo reover. the incorp? ration of new wings would incur major technological problems. Hence development of the Il-28S was abando ned - a decision later proved co rrect by the chief co mpetito r's negative experience. The Tupol~v 0 KB had achieved sca nt success with the experimental 7 Some sources cla im the I1 -2SN was o utwa rd ly identi cal to the sta nda rd bomber.

'aircraft 82" (Tu-82) swept-wing tactical bomber (which. incide nta lly. closely resembled the would-be II-28S).

I1-28RlVI experimental tactical reconnaissance aircraft Meanwhile. the Ilyushin OK B attemp ted to introduce the new VK-5 powerp lant on production versions of the straight-wing 11-28. Several government . . directives and MAP orders were issued. envisaging the installation of VK-5s on all three principal versions of the Beagle - conven tiona l bomber. torpedo-bomber and recon na issanc~ airc raft.. . The last version received the highest pnoruy, since the VVS was desperate to extend the reach of its tactical reconnai ssance aircraft. The PH OTI NT aircraft then under development at the Mikoyan (OKB-155) and Ya kovlev (O K B- 115) design bureaux were a priori handicapped by inadequate range. being derived from tactical fighters: conversely, the 11-28R a nd 'aircraft 78' (Tu-78. the PH OTI T version of the Tu-14) were based on bombers desi gned to have much longer range. The 3.000 km ( 1.863 mile) ra nge target was to be met by installing more fuel-efficient engines. On 3 August 1951 the Council of Ministers iss ued directive No. 281 7-1 388ss. ordering the development of the 11-28RM ( [SW IIO ( l'o t - ] raz vedchik. modifitseerovannvv - reconn ai ssance aircraft. modified) powered by VK-5 engines. The dead line for submission for State acceptance trials was set at ~

~

f

The 11- "'l8 RM proto type: no te the a ngula r cock pit winds hield.

· .. 1

( },:f im Gordon archive}

42 • ILYUSHI N IL-28 B EAGLE

•

•

•

2

..

•

•

•

••

T he same ai rcra ft with th e drop tanks rem oved, revea ling the vertica lly cut-otT wingtips with drop tank fittings instead of the usual wi ng tip fairings. ( Ycf in: Gordon arch i vc)

•

-- - Head-o n view of the Il-28R M. ( l i:/;III Gordon ar..hive}

TH E I L-2 8 FAMILY • ~3

Table I I. 11-28Ri\I specifications Ma nufacturer's fli ght tests

Length overall Heigh t on ground Span Wing area Wing loading. kg/m' (lb/ff ') Power loading at sea level. kglkgp (lbllb st ) Operating empty weight. kg (Ib) No rma l all-up weight. kg (lb) Maximum AUW (with drop tanks). kg (lb ) Fuel load. kg (lb): internal with drop tanks Payload. kg (Ib) : normal in overload co nfiguration (with drop tanks) Top speed. krn/h (kt): at 4.250 m ( 13.943 ft) ~

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-

-

at 5.000 rn ( 16,404 ft) at 6.600 m (2 1.653 ft) at 7.000 m (22.965 ft) at 10.000 m (32.808 It) Rate of cl imb. m/sec (ft/min): at sea level at 5.000 m (16.404 ft) at 10.000 m (32.808 ft) Climb ti me. min : to 5.000 m ( 16,404 ft ) to 10.000 m (32.808 ft ) Service ceiling. m (ft)

-

Range without drop ta nk separatio n. km (miles) Range with drop tank separation. km (m iles) Endurance wi tho ut drop tan k sepa ration End ura nce with drop tank sepa ration Take-o lT run . m (ft) Take-otT distance. m (ft)

State acceptance trials

17.65 m (57 ft 10. 88 in.) 6.0 m ( 19 ft 8.22 in.) 21,45 m (70 ft 4,48 in.) 60.8 nr' (653.76 sq. It) 321 (1.560) n.a. n.a. 3.12 13,485 (29. 728) 13.467 (29.689) ")0.200 (44.532) 19.500 (42.989) 22.950 (50.595) 22.930 (50. 551 ) 5.030 (11.089) 8.250 (18. 187)

5.030 (11.089) 8.")00 (1 8.077)

6.0 15 (13.260) 9.467 (20.870)

6.0 15 (13.260)

926/n.a. (500.54/n.a. )* 877185 1 (474.0/460.0)** n.a .

n.a.

n.a. 862/827 (465.94/447.0)** 24.5/1 7. 0 (4.8") 1/3.345)** 15.4/1 0.3 (3.030/2.027 )** 6.6/3 ,4 (1.299/669)** 4.2/6.15 ** 12,4/9.3** 13.050/1") .1 75 (42.8 14/39.944)** 3.007 (1.867) # 3.042/3.254 ( 1.889/") .0") I ) t 4 hr40 min # 4 hr 39. 5 min/ 4 hr 49.5 min t 963/1.233 (3. 159/4.045) tt 1.807/").477 (5.928/8 .1 26) It

n.a .

n.a . 89 1/863 (481.6")/466,48)** n.a./863 (n. a ./466.48)** n.a./841 (n.a./454.59)** n.a .

n.a. n.a. 6.2/n.a .** I 8.0/n.a.** 12.500/1 1.500 (41.0 I0/3 7.729 )** 2.090 ( 1.298) ## 3.250 (2.01 8) t n.a. n.a.

995/1.295 (3.264/4.248) tt 2.030/2.400 (6.660/7.874) tt

Notes:

At ta ke-off power (N = 11 .560 rpm) : other data fo r N = 11 .200 rpm . With normal/maximum AU W - 19.700/22. 570 kg (43.430/49.75 7Ib ) respectively du ring manufactu rer's fl ight tests and 20.200/22.930 kg (44.532/50.551 lb) respectively during St ate acceptance trials. # TOW 23.000 kg (50.705 Ib ). cruise alt itude 10.000 m (32.808 ft) and cruising speed 670 km/h (362.16 kt). ## TOW 22.930 kg (50.55 1 lb), cruise alt itude 5.000 m (16.404 It) and cruising speed 560 km/h (302.7 kt). TOW 23.000 kg (50.705 Ib ). cruise altit ude 10.000/1 0.500- 12.500 m (32.808/34.448- 41.0 io n: and cruising speed t 68 ")/695 km/h (368 .64/375 .67 kt) respectively. tt With normal/max imum TOW respectively. + At opti mum cruise altitude and cruising speed 665 km/h (359 ,45 kt). + * **

...... ILYUSHI N I L-2 8 S E. IGLE

Ta ble 12. 11-28 " K-5-powered prototype specifications Manufacturer's flight tests c1n 52003701 c/n 52003719

Lenut h overaII Spa n Wine area Winu loudinu. h im' (lb/ft") Power load ing at sea level. kglkgp (lb/lb st ) Operating empty weight. kg tlb) Normal all-up weight. kg (lb) Maximum AUW (with drop tanks). kg (lb) Fuel load. k c (lb): internal with drop tanks Payload. kg (Ib): normal • maXIl11Um Top speed at 19.300 kg (42.5"'8 n» AUW and N = 11.560 rpm. km/h (kt l: at SIL at 2.850 m (11.653 It ) at 3.000 m (22.965 ft) at ·tOOOm (13.943 ft ) at 5.000 m ( 16.404 ft ) at 10.000 m (32.808 ft) Landing speed. kmlh ( k t) Rate of climb at 19.300 kz (41.548 lb) AU W and = 11 .250 rpm. mlsec (ft/rnin j: at sea level at 5.000 m at 10.000 m Climb time at 19.300 kg AU W and = 11. 150 rpm. min : to 5.000 m to 10.000 m Effective range with d rop tanks and 2.000 kg (4.409 Ib ) of bombs. krn (miles) Technical range with drop tanks and 1.000 kg of bombs. km (miles) Technica l range with out drop ta nks and with 1.000 ku (2.204 lbj of bombs. km (miles) Endurance with drop ta nks and 2.000 kg of bombs Endurance witho ut drop tanks and with 1.000 kg of bombs Take-off run. m (ft): with normal TOW with maximum TOW Take-off distance. m (ft ): with norm al TOW with ma ximum TOW Landing run . m (It): no a irbrakes airbrakes deployed Landing di stance. m (ft) : no a irbrakes airbrakes and brake parachute deployed

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- -

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-

S tate acceptance trials c/n 52003701

c/n 520lJ371 9

308 (1 .496) 3.2 13.350 (19.43 1) 18.710 (41.24 7) 24.090 (53. 108)

17.65 m (57 ft 10.88 in.) 21.45 m (70 ft 4.48 in.) 60.8 m' (653.76 sq. ft) 311 (1.5 11) 322 (1.565 ) 3.2 3.1 6 13.560 (19.894) 13,113 (28.908) 18.920 (41.7 10) 19.600 (43 .209) 24,300 (53.571) 24.050 (53.020)

13.365 (29.464) 19.850 (43 .761 ) 11 14 -~~ 9­ - .-- 0 (:>... :»

3.800 (8.377) 8.000 ( 17.636 )

3.800 (8.377) 8.000 ( 17.636)

3.800 (8.3 77) 8. 150 (17 .967)

3.800 (8.377) 8.050 ( 17.746)

5.360 ( 1l.8 16) 10.740 (23.677 )

4.360 (9 .6 12) In.740 (23 .677)

6.487 ( 14.30 I ) 6,485 (14.296) 10.837 (23.89 1) 10.855 (23.930)

800 (432.43)* 9 17 (495.67) n.a. n.a. 900 (486.48) 828 (447.56 ) 189 (102)

800 (432.43 )* 9 18 (496. 21 ) 921 (497. 83) 9 18 (496. 11 ) n.a. 186 (100.5)

800 (432.43)* n.a. 9 11 (492.43) n.a. n.a. 844 (456.2 1) n.a.

800 (432.43) * n.a. 900 (486.48) n.a. n.a. 844 (456.21 ) n.a .

21.5 (4.231) 13.9 (2.735) 6. 5 (1. 1 79)

19.5 (3.837) 13. 1 (2.5 78) 6.75 ( 1.328 )

n.a . n.a. n.a.

n.a. n.a . n.a .

4.85 13.3 3.000 ( 1.863)

- l' :>.-:>

13.8 3.000 ( 1.863)

n.a . 14.0 2.710 (1.683)

n.a . 14.0 2.670 ( 1.658)

3. 100 ( 1.915) *

3.0 11 ( 1.870) **

1.298 (806)***

1.309 ( 1.870)

1.820/3.020 # ( 1.75 1/1.870) n.a.

2.790/2. 980 ## ( 1.7 33/1. 850 ) n.a .

4 hr 33 min **

n. a.

n.a .

t

n.a.

n.a .

r.ooo (3.280)

lUI.

316 ( 1.584) .~ .-1

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4 hr 51 min* 1 hr 07 min ***

2 hI' 02 min

t

920 (3.0 18) 1.41 0 (4.6 16) t

945 (3. 1no) 1.430 (4.69 1) tt

1.370 (4.494)

1.050 (3.444) 1.360 (4,461)

1.875 (6. 15 1) 1-.:>_:> '1- ( 8.-18'.. ) -'I-

1.000 (6.56 1) 1.708 (8.884) tt

1.760 (5 .774) 1.4 15 (7.923)

1.954 (6.41 0) 2.345 (7.693)

9 13 (2.995) 607 (1.991)

n.a. 524(1.71 9)

660 (1.165) 550 ( 1.8(4)

800 (2.624) 660 (2. 165)

1.692 (5 .55 1) 1.255 (4.11 7)

n.a. (3,6 18)

n.a. n.a.

n.a . n.a .

TH E

March 1952 - a tigh t sched u le which p roved impossible to mainta in . The unseriall ed I1-28 R M pro totype (c/n 520037 14) first flew o n 17 February 1952. but the manu fa cturer's flight tests were not com pleted until 12 Ap ril (the test report was signed o n 29 April); thus the State acceptance tria ls did not com mence until 10 July. The tria ls were du ly completed o n 15 January 195 3. The I1-28R M featured the latest version of the intended powerplant - the VK -5E (ekonomichnyy fuel-efficient), incorporating additional measures aimed at reducing the SFC. This engine passed its State acceptance tria ls conc urren tly with the a ircraft itself. T he new engines necessitated a redesign of the engine bearers a nd engine nacelle structure. the engine control system had to be modified and the lower skins of the o ute r wings stiffe ned. N o changes were made to the a rmament a nd eq uipmen t. Nevertheless. the good performance of the aircraft a nd its powerpla nt did not help. Because of the scrapping o f the I1-28S a nd Tu-93 projects for which the new engine was prima r ily intended (the Tu-93 was a V K -5 powered version of the Tu-14 ). the VK -5 did not en ter prod uct io n - a nd hence neither did the I1-28R M. Besides. it was clear by then that axial-flow turbojets we re superio r to cen trifugalflow engines. The specifica tio ns of the Il-28RM are detai led in Table II .

IL-28 FA ~IILY • ~5

11-28 experimental tactical bomber with VK-5 engines

engi ned bomber variant was initiated by Council of M inisters (CofM) directive o. 5329-2088ss of 29 D ecember 1952 and MA P order No.lss of I January 1953. The two prot otypes were converted from standard M oscow-built Il-28s (c/ns 5200370 I a nd 5200371 9) . Pursuant to the above-mentio ned Co lM directive the first p ro to type was to be transfe rred to LI I for testing. while the ot her a ircraft was to be delivered to N Il VVS in Apri l 1953 for State accepta nce trial s. Apart fro m the engines. the bombers had a few o ther changes. Bo th aircraft had wings taken from the Il-28R. with wingtip d ro p tanks to extend their range. The seco nd proto type feat ured enlarged 1,260 x 390 mm (49 .6 x 15.35 in .) mainwheel s borrowed from the Il-28R and a n a uto matic wheelbrake system. while the first pro to type ret a ined sta nda rd 1.150 x 355 mm (45.27 x 13.97 in . ) ma inwheels. The 12-A-30 D C batteries were replaced by new 12SAM-25 bat teries and moved forward to the radar bay to shift the CG forward. The defen sive armament was identical to that of the standard Il-28. comprising two nose-mounted R-23s with 100 rpg and two N R -23s with 225 rpg in the tail turret. The norma l bomb load and the maximum bomb load were 1.000 kg (2. 204 lb) and 2.000 kg (4.409 Ib ) respectively. Both aircraft we re com p leted within a sho rt timescale and dul y tested: the ma nu facturer's flight tests report was endo rsed on 28 Apri l 1953. and the State accep tance trial s report exactly three months later. The specifications of the VK-5-powered bomber prototypes are given in Table 12.

The next version of the Beagle to be powered by VK-5s was the regular bom ber. Logically th is ai rcraft shou ld have been design ated II-28M . but no separate designatio n was a llocated for some reason. and the designati on II-28M was eventua lly used for ano the r vers ion (see below) . D evel opment o f the re-

On 10 Se ptember 1953 II VVS concluded that it wo uld be a dvisable to lau nch series production of the VK -5-powered I1-28. H owever. the upgraded bomber did not ente r production for the reasons sta ted above.

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Notes to Table 12: * TOW , ·t 170 kg (53 .'84 Ib l. cruising speed 650 krn/h (35 1.3 kt) and cruise a ltitude (34,448-43.307 ft l. ** TOW 2·+.330 kg (53.637 lb). cruisi ng speed 680 krn/h (367.5 kt) and cruise altitude (34,448-42.979 ft). *** TOW 18.710 kg (4\.247Ib). cruising speed 650 krn/h (351.3 kt) and cruise a ltitude + TOW 18.920 kg H 1,71 0 lb). cruising speed 700 km/h (378.3 kt) a nd cruise altitude + # TOW ' 4.050 kg (53.020 lb ), cruising speed 668 krn/h (36 1.0 kt) and cruise a ltitude (32.808/32.808-39.370 ft ). ## TOW 24.220 kg (53.395 Ib ). cru ising speed 668 km/h (361 .0 kt jand cruise a ltitude (32.808/32.808-39.3 70 ft ). t TOW '3.800 kg (52,469 Ib). tt TOW 24.000 kg (52.9 10 n».

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10.500-13.200 m 10.500-13.1 00 m 10.000 m (32.808 ft). 10.000 m (32.808 ft). 10.000 m/lO.000- 12.000 m 10.000 m/l O.000-1 2.000 111

46 ' ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

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... Red. the I1-28TM torpedo-bomber prototype. photographed d uri ng trials in 1953. t Ycfitn Gonlon archive )

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Ano ther view of the I1-28TM; the c/n 5030 1106 reveal s the aircra ft was converted fro m the first prototype I1-"' 8T. ( Ycfin: Gordoll archive j

I1-28TM experimental torpedo-bomber The I1-28TM torpedo-bomber (to rpedonosets modifitseerovannyyi was the last of the three Beagle variants modified to take the VK-5 engine. It was developed in accordance with CofM d irective No. 721 8rs of 22 May 1953 and Ministry of Defence Industry (MOP - Ministerstvo OhOl'0I1110y promyshlennostii order No. 295ss of 27 May. The schedule stipulated by the government was extremely tight: the prototype was to be handed over to the Navy's Research Institute No. 15 in just one month . In those days it was customary in the Soviet Union to strictly comply with government orders and directives concerning the defence industry. ~

.

whateve r the cost. O K B-240 man aged to complete the prot otype within the stated timescale by converting one of the I1-28T prototypes (c/n 5030 1106).' The installatio n of VK-5 engines with new extension jetpipes led to several associated changes. The front parts (detachable engine cowl ingsjand rear pa rt s of the nacelles were modified. th~ electric wiri ng inside the nacelles was rerouted a nd the engine coo ling d ucts were modified. Changes were a lso made to the engine controls. a ~

8 The c/n shows that the aircraft was built in 1950. so thi s was probably a development aircraft retained by the Ilyushin OKB.

TH E

IL-2 8 FAMILY• ~ 7

Ta ble l2a. 11-28TM weapon configuration ormal wea pons load

Total weight.

M ax imum weapons load

kg (Ib)

2 x FAB-500M -46 bombs I x 45-36AMV torpedo 1 x 45-36AMN torpedo 1 x RDT torpedo 2 x AMD-500 mines 1 x AMD-IOOO mine 1 x Lira mine I x Desna mine

1.000 (2.204) 1.073 (2.365) 1.030 (2.270) 615 (l.355) 1.0 18 (2.244) 1.01 8 (2.244) 988 (l.l78) 768 (1.693)

Total weight. kg (Ib)

12 x OFA B- IOO bombs 8 x FAB-250M-46 bombs 4 x FA B-500M-46 bo mbs I x FA B-1500M -46 bomb I x FA B-3000M -46 bomb I x TAS torpedo 1 x TAV torpedo 4 x AMD-500 mines 1 x AMD-M mine I x Serpey mine 2 x 45-36AMV torpedoes ') x Lira mines 2 x Serpey mines 2 x Desna mines

new fire-extinguishing system was insta lled and the engines' foreign object damage (FOD) protection screens. made of wire mesh. were provided with a de-icing system . In additi on. a seventh fuel cell (No. 3B) was fit ted. drop tanks were installed at the wingtips and the liquid oxygen bottles were relocated. T he higher gross weight required the standard mai nwheels to be replaced with \.260 x 390 mm (49.6 x 15. 35 in.) mainwheels. as on the I1 -28R. Finally, a second nose cannon with 100 ro unds was installed o n the sta rboard side (as a lready mentioned. the prod uction I1-28T had o nly the portside forward -firing cann on). Table 12a shows the I1-28TM's weapons configurations. Serialled 4 Red. the aircraft completed its manu-

l.200 (2.645) 2.000 (4.409) 2.000 (4.409) 1.5000.306) 3.000 (6. 613) 1.520 (3.350) 1.283 (2. 828) 2.01 8 (4.448) 1.1 88 (2.619) 1.268 (2.795) 2.128 (4.691 ) 1.958 (4.31 6) 2.51 8 (5 .551) 1.51 8 (3.346)

facturers night tests by late June 1953 (the test report was signed o n 30 June) and passed State acceptance trials in July (the Soviet avy's Research Institute N o. 15 issued its act of accepta nce on I August). Still, the I1-28TM fared no better that its comrades-in-engines. i.e. the o the r versions sha ring the VK -5 powerplant. The specifications of the I1-28T M prototype are given in Table 13.

11-28-131 guided bomb carrier Back in the early 1950s the Soviet Union sta rted experimenting with precision guided munitions (PGM s). An experimental bat ch of U B-2000F radio-controlled guided bombs (U B oopra vlyayemaya bomba - guided bomb ) was built ~

An 11-28-131 with a UB-2F Chaika guided bomb suspended under the fu selage. ( I e/1m Gordon archive}

48 • ILYUSHI NIL-28 B EAGl. E Table 13. I1-28TM prototype specifications Manufacturer's fli ght tests

Lenuth overall b Span Wing area Wing loading, kg/nf (Ib/ff') Power loading at sea level. kg/kgp (lb/lb st) Operating empty weight. kg (lb) Norma l all-up weight, kg (lb) Maximum AU W (with drop tanks). kg (Ib) Maximum AUW (with drop tanks and PSR-1500-15 JATO bottles), kg (lb) Fuel load , kg (Ib): internal with d rop tanks

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State acceptance tria ls

17.65m (57ft 10.88 in.) 11A5 m (70 ft 4A8 in.) 60.8 m' (653 .76 sq . ft) 380( 1,846) 366(1, 778) 3.3 3.56 13.395 (29,530) 13,395 (29.530) 18.790 (4 1,424) 18,788 (41,41 9) 22,070 (48,655) 22,068 (48.650) 22,550 (49,7 13)

n.a.

3,800 (8,377) 6.880 (1 5,167)

3,800 (8.377) 6,880 ( 15,167)

5.397 ( I 1,898) 8.675 (19,124)

5,383 ( 11,867) 8,663 (19.098)

800 (432.43)* 90 1 (487.0) 836 (45 1.89) 188.5 ( 10 1.9)

800 (432.43) * 895 (483. 78) 83 7 (452.43) 178 (96.2)**

15.4 (3.030) 11 .22 (2,208) 6.85 (1,348)

16. 3 (3 ,207) 9.3 (1.830) 4.0 (787)

6.36 6.85 2, 172 (1,349)

6.6 19.5 2,166 ( 1,345)

2,326 ( 1,444)

2.3 15 (1,437)

2,499 (1 .552)

n.a .

3 hr 48 min

3 hr 41 min

4 hr 20 min

n .a.

1.090 (3.576) 2,055 (6.742 ) 890 (2,920) 1.5 10 (4,954)

I, 160 (4.1 33)

Pavload, kg . _(Ib .):

normal maximum Top speed at 22.070 kg (48,655 TOW and take-off power rating. krn/h (kt): at sea level at 5,000 m (1 6,404 ft) at 10.000 m (32,808 It) Landing speed. km/h (k t) Rate of climb at 22.070 kg TOW and cruise power rating, m/sec (It/min): at sea level at 5,000 m ( 16,404 ro 10.000 m (32,808 ft ) Climb time at 22.070 kg TOW and cruise power • rannu. nun: to 5,000 m ( 16,404 ft ) to 10.000 m (32,808 ft) Effec tive range at 10,000 m with drop tanks and 45-36AM Y torpedo. krn (m iles) Technical range at 10.000 m/600 km/h (324 kt) with drop tanks and 45-36AMY torpedo, km (miles) Technical range at 10,400-12,550 m (34.120-41,174 ft)/ 585- 900 km/h (316-486 kt) with drop tanks and 45-36AMY torpedo. km (m iles) End urance at 10,000 m with drop tanks and 45-36AMY torpedo Endurance at IOAOO-12,550 m/585- 900 km/h with drop tanks and 45-36AM Y torpedo Take-off run at ma ximum TOW. m (It) Ta ke-off distance at ma ximum TOW. m (1'1) Landing run. m (ft ) Landing distance. m (It) •

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Notes: * Speed limited because of dynamic strengt h limit. ** Data for YK-I-powered I1-28T. *** Data for YK-I -powered I1-28T with a 15.000 kg (33,068 Ib) landi ng weight.

2,025 (6.643) 940 (3,084) *** 2.125 (6,971) ***

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Above: Thi s head -on view of an Il-28U shows how the train er provided both pilot s with an unrestricted forward view. ( RA R T)

Above: Il-28 01 Red (em 36603807) is part of the open-air display at Moscow-Kh odynk a airfield.

( Yefim Gordon )

Above and Below: 11-28 04 Red (em 5300577 1) is on d ispl ay at th e Russian A ir Fo ree Museum in M onino.

( Yet /III Gordon)

Ab ove: 11-28 0 I Red (CAl 36603807) is part of the o pen-air display at Moscow-Khodynk a air field. ( Yefi lll Gordon)

Above: T his Beagle, preserved at th e Civil Aviation Mu seum in Ulyanovs k (cAl 56605702), is supposedly an II-20. with a n appropriate (now faded ) Soviet flag and winged Aerotl ot logo. However, there a re reaso ns to believe that it was painted like th is after co ming to the mu seum and is really Soviet Air Force 38 Red! No te the 11-28 nose titles. ( Yefim Gordon)

Above: T his stripped-out hul k of a Beagle sat for many yea rs on the far side of the airfield at Kubinka AB. ( Yefim Cordon)

Left: The rear fuselage and tail unit of East German AF Il-28 208 Red , showing the tail turret; the cannon have been rem oved, prob ably to be displ ayed sepa rately. ( Yefim Cordon)

Abore and BeIOl I' : Former East Ge rma n A ir Forc e 11-28 208 Red (c/11 55006448) p reserved at Ba utzen Mu seum . This was the o nly EGAF Beagle to wea r a ca mo uflage finish . [ Yef in, Gordon }

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The Muz eum Lotnictwa i Astronautyki boas ts a n Il-28U serialled S3 Red

(CA l

692 16),

( Yefilll Gordon )

Above : Polish Air Fo rce 11-28 65 Red (c/ll 22 12) is preserved on the prem ises of the Officers' Higher F lying Schoo l in Debl in. ( Ye/ illl Gordon )

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Abore: 11-28R 72 Red (c /it 41909) resides at th e Mu zeum Lotnictwa i Astronautyki (Ae rospace M use um) in Krakow. ( Yefim Gordon }

./

Above: Th e forward fuse lage of Il-28U S3 Red in Kra kow.

( Yei /III Gordon )

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Above: Alb an ian Air Forc e H-5 3608 at Rinas A B. T iran a. wit h Avia 14 31-6 1 in the backgrou nd.

( Key Publishing )

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Ab ove: Work underway o n B-5 308 Red, wit h a hardened aircraft she lter (HAS) - not meant for the bomber - behind it. Note the excellen t finish on thi s aircraft. ( RA RT)

f

I

A bove: Romanian Air Force BT-5 407 Red is non-airworthy a nd sto red at Baca u A B.

( RA RT)

Above : Looking somewhat weather-beaten, B-5s 703 Red and 706 Red sit on the gras s at Bacau in non-fl ying co nd ition. ( R AR T)

I

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Ab ove: Romani an Air Force B-5s parked at Borcea- Fete sti AB.

( RA R T)

I

A bove: The Plexiglass of th e ca nopy yellowed by age, Bulga rian 11-2843 Red sits at the Bulga rian Air Force Mu seum in Plovdiv. ( RA RT )

Above: N H-2 in full splendo ur at its home ba se, Utt i.

( RA RT)

Ab ove: Finnish Air Force 11-28 N l-l-l Ol in its origina l gui se with green-pa inted engine cowlings.

( R A R T)

Above: An impressive line-up of H-5s at a PLAA F airbase during a milita ry exercise: bo th flight and ground crews a re gathered ncar each aircraft. ( China 's AviationIndustrv)

Above: Thi s ano nymo us H-S is in the o pen-ai r di sp lay at the PLAAF Museum in Dat an gshan , keeping compa ny with a Na ncha ng CJ-S (licence-built Yak-I S Max) basic train er. ( F C. W Kiismann)

Above: Ha rb in H- S bo mbe rs in th e fina l assem bly shop. ( China' s Aviation Industry )

Above: H-5s cru ising over the Tien-Shan .

( China Aircraft)

Above: Thi s 11-28, which escaped to Taiwan on 11 November 1966, exemplifies the green camouflage worn by some PLA A F Beagles. It is now on display at the ROCAF museum at Taoyuan AB. ( RA R T)

:::-=

Above : PLAAF H-5s droppin g bomb s during an exercise.

( R A R T)

Abore: Thi s H-5 (44690 Red) preserved in the People's Liberation Arm y Air Force Mu seum at Datangshan AS has a non- stand ard nose glazing with a second optically flat pane l in front. ( Helmu t mil/her)

A bove: The FNAF Beagles wore cr ude ly applied green and blac k camoufl age.

( RA R T)

Ab ore: A Nigerian 11-28 sharing the ra mp at Enugu with Mi G -17F NAF-6 IS.

( RA R T)

Tnt IL-28 FAM ILY · 49

as ea rly as 1953 and tested on specially modified 11-28 a nd Tu-4 bombers. Design ed by a team under A. D. Nad iradze. the U B-2000 F bore a certain resemblance to the G erman Frit: X gliding bomb of World War II vintage. with a sq ua shed -X wing a rra ngemen t to provide adequate ground clearance. However. the wings were of delta planform with inset rudders. a nd the ca sing had a con stant diameter (in contra st. the German bomb had trapezoidal wings and a bul ged warhead) . Tests showed that two o r three sma rt bombs were enough to destroy a target measuring 30 x 70 m (98 x 229 ft) which would have required the expend iture of 168 FAB-1500 dumb bombs. Hence in 1955 the U B-2000 ente red production and was included in the VVS inventory as the U B-2F C haika (Seagull) or 4A -22 . A bo ut thirty 11-28s specia lly equipped to ca rry these PG Ms were built in 1956. This weapo n was carried externa lly under the fu selage. Outwa rdly the 11-28-131 could be identified by a sma ll a ngular fairing under the nose. p robably housing the guida nce an tenna for the bomb. The U B-2 F was a lso ca rried by specia lly modified Tu-1 6 Badger-A bombers which ca rried two such bombs on underwing pylons. ~

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I1-28PL anti-submarine warfare aircraft The late 1950s and early 1960s saw ano ther escalation o f the Co ld War which nearlv turned into a full -blown hot wa r during the C uban missile crisis. The deploym ent o f Soviet ballistic missiles to C uba wo rried the USA a nd its NAT O all ies immen sely. ca usi ng them to step up their submarine activities. Th is. in turn. led the Soviet Unio n to bolster its Navy. includ ing the Naval A ir A rm. Not having eno ugh ASW a ircraft to monit or the activities of Western navies a long the Soviet U nio n's marine bo rders and destroy. the AVMF decided to convert so me o f the bombers it had o n its strength. The aircraft converted for the ASW ro le were mostly Tu-1 6 Badgers and 11-28s. For instance. the Baltic Fleet's 759th OMTAP" totdel'nvy minno-torpcdnyy aviapolk - independent minel aying a nd torped o-bomber regimen t) converted ten 11-28 bombers and torpedo-bom bers (11-28T ). which were redesignated 11-28PL (protivolodochnyv - a nti-submarine ). These a irc ra ft were fitt ed with the SPA RU55 so nobuoy receiver (samol yotuoye preeyomnoye avtoniaticheskove rahdioustrovst vo - airborne aut o• matic radio receiver device. 1955 model) con stituting part o f the Baku so nar system recently adopted

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9 Some sources state the unit as the 769 th OMTA P.

by the AVM F (the same system was fitt ed to the Kamov Ka-25PL H orm one- A shipboard ASW helicopter). The bomb bay was big eno ugh to carry RG B-N so no buoys (ralulioghidroakoosticheskiv booyi and depth charges witho ut requiring modifications. The SPARU-55 was a superheterody ne receiver working in the 49.2 to 53.4 MH z waveba nd. This range was split into eigh teen preset frequencies through which the receiver cycled a utomatically. If a signa l from a sono buoy was detected on o ne of the frequencies. the receiver locked o nto it. enabli ng the o pera tor to determine if the sono buoy had rea lly detected a subma rine. If that was the case. he activated the SPARU-55"s direction- finder mode. and the aircraft homed in on the o perating bu oy to attack the su bma rine. A maj or drawback o f the SPARU-55 was its long cycling time (in automatic mode it needed 110 seco nds to switch from one bu oy to the nextl), An o utwa rd identi fication fea ture of the 11-28PL may have been several add itio na l blade aeria ls on the a ft fuselage underside: these were probably associated with the SPA RU-55 receiver. In 1962 the AT- I ASW torpedo was included in the AVM F inventory: it could also be carried internally by the 11-28PL. being 3.9 m (12 ft 9.54 in.) long and weighing 530 kg ( 1.1 68 lb ). Officially the reason for the 11-28PL's existence was the necessity to quickly receive ASW support once it had been requested by whoever spotted the unfriendly subma rine. since the 11-28 was more than twice as fa st as the obsolete piston-engined Beriyev Be-6 Madge fl ying boat o pera ted by the Soviet Navy at the time. Besides. the fl yin g boat s were diffi cult to operate in winter when their bases froze up. But perhaps the real reason was the naval comma nd's wish to sto p the Beagle kennels from being di sbanded. as they inevitably would be. and keep the pilots fl ying. In 1966 the HQ of the Baltic Fleet's air arm approached the Soviet Navy's G HQ. requesting the format ion of two regiments eq uip ped with the 11-28PL. but the request was turned down. ~

I1-28Sh attack aircraft In the late 1950s the Ilyushin O K B considered adap ting the Beagle for the strike role. This involved install ation of a battery o f twenty un guided rockets in the bomb bay. This wo uld give adequate fi repower witho ut spo iling the a ircra ft's aerodynamics with high-drag external stores. The launch tubes were to be mounted almost vertically. firing down a nd aft: a sa lvo o f rockets eq uipped with sha pedcha rge wa rheads was expected to be an effective way o f dest royin g armo ured vehicles. The crew was ~

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50 • ILYUSHIN I L-2 8 BEAGLE

reduced to two, the navigator/bo mb a imer being superfl uo us. But it was quickly established that the efflux of twenty rockets impinging on the a irframe would make the aircraft unco ntrollable a nd the idea was dropped . However, the limited wa rload of the fighterbombers of the period forced the mi litary a nd the engineers to dust off the idea of a n Il-28 attack a ircraft. The specifi cation for such an a ircraft was drawn up in the spring o f 1967 - before the fa mo us Six-Day War, in fact. The aircraft was to have a com bat radius identical to that of the Suk hoi Su-7BM Fitter-A fighter-bomber but an o rd nance load two o r three times greater. The res ult was the Il-28Sh (S!J fOO rJI IOl'i k - attack a ircra ft). It feat ured twel ve underwing pylons for ungu ided rocke ts - fi ve o utboa rd and o ne inboard of each engine. This was considered a more acceptable approach, even at the expense o f the extra drag created by the externa l sto res. Possible weapons configurations included twelve U B- 16-57 rocket pods with sixteen 57 m m (2.24 in .) S-5 folding-fin aircraft rocke ts (FFA Rs) each, I " or six 250 mm (9.84 in.). S-24 rockets, o r va rio us gun pods, subm un itions containers a nd free-fa ll bombs. Depending o n the mission, the pilot cou ld select a salvo launch o r just two pylons, fo ur pylo ns, etc . Flight tests which began in 1967 showed that even when all 192 S-5 rockets o r all six S-24 roc kets were tired at o nce, the engines showed no inclinat ion to surge o r flame o ut. The Il-28Sh commenced State accepta nce trial s in October 1967. The test pil ots repo rted t hat the aircraft was suitable for low-level a nd ultra-low-level strike missions. It was established that fl ying at and delivering accurate rocket/bom b strikes fro m altitudes right down to 60 rn (. 196. ft) could be mastered by service pilot s without any trouble; fl ying still lower, though,. demanded a lot of concentration and extra training . T he aircraft cou ld be prepared for a so rtie within four hours. Below 200 m (656 ft) the Il-28Sh had a speed lim it of 660 km/h (356 kt). Fuel consumption at low altitude increased by 30-50 per cent as compared to the basic bomber because o f the externa l stores a nd the aircraft's combat radius with a fu ll load of FFA R pod s was 295 km (1 83 miles). ~

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T his poor but interesting shot shows th e prototype Il-28Sh attack a ircraft during trials, The many underwing pylons are clea rly visible. ( l ,:lilll Gordon arch ire)

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Yet. despite a ll its merits as a strike aircraft, the Il-28Sh had inadequate a rmour protection and the ejection seats were no t yet of the zero-zero type, which meant the crew had no chances of survival if shot dow n at low a ltitude. Hence the Ilyushin OK B discontinued develo pment of the Il-28Sh , and tho ugh o rizinallv 300 Il-28 bombers were slated for conversion for the gro und-attack role, only a few were eventua lly conve rted at the Soviet Air Force's ai rcra ft overha ul p la nts a nd delivered to fi rst- line umt s. ~

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11-28ZA weather reconnaissance aircraft O n 23 Februa ry 1959 the State Committee on Aircraft (GKAT - Gosoodahrst vennvy kom itet po aviatseeonnoy tekhnikei issued an order concern ing the development of the Il-28ZA tzondirovsclichik atmosfery - lit. atmosphere sam pler ) weather reconnaissance aircraft for civil aviation needs. A few Beagles were converted to this configuration . Unfortunately almost nothing is known abo ut this version.

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Target-towing versions

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a) Soviet versions (Il-28BNI) Two versions (the basic bomber a nd the Il-28 R ) were widely used as target tugs - bo th for testing new AA guns and for training fighte r pilots. The specia l eq uipment fo r thi s missio n included a BLM-I OOO(B LM - IOOOM) o r BLT- 5 winch insta lled in the bomb bay a nd a 17BM-2 (17 BM-2M) or PM3Zh winged target towed o n a cable anywhere 11 ft) 10 n g. For be tween 5 a nd 2,500 m (16-8.202 . take-off a nd landing the ta rget was connected to the aircraft by a rigid link per mi tti ng operation from bo th paved a nd unpaved st rips. The bomber version used sho rt link age rod s, whereas the Il-28R was fitted with long o nes. The installatio n of target-towing equ ipment did not seriously affect t he a ircraft's CG position , which stayed well within the prescribed .

10 U B = oonititsecrovunnvy blok - sta nd a rdized [F FA R] pod: the UV-16-57 designa tion sometimes found in Western litera ture is incorrect. S = snarvad . >- in thi s case. un guided rocket. I I Bl\'1 = booksiroo vemaya mishen' - towed target: PM = plahner-niishen' - gliding target. Some so urces stated a towing cable length o f 20- ~ .5 00 m (65- 8,202 It), ~

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TH E IL-2S FA ~II LY • 51

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A n II-288M target tug based on a standard bomber with a gliding gunnery target in tow. t Ycfim Gordoll arch ire)

42Blue. an I1-2SR converted to II-288M co nfiguration (note tip tanks). takes off with a target connected by a rigid towba r. The aft position o f the tactical code is noteworthy. {Ycfim Gordon archivc)

52 • ILYUSHI N

I L-1 8 B EAGLE

Table 1·1. Comparison of performance cbaracteristics of 11-28 + 77Bl\I-2l\1 combination and 11-28R + Pl\I-3Zh combination

Climb time. min :

to 1.000 m (3.280 ft) to ·-LOOOm (13.1"3 ft) to 8.000 m (26.246 ft) to 10.100 m (33.136 ft) to 10.900 m (35.761 It) Range at 10.000 m (32.808 ft)/620 km/h (335 kt), km (miles) Range at 8.000 m/540 km/h (292 kt), km (miles) Ma ximum range. km (miles) Endurance at 8.000 m/540 km/h Ma ximum endurance Power loading at sea level. kg/kgp (lb/lb st)

limits. The target-towin g versions are sometimes referred to as I1-28BM ibooksirovsch chik misheney >target t ua). T he fie ld pe rfo rma nce of 11-28 bombers with a 20,1 00 kg (44.3 12 lb ) gro ss weight a nd I1-28Rs with a 19.822 kg.... (43.699 Ib) .....gross weight enabled them to .... operate wit h targets fro m conc rete a irstrips at lea st 1.800 m (5.905 ft) long. At a gross weight of 22.207 kg (48.957Ib). the 11-28R cou ld operate with target s from concrete airstrips at least 2.300 m (7.545 ft) long. End ura nce wit h a towed ta rget was 2.5 hours. Table 14 above gives some performance characteristics of an 11-28/7 7BM-2M com bination (TOW 20.050 kg/44.202 lb. fuel capaci ty 7.990 lit.l1.757.8 im p. ga l.) a nd an 11-28R/PM-3Zh combination (TOW 22.207 kg/48.957 lb. fuel capacity 9.550 lit.l2,10 1 im p. ga l.), When towed ta rgets were supplemented by rocketpowered target drones the 11-28 ta rget tugs were converted into co mbined tugs/d rone launchers. The drones were carried on underwing pylons between the nacelles a nd fuselage in much th e sa me way as the upgraded I1-28T ca rried torped oes. They were la unched a nd flew on towards the shootin g range when the ai rcra ft reached a n appropriate altitude. Apa rt from towed targets. the I1-28BM based on the standard bomber version co uld ca rry PM-6R and PM-6G target drones (PM = pikeeruvuschchaya ntishen ' - diving ta rget). These looked rather like bombs with overgrown fins a nd were eq uipped with smoke tracers and recovery parachutes. The 11-28R and I1-28T could not be mod ified to carrv.. these drones because of the reconnaissance and torpedo-bomber versions' increased T OW (which would be excessive if the drones were carried) and some struct ural details which rendered the conversion impossible. The PM-6 drones were carried on special underwing pylons attached on two pairs of swept V-st ru ts. ~

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11-28 + 77Bi\I-2l\1

11-28R + Pl\I-3Zh

3.5-4.0 9.75- 10.25 23.75-24.0 n.a. 57.0 845(524) n.a. 1.475 (9 16) n. a. 2 hr44 min 3.3

4.0 10.75 -"7 . -.,-) 55.0 n.a. n.a. 1.140 (708) 1.555(965) 2h r 07 min 3 hr II min 3.56

The delivery system sp un up the d rones' stabi lizing gy ro s. using power from the ca rrier a ircra ft. a nd dropped th e drones singly or simulta neo us ly a t a preset a ltitude bet ween 2.300 a nd 8.000 m (7. 545- 26.246 It), The d rones were a imed using the optica l sight or radar: in a n emerge ncy they co uld be d ropped by eithe r the pilot or the navigator. With two d rones th e aircra ft's service cei ling was limited to 9.600 m (3 1.496 ft ), a nd the take-off run increa sed by 300 m (984 ft).

b) East German version T he East Germa n 11-28s converted into target tuzs d itTered slightly from their Soviet counterparts. as no rigid target s were used . A drum with a 2.000 m (6.560 ft ) steel cable was ca rried in the bom b bay on the sta nda rd bom b crad les. To t his a fabric 'sock' 8 m (26 fn long a nd I m (3 ft). in dia meter was a ttached: it was neatly rolled up a nd suspended from the bomb crad les before ni ght. A sma ll roller was att ached to the lower fu selage to stop the cable from sc uffi ng the fuselage skin as it paid o ut. Some types o f anti-aircraft guns (i ncl ud ing the S-60) were radar-directed . so aluminium co nes had to be inserted int o the sock to provide a radar signature. Pri or to entering the shoot ing range the p il ot lowered the !laps 20° and slowed the aircraft to 280 km/h (1 55.5 kt) to prevent the target from being ripped a pa rt o r torn off by th e slipstream as it unfolded . The navigat or then dropped the target. which unwound the cable as it deployed: the drum was fitted with a centrifugal brake to make sure the cable un wound smoothly, .. Two or three m inutes later the ta rget was fu lly depl oyed . the observer in the gunner's cabin monitoring it. (A ll armament wa s usually removed.) When the sortie was completed the cable and target were jettisoned . us ua lly by means o f a pneu~

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Til E IL-2 S FA ~ II LY • 53

matic release mechanism. but the cable could also be cut by a pyrotechnical guillotine in case of malfuncti on. After landing the cable was rewound and ready for ano the r mission; the target could also be reused. unless it had been shot to shreds.

c) Romanian version At least one Romanian Air Force Harbin H-5 (Chinese-built I1 -28. see below). serialled 307 Red was converted for target-towing duties. using equ ipment developed by the Air Target Sweden A B company. An MBV7S Mk 3 target-towing winch was installed in the bomb bay. with a faired cable outlet amidships; the cable was 4.500 m (14.765 ft) long. The winch worked with a KR-45-430 sleeve-type target eq uipped with an AS-13 1SC acoustic miss di stance sensor; the target was hooked up under the fuse lage before night.

II-28M target drone

and designed to destroy aircraft with a radar crosssection (RCS) similar to that of the 11-28. The radio control system enabled the II-28M to take off , climb to cruise altitude. make manoeuvres and land if the drone wa s lucky eno ugh to stay in one piece. At first this was oft en the case - the first prototypes of the Model 400 SAM did not score a single hit on the drones! Another anti-aircraft missile developed by the Lavochkin OKB. the 207A. was tested between June 1953 and November 1954; for instance. three test launches against I1-28Ms were made in October 1953 . two of the missiles having shaped-charge warheads and the third a directional fragme ntation warhead. State acceptance tria ls of the 207A began in September 1953. using 11-28Ms and Tu-4s as targe ts. The target drones Ilew at 9.500-20.000 m (31.168-65.6 16 It) and up to 35 km (2 1.7 miles) from the launch site. All the targets were ei ther destroyed or substantially damaged. the missi les' accuracy . being within 7- 58 m (23- 190 ru Not all I1-28Ms were radio-controlled. however. Some Beagles phased out by the VVS were given a brush-up by the manufacturer to make sure mechanical failure wo uld not prevent the aircraft from fulfilling its final mission. Then a pilot would take the doomed bomber into the air. climb to a predetermined altitude. engage the auto pilot and eject when told to do so by ground cont rol. Test pilot Fyodor D. Bogdanov made 31 such Ilights in 1952-7. ejecting at 12.500 m (41.01 0 ft ). ~

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Besides towing ta rgets. ma ny Beagles ended up as targets themselves! In the late 1950s many obsolete I1- 1 8 bombers were converted into remote-controlled high-speed target drones designated II-28M (lor mishen' (taruet l) and used for testing- new antiaircra ft missile systems. To be precise. development of this version was brought about by Semyon A. Lavochkin's OKB-301. which sta rted design work on the Model 400 surface-to-air mi ssile in 1955. This missile was intended for point defence of important targets. such as major industrial cities. ~

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11-"SBM s were a lso supplied to foreign customers: this is Finnish Air Force ( )(:11111 Gordon archive:

H-3. a no the r converted I1-2SR.

Sot • ILYUSHI NIL-28 B EAGLE

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An II-28M target d rone seen thro ugh the gunsight o f an attacking fighter. ( Ycfim

Test and development aircraft I. Avionics testbeds a) 11-28LL radar testbed One 11-28 (identity unknown) was converted in 1952 fo r testing the RP-6 Sokol (Falcon) radar" a nd desII-28LL iletavuschchava laboratoriya - lit. iznated eo flying labo rat ory )." Th is rada r with a 30 km (1 6.2 nm) detection range had been devel oped by O K B-339 under G. M. Koonyavskiy for two interceptors - the Ya kovlev Yak-120, which entered prod uction and service as the Ya k-25 Flashlight- A , and the Lavochkin La-200B. Initial tests were perfo rmed on a converted Boeing B- 17G Flying Fo rtress. (While this type was not o lTicially supplied under ~

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12 RP = ralulioprectsei : radio sight: thi s was the Soviet term IO J[ lire con tro l radars at the tim e. 13 Thi s Russian term is used ind iscri minately a nd ca n denote a ny kind or testbed (avio nics. engine. equipment. wea pons. etc.). a n aerodynamics research aircra ft o r co ntro l co nfigured vehicle ICCV): a weather resea rch aircra ft . a geophysica l survev aircraft . etc. ~

Gordon urchivc)

the Lend-Lea se programme, a number of B-1 7s which had crash-landed o n Soviet-held bases a fte r raid s on G ermany were repaired a nd used by the Soviet A ir Force. ) When it transpired that developme nt o f the Yakovlev fight er was taking longer tha n predicted a nd that the La-200 would be the .first to receive the new radar, Semyon A . Lavochk in suggested that a heavy a ircraft but a faster o ne than the 13-17 be used to bring the radar up to scratch. The 11-28 was the o bvious choice. To accommodate the radar the bomber's no se glazing was cut away at fuselage frame 2 .and replaced by a cylindrical metal structu re (pa rt o t the Ya k- I20's nose incorporating the avionics bay ). The huge di sh o f the RP-6 was enclosed by a la rge glassfib;e radome which had an a lmost hemispherical fro nt end instead of the usu al pointed o r ogiva l shape. The conversion work was d one by Lavoch kin O K B specia lists under the supervisio n o f the Ilyushin OKB (which wa s not directly interested in the project but held responsibility for the 11-28 anyway). The fam ous test pilot M ark L. Gallai flew the 11-28LL. with R. A . Razum ov as test enginee r: the latt er was the wo rse 011 sitt ing in a dark a nd

THE IL-28 FAM ILY ' 55

extreme ly cramped bay aft of the rad ar set - all th at remain ed of th e navigat or 's sta tion. A tot al of 33 !ligh ts was ma de wit ho ut a ny pro blems: th e test program me, whic h ended in Decem ber 1952. includ ed simulated interception of rea l a ircraft. Later, tests of th e Sokol rad ar co ntinued o n the La-200B intercepto r pro to type which, afte r being rejected by the VVS, found use as a testb ed . By th e end of 1953 the rad ar had been perfected and was fitte d to the lateprod uction Yak-25M fro m 1954 onwa rds, repla cing the RP-I D Izum rood (Em erald ) rad ar fitted to early Yak -25s as a sto pga p measure.

h) missile targeting systems research aircraft In 1960 the Ministry of Defence's Centra l Research Institu te No . 30 (TsNII -30 - Tsentrahl 'nyv tiaoochnoissledovatel 'skiy inst itoot i joined forces with N II-2 an d the Research In stitute of the State Co mmittee for Electro nics (N Il G K RE - naoochno-issledovatel'skiy inst itoot Gosoodahrstvennovo koiuit eta po rahdioelek troni ke t to develop active rad ar homin g systems lor an ti-shippi ng missiles. To th is end it was necessary to ana lyse the character istics of the rada r pulse re!lected from surface ships. Thus a n 11-28 and a Lisun ov Li-2 Cab transport (a licence-bu ilt Dou glas DC-3 derivative) were co nverted into avionics testbed s eq uipped with two experimen ta l rad ars and special recording equipment. T he meas uremen t an d recording system (MRS)

develop ed by N II-2 was hou sed in the Beagle's bomb bay. It includ ed a high-speed cine-camera ca ptur ing th e rad ar pulses re!lected from the ship and appearing as lines on the radar display. The two testbeds mad e mo re tha n fifty !lights from Kirovskoye ai rbase on the Cri mea n Peninsula, using Black Sea F leet cr uisers. des tro yers and minesweepers as targets. The ships were either anchored on the roa ds tead at Feodosiya or mo ved on prede termined headings. Measur ement s were mad e in 38 !light s at 2,000- 5,000 m (6.651- 16.404 ft) and 110-1 67 m/sec (360- 547 ft/sec) at 10-50 km (5.4-27 nm) ra nge. Forty-three measuremen ts were ma de with the cruisers, 64 with des troyers and 40 with minesweepers at var io us sighting a ngles in var ious sea sta te co nditions. T he resul ts were analysed by a co mp uter. which ma de it poss ible to develop algorithms lor determining th e class of a ship in a group: thi s helped to develop guidance systems lo r standoff anti-shipping missiles. c)

An 11-28U coded 18 Blue was apparent ly con verted into an avionics test bed of some sort. sporting several non -stan da rd aerials under the forward and rea r fuselage. Unfort unately no de tai ls are know n of thi s ai rcra ft: it may have been a navaids ca libration (!light checker) aircraft.

This Il-28 u' coded 18 Blue. a p pea rs to have been co nverted to a n avio nics testbed o f some kind : not e th e man y non -stan dard ae ria ls un de r the fuse lage. ( Se/"!!' ~I ' and D m i t /"(I ' Ktnn issa ro v archi vc)

56'

I LY USHIN I L-2 8 B E. /CLE

II. I1-28LL ejection seat testbed The 11-28 was extensivelv• used for research and develo pment work. In the early 1960s severa l aircraft were converted into testbeds for va rio us systems of the , ostok (East) manned spacecraft under development by Sergey P. Ko rolyovs team. One of these was 10

Blue (c/n 53005 710), a n ejection seat testbed used to test. among other things, the ejection seat o f the Vostok's re-entry vehicle. Interestingly, thi s aircraft has likewise been referred to as Il-28L L. T he bulky Vost ok ejection sea t wa s installed in

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10 Blue. the I1-28LL ejectio n seat testbed. firing the seat for th e Vosto k spacecra ft 's re-entry vehicle. ote th e photo calibration markings on th e fuselage a nd tail a nd th e dual cine-camera fairin gs on each wingtip. r Ycf im co,.do" archivcl

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Close-up o f the Vostok ejection seat as it clears the superstructure above th e modified bomb bay. ( },:/ im

Gordon archive]

THE IL-28

FAM ILY '

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A no ther view o f the Vosto k ejec tio n sea t as it sepa ra tes fro m the 11-28. spo uting terrific n am es. Note th e SM -50 chase pla ne in th e background . I Sag, -r and Dtnit ri v Komissan»: archivc)

The sa me aircraft as it fires a no the r ejectio n seat from th e heavily m odifi ed gunn er' s sta tio n. ( l i:/illl Gordon archive}

58 ·

I LYUSHI N I L-2 8 B EAGLE

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An ex pe r i me n t,~ 1 sea t is ejected fro m ~h e r~ar s t ,~ t i o n o r 10 Blue. It appears that the seat fires through a simulated cockpit ca no py. shattering the glazing w ~ l c,h IS painted 111 stripes for better vis ua lization. ote the stabilizing booms tipped with drogue pa rachutes extending aft from the headrest: this may be an early version o f the fam ous Z vezda K-36 seat. ( Ycfin: Gore/oil archivv)

the faired-over bomb bay immediately ahead of the wing torsion box and pro truded above the upper fu selage: hence a large tea rdrop fairing wit h Ilattened sides had to be insta lled aft of the pi lot's cockpit to protect the test pi lot sitting in the seat fro m the slipstream. Additiona lly, the tai l gunner's compartment wa s replaced by a large slab-sided fairing extending much further aft, from which another ejection seat could be fired both upward s and downwa rds. Cine-cameras were mounted in teardrop fairil~gs .above and below the wingtips to capture the ejection sequence. The Vostok ejection seat was tested successfu llv by future cosmona ut Gherman Titov, The Mikova~ SM -50 fight er (aka MiG-1 9S U. an experimental version of the MiG-1 9SF Farmer-C with a ventral U-19 liquid-propellant rocket booster) acted as chase plane and camera ship.

III. In-flight refuelling system testbeds a) fighter IFR system integration A Voro nezh-built 11-28 (0 I Red. c/n 2402 10 1) was converted into a makeshift ta nker train er used for testi ng the hose-and-drogue Ilight refuelli ng system developed by O K8 -91 8 led by G uy lIyich Severin. " The aircraft worked wit h the the ten th prod uction G orkiy-built MiG-19 Farmer-A coded 10 Red (c/n 592 10 110). converted at LII in late 1957. This fighter had no fewer than four dummy refuelling probes (one ahead of the winds hield and three on 14 Now th e Z vezd a (Star) Joint-St ock Co m pa ny. T he com pa ny lat e r d evelo ped the U PA Z - t A Sak ha lin podded HD U (U PAZ = oonifitsc..ro l't Il/IIYY podvcsnoy ogreg ,," r zuprahvki -: sta nda rd ized sus pend ed. i.e. externa l refuellinu unit) used o n the I1 -781I1-78M ;\/idos tanker. bu t is best known for its 1'.-36 ejec tion scat.

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T HE I L-2 8 FAMI LY ·

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T ho ug h of poor qual ity. these shots are extre me ly interes ting. showing an 11-28 refuelling tanker trailin g a hose from the bomb ba y. a nd a not he r Beagle eq uipped with a nose-moun ted refuelling probe taking o n fuel from thi s air craft. ( ! ,:/illl Gordon urchivc)

the po rt wing) becau se the best locatio n had to be determ ined experime nta lly. An experimenta l winch em ulating a hose d rum unit (H OU) was insta lled in the I1-28's bo mb bay. paying o ut a 5 m m (0.19 in.) steel cab le with a drogue of 640 mm (2 ft 1.19 in.) dia meter to a point 42 m (137 ft) beyond the bomber's tail. Initia lly a 36 kg (79 Ib) unstabi lized drogue was used . After the first four nights. howe ver. it was rep laced with a drogue incorporating a stabi lizing device 100 mm (3.93 in .) wide mounted 60 mm (2.36 in.) from the ba se. Both models had a lock for engaging the probe. The MiG-19 would make contact with the tanker at 7.000 m (22.965 It) and 450-470 km/h (250-261 kt) lAS. approaching from a sta nd-by position 10- 20 m (32-65 It) behind the d rogue. Contact was usua lly mad e in a climb. with or wit hout side slip. Ap proach speed varied fro m 0.3 to 12 m/sec (1-39 ft/sec) or 1- 30 km /h (0.54- 16.2 kt) lAS. After making co n tact the M iG -19 stayed locked into th e d rogu e for 3-5 seco nds. then slowed down and broke away. For safety's sake the d rogu e

lock was set at an unlocking force of 60-80 kg ( 132- 176 lb ). Us ua lly the lighter carried drop tanks to incr ea se mission time. Test pilot Nikolai O. Goryayn ov (who has the distinction of being the first Soviet pilot to successfully ref uel a heavy bomber in night) was ass igned proje ct test pilot for the tanker tr ain er. On 28 August 1957 he made a night to check the opera tion of the winch . Th e drogue was depl oyed at 7.000 m (22.965 ft) and 400. 450. 500 and 550 km/h (2 16. 243. 270 a nd 297 kt) lAS. After that. test pilots S. F. M ashk ovski y, Pyotr I. Kazmin a nd Sergey N. Anokhin mad e ten refu elling !lights. as det ailed in the table below. T he ten th !light had to be cut sho rt when the d rogue entered the fighter 's air int ake and collap sed . the debris damaging on e o f the eng ines. Th e trials showed that the chances of making contact with the ta nker depended mainly on the d rogue 's stability. which left m uch to be desired. as the drog ue twisted vio lently in the slipst rea m.

Tabl e 15. In-fli ght refuelling test result s Flight

Date

M iG- 19 pilot

S uccess ful a tte mpts

o. I 0. 2 No.3 No. 4 No.5 No.6 No.7 No. 8 No.9 No . 10

18 September 20 September 24 September 27 September 3 Oct ober 16 October 30 O ctober I Novem ber 7 December 27 D ecember

Ma shkovskiy Mashk ovskiy Mashkovskiy Mashkovskiy

2 of 4 (n ose pr ob e ) 2 of 7 (n ose probe ) 2 of 5 (n ose probe ) No co ntac t 1 0 1'33 2 o f 41 1 01' 12 2 of 34 9 of 30 o cont act

Ma shkovski y An okhin Ma shkovski y Ma shkovski y Ka zmin K azmin

60 • I LY USHI N

I L-~ 8 B EAGLE

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The II-'S LS h testbed was d eveloped to investigate th e po ssibilit y o f using skis o n tactical aircraft. This view shows the ex perimen ta l skid . a nd th e ball a st con ta ine r to which it is attached, in the full y rai sed positi on. ( J,:/illl G",..!"" archive]

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The 11-' SLS h ( I' Red. c/n 53005 1 1 ~ ) with the skid fully lowered. No te the non-retractable tWlI1 mainwheel s, ( ),:/im Gordon archive )

T il E IL-2 8 FAMILY ' 61

b ) bomber IFR system tests •

In due course the Soviet military put forward more stringen t requirements, which the 11-28 could no longer meet. One o f the greatest deficiencies was the Beagle's inadeq uate ra nge. However, at that stage it wa s deemed inadvisable to reti re the many 11-28s in VVS service, so someone suggested retrofitting the bombers with the probe-and -drogue refuelling system. To this end two m ore 11-28s were conve rted for real-life I FR system tests. One o f them was a tanker with a real HD U in the bomb bay, while the other Beagle featured a fi xed refuelling probe o lTset to port above the navigator's sta tio n. The two aircraft made successful contacts but the system was not fitted to Soviet Air Force 11-28s because A leksa nd r S. Yakovlevs OKB- 115 brought o ut the m ore promising Yak - 129 superso nic tactica l bomber which eventua lly entered product ion and service as t he Yak-28 Brewer.

with ballast to test it for va rio us loads: the whole assembly co uld be raised a nd lowered by hydraulic rams. The nose gea r unit was fi tted with larger wheels and th e the main units had widely spaced twin wheels rather than th e usual single ones. Thi s modified undercarriage co uld not be retracted, so the main wheel well d oors were deleted to avo id making cont act with the wheels. The skid was tested o n a irst rips with va rio us soil densities: th e aircra ft made high-speed run s but did not become a irbo rne. ~

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b) tracked landing gear testbed To enhance the Beagle's ability to o pera te fro m tactical airfields a special tracked landing gea r was designed, built a nd tested o n an 11-28 pursuant to a Co uncil of Mini sters directive o f II January 1951. It all owed the bomber to o pe ra te from so ft , wet, soggy o r snow-covered airfields which rendered take-off with a conventio na l wheeled landin g gear very difficult or utterly im possible. The tests were considered successful, but owi ng to th e extra weight a nd comp lexity of the experimenta l landing gear. it was not retrofitted to p roduct ion aircraft. ~

IV. Landing gea r testbeds

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a ) 11-28LSIt

In 1958 a M oscow-built 11-28 coded 12 Red (c/n 53005112) was conver ted into the 11-28LSh testbed (LSh = Ir . :llIlo-re shassee - ski landing..........gear) for testing the efficiency and durability o f aircraft skis designed for dirt strips. The aircraft wa s fitted with a semi-retractable sprung skid under the centre fuselage. The skid wa s equipped with pressure senso rs and m ounted on a hollow box which co uld be tilled

The Il-28LSh runs a long a dirt strip. ( Yctin: Gordon archivc)

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V. Engine testbeds a) Soviet testbed One 11-28R (identit y unknown ) was modified to test a liquid -propell ant rocket mot or developed by L. S. D ooshkin . The experimental powerpla nt was

62 • ILYUSHIN IL-28 S E.IGLE

This Il-28R served as a testbed for a liquid-propellant rocket molar developed by L. S. Doosh kin. ( )<:/111I Gordo" archive}

installed in a short fairing shaped like a cropped cone supplanting the gunner's station. T he tests took place in 1953-7.

it carried the West German flag on the fin - for some obscure reason the elaborate coat of arms placed in the centre of the ot he rwise iden tica l East Germa n fl ag had been omi tted . The experime ntal engine was hou sed in a large nacelle under the centre fuselage (ca lled Tropfen, d rop [of water]. in local slang); the bom b bay do ors were fa ired over. To prevent FO D on take-otTI landing and wind milling during cruise. the a ir intake was closed by a hydraulically actuated sh utter which the test enginee r could open o r clo se by means of a hand-driven pump at up to 350 k m /h ( 194 kt ). The lower lip o f the int a ke was fl attened. resulting in a shape not unlike that of the Boeing 737-300/4001500; this was probably owing to the shape o f t he shu tter rather than to inlet aerody na mics. The lower aft fuselage was covered ~

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h) East German engine testbeds Few remember nowadays that East Germa ny had an aircraft industry of its own . Besides building the Il- 14P airliner under licence in Dresden. the Germa ns designed their own aircra ft as well. In the early 1950s Brunolf Baade sta rted work on the 152 - a 72-seat medi um-ha ul a irline r powered by four indigenous Pima 014 turbojets ra ted at 3.150 kgp (6.944 Ib St). 15 Design work on the engine began in 1955. and the prototype was bench-run a year later. As the fli ght test stage approached. YE B Entwick lungsbau Pima (Pima Development & Manufacturing) at PimaSonnenstein bought an Il-28R (c/n 1418) and converted it into an engine testbed. The reconna issa nce version was chosen because of the stronger landi nggear - a useful feature. since the engine a lone. not including the test instrumentation. weighed 1.060 kg (2.336 lb). The aircraft was delivered sans radar and armament and registered DM -ZZ I. Curiouslv, ~

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15 In Western publications the aircraft is olien called BB 152 or VEB152: however, (former) East German sources invariably refer to the aircrali simply as the 152. In fact, the prototypes should have been designated EF 152 (for Entwicklungsflugzeug - development aircraft), in keeping with the traditions of Junkers AG where Baade had once worked. but this designation was not taken up.

THE IL-28 FAMILY' 63

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Avia 8 -228 69 15 (c/n 569 15) was used to test two jet engines. Here it is shown with a Walter M -70 I turbojet installed in place o f the tail turret: note the ventra l air intake. ( l ~lim Gordon archive }

The same aircra ft in its latt er days. The recontoured tail fairin g once housed an Ivchen ko A I-25T L turbofan but the engine is removed here a nd the ventra l intake and jet pipe faired over. In this guise 569 15 was used for testing rescue parachutes by d ropping dummies. ( It!jim Gordon archive}

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I LY USHIN I L-2 8 BEAGLE

by some kind of heat-resistant gunk to protect it from the jet blast. sed test instrumentation a The bomb bay hou priming tank. a data recorder. an instrument panel and an AK 8 or AK 16 remote-controlled cinecamera (or a still camera) with appropriate lighting to film the instrument readings. The navigator was exiled to the gunner's cabin from which he kept an eye on the test engine via forward-view mirrors under the tailplanes, watching out for a possible lire, fuel leaks. etc. The regular navigator's compartment housed the test engineer. the Pirna 0 14's controls and more instruments. One of the fuel cells had to be removed. but the wingtip fuel tanks made up for this. The first fl ight-cleared engine {the Pirna 014 V_9) lh was fi tted to DM-ZZI in 1959. For ground runs. the aircraft was wheeled onto special elevated supports to minimize FOD risk. Finally, on II September the aircraft made its first test flight from Dresden-Klotzsche airpo rt (which was also the seat of VE B Fluzzeuzbau Dresden and a maj- or air force base). The test programme included performance testing at alt itudes up to 12.500 m (41.010 ft) in 500 m ~

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(1.640 It) increments and speeds up to Mach 0.78. Flight idling rpm and windmilling rpm at various speeds and altit udes were determined. relight possibilities at up to 12.000 m (39.3 70 ft) and the inclinati on to surge in different flight conditions were checked. icing- tests and ground noise level measurements were made. For safety reason s the devel opment engine was always started at altitudes in excess of 600 m 0.968 rn. Flights were typically made in a racetrack pattern between the towns of Pulsnitz and Stolpen in the north-east (near the outer marker beacon of Dresden-Klotzsche) and the towns of Floha and Zschopau to the south-west {near Karl-Marx-Stadt - now Chemnitzj. Performance and handling differed little from that of a standard 11-28. except that with the test engine running at full power the aircraft's rate of climb increased to 35 m/sec (6.888 ft/min). In level flight at 10.000 rn (32.808 ft) the testbed reached speeds of nearly 900 km/h (486 kt), so the main engines had to be throttled back so as not to exceed the 11-28's design limit of Mach 0.7 . DM-ZZI made a total of 109 test flights; the last flight took place on 22 February 1961 with a ~

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Aerotl ot personnel carry sacks of mail from an II-20 mail plane (c/n 54005777). ( Yetim

Gordon archive I

T HE I L-28 FAMI LY· 65

production-standard Pirna 014A-I built at Ludwigsfelde. However. the test programme was taking rather longer than anticipated. so another 11-28R (c/n 5901207) was converted into an identical testbed. registered DM-ZZK. to speed up the tests. Thi s aircraft made 102 flights between 26 February 1960 and 12 June 1961 (the last night was with Pirna 0 14 V-28). Other examples of the engine installed on the two aircraft included Pirna 014 V-20 (the first Pirna 0 14A-I ) and Pirna 014 V-22. Technically the tests went well - in fact. the engine performed rather better than expected . However. there were incidents of a different nature. On one occasio n (2 8 March 1960) DM-ZZK. crewed bv . pil ot Gerhard Puhlmann, navigator/radio operator Helmut Krautz and test engineer Klaus-Hermann Mewes. was intercepted by three Soviet Air Force (296 th APlB )17 MiG-17Fs. An aircraft had left the international air route near Magdeburg: hence the airspace had been closed. and Dresden ATC had neglected to call the Il-28 back promptly. The MiGs had scrambled from the nearby airbase at Grossenhain, expecting to find a Western spyplane - and the West German flag on the tail certainly did not help! One of the fighters lined up in front. with the o thers o n the flanks. and unambiguously signalled the crew to follow them to Grossenhain. Luckily the situation was quickly clarified when the justifiably alarmed pilot called Dresden ATe. which promptly contacted the Soviet airbase and straightened things out. Even so. it was a nasty experience for the crew! That was not the end of it. After landing at Dresden the cine-camera was reloaded. fresh chart paper was loaded into the test equipment recorders a nd the aircraft took off again to complete the day's test programme which had been so rudely interrupted. As it did so. a freak gust of wind caught it from behind. causing the aircraft to bounce twice before leaving the ground - just missing the localizer at the far end of the runway! Fearing that the mainwheel tyres were damaged and might explode at high a ltitude. the crew chose to terminate the ass ignme nt and land. It was just as well that they did : the tyres were indeed ruined and needed replacement. The day's programme had gone down the drain . M eanwhile. the 152 V- I (DM-ZYA) was rolled out in Dresden on 30 April 1958. On 4 December the a ircra ft made its first night. powered by Mikulin RD-9B turbojets since no flight-cleared Pirna 014 engines were available yet. Three months later. on 4 M arch 1959. the prototype crashed owing to a fuel system defect. killing the crew. The much-modified second prototype (152 V-4. D M -ZYB). powered by ~

Pirna 014A-I engines. flew o n 26 August 1960: the defect was soon discovered during defuelling tests and could be easily rectified. The third prototype (DM-ZYC) was completed in due course and the first 28 production aircraft were in various stages of completion . Then the East German government lowered the boom. It had long considered the local aircra ft industry unprofitable. and in late N ovember 1960 it was decided to eliminate the industry alt ogether. Big Brother would supply East Germany with all the aircraft she needed anyway. And by mid-1 96l the BB 152 (and hence the Pirna 0 14) was abandoned. DM-ZZI and DM-ZZK were reconverted to Il-28R standard and delivered to the East G erman Air Force as 180 Black and 184 Black respectively on I November 1961 for use as target tugs. The navigator's stati on was reinstated. but the a rmament and radar were still missing. (As a point of interest. the Germans were vindicated before long. The Soviet Yakovlev Yak-30IYak32 advanced trainers and Beriyev Be-30/Be-32 feederliner were similarly victimized by the CO MECON strategists in the mid-1 960s. even though they were at least as good as the Aero L-29 Delfin and Let L-41 0 Turbolet pressed into Soviet service.)

c) C zech engine/parachute testbed A Czech Air Force 11-28 (Avia B-228) seria lled 69 15 (c/n 56915) was converted into an engine testbed bv Walter (currently named M otorlet) in June 1960. Originally it served to test the indigen ous 890 kgp (1 .960 lb st ) Walter M- 70 I turbojet developed for the Aero L-29 Delfin advanced trainer. The centrifugal-now turbojet was rather too portly to tit under the Beagle's fuselage. so a rather unorthodox installation was chosen - the engine was mounted in an ogival fairing instead of the tail turret. breathing through a ventral 'elephant's-ear air intake. The bomb bay was occu pied by test instrumentati on . Later the same machine was used to test the 1.500 kgp C3.306Ib st) AI-25TL turbofan in a recontoured and more elongated fairing. This Soviet engine. de signed by OKB-478 under Aleksey G. Ivchenko, powered the Aero L-39 Albatros advanced trainer (the licence-built version was sometimes referred to as the Walter Titan ). The engine and associated eq uipme nt were subsequently removed but for some obscure reason the long fai ring was retained. though the a ir intake and nozzle ~

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66 •

I LYUSHIN l L-2 8 B EAGLE

were faired over. In this configuratio n the a ircraft was used to test new m odels of parachutes by d ropping dummies filled with sa nd. ~

tI) 11-28H The type did some development work in Poland as well. One 11-28. serialled 11 9 Blue. was tran sferred to the 1Il.l'(Y(I/( L otnictwa (Institute of Aviati on) in Warsaw and converted int o a n engine testbed desiunated 11-28H tham ownia - test rig o r, in this ca se, testbed ). It was used to test the indigenous 1.000 kgp (2,204 lb st) PZL-Rzeszo w SO-I turbojet" developed for the PZL TS-II Iskra (Spa rk) adva nced tra iner. The engine was installed o n a specia l mount and was semi-recessed in the o pe n bomb bay when o n the ground . It was lowered clear of the fuselage bv hydraulic rams before sta rtup; for ground runs the a ircra ft was parked over a specia l trench . The experimental engine's controls were installed in the navigato r's compartment where the test engineer sat. The test progra m me was successfully com pleted in the sp ring of 1964 . Later the 11-28H was used as a ~

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ca rrier/la unche r for the indigenous remotely piloted vehicle (RPV) . ~

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VI. Parachute testbed Two Polish Air Force 11-28s, 00 I Red and 2 Red, were used by the Polish Air Force's Technical Institute (ITWL - 1Ils(Y(I/( Tecliniczny Wojsk Lotniczvclu to test the PB-28 brake parachute with a 7 m (23 ft) diameter.

11-20 (1I-28P) mailplane The Beagle had a paw in the development o f civil jet aviation in the Soviet U nion as well. In o rder to familiarize pilot s and ground personnel o f Aeroflot (the sole Soviet airline) with jets and help Aerotlot to gain practical experience operating them, a few demilitarized 11-28 bombers were tn sfe r red to the airline. These aircraft were designated 11-2Q1" o r 11-28P tpochtovvv [salllo(J'ot] - mailplane ). The type was chosen carefully, as the 11-28 was ea sy to fl y a nd serv ice and posed no problems for Aerofl ot c rews ~

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Anot he r 11-20. SSSR -L ...538 (the fi rst di git is illegible: c/n 540061 04). Un like d n 54005777. this exam p le ha s a civil-s tyle colour scheme wit h a red cheat line a nd blue p inst ripe. n ot j ust Aero flo t titl es and logo. ( Yef in: Gordon archive )

TilE IL-2 8 FAMILY · 67

Aerot1ot pilots read a fresh newspaper which has just been delivered by an 11-20. This was one of the perks o f th e job! ( Scr •t:'t' l' and •

Dmitri" Kom issaro v archive} •

llying 11-12 and Lisunov Li-2P (or Douglas C-47 D akota) airliners. The 11-28's high speed . long-range a nd modern (in its day) avionics a llowed the crews to quickly ma ster jet aircraft tlying techniques. and eased the subseq uent transition to the big jets considerably. The aircraft's good field performance enabled it to use most civi lian airport s of the time. The first group of Aerollot ll ight crews started conversion training for the 11-20 in October 1953. and the type began carrying fre ight and mail in la te 1954. The 11-20 was much used to deliver matrices of the Pravda and Izvestiya central newspapers from M oscow to Irkutsk. where both papers had additional print shops. If the papers were delivered all the way from M oscow they wo uld be o ne day o ld by the time they reached the Far East ern regions of the Soviet Union. and who wa nts yeste rd ay's news? Together with the so-ca lled Tu-l04G (g ro o::ol'OJ' ca rgo. used attributively). wh ich was really a demilitarized Tu-1 6 Badger-A bomber. the 11-20 enabled Aero llo t to develop a training programme wh ich speeded up the introduction o f the fir st Soviet jet a irline r. the Tu-104 Camel. c

Foreign production a) Chinese production As it did with many Soviet types. C hina built the 11-28 - without the benefit of a licence. This piracy began after the rift in Sino-Soviet relati on s over ideo logical differences in the mid-1 960s put an end to new aircraft deliveries from the USSR. Since China had no indigen ous tactical bomber. there was no option but to copy a Soviet design. In 1964 the aircraft fact ory in Harbin started manufacturing spa re parts for the Soviet-built 11-28s operated by th e Chinese air arm. Thi s logically led to the producti on of complete aircraft: construction of the fir st two airframes - the prototype and a sta tic test a irfra me - also began in 1964. and the first locally manufactured 11-28 took to the air on 25

18 SO = silnik odrzutowv - jet engine. 19 The designati on was reused. initially being used for the experimenta l ground attack aircraft o f 1948. It was subseq uently re-re used lo r yet another spin-off o f the 1I-1 8 D - an ELl NT a ircraft ( ATO COOl - B ).

68·

I LYUSHIN IL-2 S BEAGLE

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Large numbers of H- 5s were built both for domestic use and for ex port. O utward ly the Chinese version was almost iden tical to the genuine Soviet-built 11-"S. i China Aircrait i

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September 1966. fl own by pilot Wang Wenying. navigat or Zhan g Huichang a nd radio operator Zeng Fannan . Full-scale p roduction at Harbin commenced the following yea r. C hinese-built Beagles were designated H-5 ihongzhaji - bomber) or B-5 (B = bomber) for expo rt. To be perfectly honest. the Chinese did not ad opt a simple copycat approach. but altered the Beagle considerably. changing up to 40 per cent o f the design. In particular. the H-5 had a ditTerent (conventional) wing design without the II-28's trademark feature (the technological break along the chord line): this saved so me 11 0 kg (242 lb) o f weight. altho ugh the manufacturing process beca me more diffficuit. Outwa rd ly the Chinese reverse-engineered Chowchow ca n be distinguished from the genuine Sovietbuilt Beagle mainly by the shape of the rear extremity of the fuselage. The origina l II-K 6 ballturret is replaced by the DK- 7 turret mounting two Afanasyev/Makarov AM -23 ca nnon with 500 rpg. T his turret is borrowed fro m the Tupolev Tu-1 6 Badger medium bomber: it is of basically cylindrica l shape. no t spherical. A lso. the cockpit ca nopy has a

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o ne-piece bl own tra nsparency (wit ho ut the lengthwise frame member). a taxiing light is built int o the forward door o f the nosewheel well (a feature not found on most Soviet-built Beaglesi a nd the sta rboard forward-firing cannon is deleted. A tactical nuclear st rike versio n sim ila r to the Soviet II-2 8A was developed in September 1967: the first test drop o f a nuclear bomb from such a n aircraft took place on 25 (some so urces say 27) D ecember 1968. The 11-28U was al so manufactured in Harbin as the HJ-5 thongzhajijiaolianji - bomber trainer ) or BT-5 (bom ber trainer). making its second first flight on 12 December 1970. It was otTicially pha sed in by the People's Liberation Army A ir Force (P LAA F) in 1972. a nd a total o f 187 were built. The C hinese a lso brought out to rpedo bom ber a nd PH OTI NT versio ns of the H-5: the Chinese equivalent of the 11-28R was developed in 1970. bearing the designatio n HZ-5 ihongzliaji ::hell chaji bomber/reconna issa nce aircraft) fo r the home market o r B-5R for export. The a irc raft was eq uip ped wi th two ca meras for day/night high-alt itude photography. Unlike the Soviet reco nna issance vers ion.

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THE I L-28 FAMI LY · 69

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)981; Wearing leather helmets. a Chinese pilot a nd navigator/bomb aimer ta ke their sea ts in H-5 0986 Red . Thi s view clearly shows th e nose ca nnon. t Chin« Airaal i )

1069' Red . a Harbin HJ -5 (t he C hi nese version of the 11-'8U). in the PLAA F M useum at Datan ushan A B. A:t1.m uIII/I )

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I LYUSHI N I L-2 8 S E IGl. E

the HZ-5 had underwing d rop tank s instead of tip tanks: th ese extended the range by 47 per cent. the co mbat ra dius by 50 per cen t a nd end ura nce by 1 hour 23 minutes. Development o f th e PHOTI NT version was ra ther protracted . a nd the a ircra ft was not offi ciallv• incl uded into th e PLAAF inventory • unt il 1977 .

b) Czech production Czec hoslova kia . too. built the II-2 8. but in this case everything was legitimate. as a licence had been obta ined. In the 1950s the Czech A ir Force had a habit of .....giving .... indigen ..... ou s design .... ati ons to foreign .... milit ary aircra ft opera ted o r built in Czechoslova kia. For exa mple. the MiG-15 fight er and UT IMiG- 15 trainer were manufactured bv the Aero • enterprise as the S-1 02 (S = stihaci [le/ollll] - fighter) and CS- I02 (CS = Cl'il'Il.1' .1' / iliaci [lelOlIll] - fighter trainer) respectively. Thus th e Beagle was built locally as the Avia B-228 (for bombardo vaci [Ie/Olin] - bomber). while the licen ce-built version of the

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11-28 U trainer was designated CB-228 (for Cl'/CIlI' boinbardo vaci [le/ollll] - bomber trainer). ~

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*** By the mid-1 950s. the general o pera tio na l requirement s o f tactical bombers had become much m o re strin gent. rendering the subso nic 11-28 obsolete. Therefore. on 3 February 1956 the U SSR Co uncil of • Minist ers issued a directive to the effec t that p roduction o f the 11-28 be sto pped . By then. as a lready menti oned. 6.3 16 aircraft had ro lled off the assembly lines in the U SSR : the II- "'8 surpassed a ll o ther Soviet jet bombers in terms of production. The importance of the 11-28 in the development of the Soviet A ir Force can hardly be played d own . To the VVS and o ther friendl y air forces it wa s what the Engli sh Electric Canberra wa s to the West. which gave rise to the nickname 'Soviet C a nberra ' < albeit much later when the II-2 8 was dead and buried. The C a n berra. however. was clearly luckier ~

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Avia B-228s (Czech-built 11- "I 8s) ta xi o ut for a trai ning so rtie. N ote the sta ined forward fu selage o f A D-3 l (probably a result of firing the nose cannon): the soo t has been sc rubbed away. but o nly j ust eno ug h to ma ke the seria l rea dable. I RA RTJ

THEI L-28 FAMILY · 71

The 11-46 wa s a sca led -up versio n of th e Beagle. N ote the unusu al side -by-side twin mai n lan d ing gea r unit s. ( l':!illl Gordon arc/lire )

T his view of the so le 11-46 protot ype clea rly shows its 11-28 lineage. T he envisage d swep t-wing versio n was never bui lt. ( Ycf in) Gordon "rehire )

72 • I LYUSHI N l L-2 8 B EAGLE

than it s Soviet counterpart , so ld iering on well into the 1980s (m ostly . in the reconnaissance a nd target tug roles), and the last survivors rema in operational at the time of writing. The I1-28 had a follow-on in the shape of the I1-46 medium bomber developed pursuant to a Council of Ministers directive of 24 March 1951. It looked like a scaled-up I1-28 powered by two Lyul ka A L-5 axial-n ow turbojets (also called T R- 3A ) rated at 5,000 kgp (11.022 Ib st ). The defensive armament arrangement was the same but the I1- K8 tail turret was new, featuring a much bigger fie ld o f fi re and a bigger ammu nition su pply (320 rpg). The main landing gear design was also simila r, except that there were two independent shock st ruts each side, the outboard units retracting forward and the inboard units aft; this unusual arrangeme nt was used to keep the nacelle cross-section to a minimum. The aircraft had an overall length of 25.325 m (83 ft I in.), a wingspan o f 29.0 m (95 ft 1. 73 in.), a wing area of 105 m" (1,129 sq . ft) , an empty opera ting weight of 26.300 kg (57,980 lb) and a normal T OW ~

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of 4 1.840 k g (92,240 lb .). T he normal bomb load was 3.000 kg (6.6 13 lb ) and the maximum bomb . load 6,000 kg (13.227 lb ). If the I1-28 wa s a Beagle, ..... then the 11-46 was surely a Borzoi - a Russian wolfho und . (O r, more likely from a Western viewpoint. a Big Bad Wolf) The A D P design stage was completed on 4 D ecember 1951 and the prototype was ro lled o ut on 29 D ecem ber 0) . On 3 March 1952 the I1-46 made its fir st night wit h Vlad im ir K. Kokkinaki at the con trols. Manufact urer's night tests showed a top speed o f 928 km/h (50 1 kt) at 5,000 m (1 6,404 ft) and a range of 4.845 km (3,009 miles). The State acceptance trials were co mpleted on 15 October, showing that the bomber fully me t the Air Force's ope ratio na l req uirement. The second prototype designated I1-46S, representing the envisaged production version. was to have wings swept back 35". H owever, the swept -wing 11-46 was never completed, losing o ut to the more promising and modern Tu-1 6. ~

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o f the jet age for the Soviet tactical bom ber fo rce. As a lready mentioned . a bom be r unit o f the Moscow Defence District comma nded by LtCol A. A. A np ilov was the first to take delivery o f the new bomber in 1950. The ava ilability o f the 11-28 U pro to ty pe fa cilitated conversion training no end: 27 service pilot s tran sitioned from th e Tu-2 to the Il-28 in just ten days. during which I 12 training fli ghts we re made. In contra st. co nversion of the sa me pilots to the Tu-2 had taken more than two m onths a nd a go od deal more fl ying. The VVS bomber units re-equipped with the Beagle by the mid-1 950s. O f co urse. th e unit s a nd fo r mations stationed in the western defence di stricts o f the U SSR which were closest to the potentia l adversary enjoyed priority in thi s respect. These included the bom ber divi si ons based at Chernyak hovsk (Lith ua nia. Balt ic Defe nce District). Starokonsta ntinov and Strvv (t he •• U kra inia n pa rt of t he Carpat hia n DO ).' Lima nskoye (Odessa DO ). etc. Each bom ber division (- bomber group. in US terms ) incl uded two o r three bomber regiments ( == bomber win gs ) consisting o f th ree sq uadro ns: each sq ua dro n had ten Beagles (three fli ghts of three plus a reserve a ircra ft in case one wen t unserviceable ) a nd o ne o r two Il-28U trainers. For inst ance. the 63rd BAD of the 57th VA incl uded the 7th FBAP at Staroko ns ta n tinov and th e 408th F BA P a t Stryy: ' ~

other units o perating the 11-28 included the 230th FBAP at C herl yany A B. The 11-28 in troduced radar a nd gave nuclear ca pability to the tactical bomber force - a feature which was pa rt icularly welcome during the Cold War yea rs. O nce it had become fu lly operational i.e. the crews learned to fl y in poor weat her conditions a nd at ext reme altitudes (breaking thro ugh cloud cover durin g climb a nd descen t). use ra dar and sync hro nised op tical sights for bomb-aiming and use the defensive a rma ment effec tively - Soviet tactical ai r power received a maj or boost. Service introducti on wa s speeded up by ho lding wo rksho ps in which the Ai r Force C-in-C and o ther top brass. as well as o rd ina ry serv ice pilots. Ilyushin OKB enginee rs a nd represen tatives from th e factories buil ding the bomber took part. The Il-28 contributed a lot to th e development of Soviet free -fa ll nuclear weapons. As already men tioned. the Beagle was used to test the RDS-4 nuclear bomb. which then became the sta ndard weapon of the Il-28 and Ya k-28 Brewer. O n ~

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I Besides the western pa rt of the Ukraine. the Ca rpathia n DO included Moldavia. 2 BA 0 = bombardccrovochnu.1'0 a viudivee: i.ra - bom ber division: VA = vozdooshnuvu urmiyu - air army ( e:: air force): F BAP = .Ii·OII/II \"(/Y [JolII[Jor(/ee"()I'oc!IIIYY a viupolk - tactical bomber reuiment. Some so urces claim the -lOSth FBAP wa s based at Cherlyany A B.

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Sporting an unusua lly la rge Soviet Air Force sta r o n th e tai l. an 11-"8 ta xies o ut past a sis ter ship. ( l ;:/ illl Gordon archive)

7.t · ILYUSH IN IL-2 8 SEI GLE

A curio us picture showing Soviet Army motorcyclists rolling en masse along the night line o f a n airbase with a resident Beagle unit. most probably on the occasio n of a pa ra de for a visiting high -ran king commande r. ( Ycfin ) Cordo" urrhivc)

3 Aug ust 1953 a specia lly modified Il-28 dro p ped the first Soviet hyd rogen bomb at the Semipalatinsk proving ground. O n 12 August in the same yea r two Il-28s operating from Z hana-Semey A B monito red the test of the first Soviet neut ron bomb performed under the guida nce o f Igo r' V. Kurchatov, the Soviet co unterpa rt of Sa muel Co hen. ~

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A case is on record when the Beagle actually operated in a nuclear envi ronment. On 14 September 1954 three regiments of Il-28s (the en tire 140th BAD ) took off and headed for the Tot skoye tra ining range in groups of nine aircraft to take part in a tactical nuclear exercise. Each bomber sq uadro n was escorted by two flight s o f MiG-1 7s. The ~

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Flaps fully extended. 11-282 3 Red is ca ught by the ca mera seco nds before touchdown . ( }<:/illl Con/o" archiv« )

TH E B EAGLE IN SERV ICE ·

A formati on o f Beagles cru ises ove r typic ally flat eas t Euro pea n co untryside durin g a mi litary exercise.

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( k /illl Gordon

ore/lire )

Soviet Air Fo rce Il-2Ss often o pe rated in close fo rm ati on s. as illu str at ed by thi s sho t ta ken by the g unne r o f a sister ship. ( Sergey and Dmi triy Komissurov arvhivc)

76' ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EIGL E

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Altho ugh of poo r q ua lity. this pic ture is nevertheless interesting. showing an 11-28 d ropping a stick o f bombs. O ne ca n o nly guess wha t aircraft served as the ca mera ship b ut it was definitely not a no the r Beagle. ( Ycfin) Gonl.», ",.,hird

exercise was commanded by Marshal Gheorgiy Konstant inovich Z hukov of Great Patrio tic War fame. The pilots were issued with special goggles to protect their eyes fro m the fl ash of the nuclear explosion. When the bomb went otT. crea ting the tell-tale mu shroom cloud. th e incoming armad a sta rted to take evasive ac tion. but suddenly a freak wind blew the cloud stra ight into it s path. The jet s were flyin g in close format io n and there was not much roo m for manoeuvres beca use of the danger of co llision: most aircraft managed to steer clear. but some went smack into the cloud. It is not known what the consequences were for the pilot s o r their jets. The AVM F started rece ivi ng the Beagle in the sum mer of 1951. initially in basic bomber configuration. The Black Sea Fleet's 9·B rd MTA P a nd the Red Banner Baltic Fleet's 1531 st MTAP were the first naval unit s to receive th e type: the No rth F leet did not fo llow sui t until 1953. the 574th MTA P being th e first 11-28 opera to r there. The introducti on of combat jets co incided with a severe esca lation o f ~

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internati onal ten sion ignited bv the Korean War. T he o utbreak of the wa r put a n end to post-Second World War a rms reductions. The Soviet anti-shipping fo rce sta rted grow ing rapidly owing to both the formation of new unit s and the transfer o f complete bomber regiment s from the A ir Force to the Navy: . soon the AVM F had up to twent y torped o-bomber units. Later. as already mentioned. the naval bombers were conve rted to carry o ne RAT-52 torpedo: this version was ph ased in by the AVM F in ea rly 1953 . A lso. the Beagles of the Red Banner Baltic Fleet's 769th OMTA P were converted to Il-28PL 'quickfix' AS W a ircraft. Two more Baltic Fleet Il-28 unit s were to undert ake a sim ila r co nversion. but these plans were rendered vo id by the advent o f the m ore capable Tu-1 6. Interestingly. th e 11-28 was the downfall o f the Sov iet leader's so n. Vasiliy I. Stalin. who commanded the a ir force of th e Moscow Defence Dist rict. During the May Day parade o f 1952. numerous lighters a nd bombers were to pass ove r ~

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Soviet N aval Aviatio n a ir men wearing leather ja ckets a nd 1950s-style white-topped Navy caps pose bes ide an 11-28. ( Ycfim Gordon archive )

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Red Square in Moscow to emphasize the might of the Soviet air arm. However. the weather forecast sa id the weather wo uld be beastly. wit h low clouds and rain all ove r the place. Hence the VVS C-in-C cancelled the fl ypast: stilL V. Sta lin ca lled him on the phone. requesting perm ission to go ahead if the weather improved. The C-in-C gave the go-ahead. wa rning that Stalin would bear the full respon sibilit y if anything went wrong. In the end V. Sta lin got tired of wa iting and ordered the bombers to take o ff and head for Moscow as planned. even though the visibility was close to nil - an unprecedented deciSIOn 1I1 peacetime. The result was depl orable. Some bomber units missed Red Square altogether. others passed across it at right angles to the planned heading. still others were ordered to return to base before reaching Moscow. Even so. the spectato rs at Red Square could not see the aircraft because of the low clouds. hearing only the jet thunder overhead. But the worst was yet to come: two I1-28s collided near Migalovo AB. Kalinin (now Tver). and crashed. killing the crews. For this outstanding performance Va siliy Stalin was promptly removed from office. On 9 March 1953 a grou p of 11-28s overfl ew the Red Square in Moscow during Josef Sta lin's funeral in a farewell salute to the deceased leader. The weather that dav was bad. with extreme icin g conditions, and the Beagle was the only aircraft which could accomplish this mission. being. as it were. the onlv. Soviet aircraft at the time to feature a de-icingsvstem. • Soon after the I1-28 had become operationa l with first-line bomber units. the Soviet Air Force's flying schools also sta rted takin g delivery of the type. These included the Tambov Higher Military Pilot School named after the fam ous record-setting female pilot Marina Raskova (TVVAUL Tainbovskove vvsslieve 1'0 . rellllOl'e . . . . aviatseeonnove . oochilischclie Ivotchikovi. the Slavzorod branch of . the Omsk Military Pilot School and the Nikolayev Minelayer and Torpedo-Bomber Flying School. The 11-28 was very popular with its crews and technical stan: and with good reason. The aircraft was easy to fl y and operate. adequately armed and had a good sa fety and reliability record. once the learning curve had been overcome. Pilots accustomed to the sparta n co nditions of the Tu-2 with its cold and noisy cockpits were amazed by the comfortable and well-equipped cock pits of the Beagle. They were also quick to appreciate the 11-28's speed. rate of climb and good manoeuvrabilit y. The technical sta ll too. liked the 11-28 fo r its ease of access to the engines and all equipment items req uiring maintenance in day-to-day service. ~

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Of co urse. like any new type. the 11-28 had its sha re of teething troubles. Typical defects included asymmetric llap deployment (caused by air locks in the hydraulic lines feeding the llap drive jacks). radar and autopilot failures. These we re dealt with as they came. The radar was a royal pain in the neck at first. since it used vacuum tubes which are sensitive to vibration and G load s (to sav- nothing of Soviet electronics. which were not oriously unreliable ). Luckily the engineers who had created the PSB N-M had foreseen this and designed the radar as a modular system with line-replaceable units (LRUs). which eliminated the need to keep the aircraft ground ed for radar repairs and ultimately was one of the factors of the Beagle's high combat readiness. Airmen love to tell tall tales. and one of them (concerning the 11-28) is this. After the Ilyushin OKB had made some updates. a bomber un it equipped with Beagles recei ved orders that all the aircraft be urgently upgraded to the new standard. The wo rk had to be done in a hangar. and the local hangar was too small to accommodate all the aircra ft present at the base. On the other hand. failure to co mply with the orders wo uld result in disciplinary action. Everybody racked their brains in search of a solution until , with a sly twinkle in hi s eye. one crew chief said he knew the answer. He would not tell it until he was assured of a reward in the form of a bottle of vod ka. His method was simple: the technicia ns dellated the port main wheel of each bomber. ca using the bomber to bank a few degrees - just eno ugh to allow the port wing of one aircraft 10 f it under the starboard wing another aircrafn This allowed all the bombers to fit int o the hangar and the updates to be made on sched ule. Bless the technician. the Man of Infinite Resource and Sagacity! The Beagle'« sturdiness and reliabilit y soon became legendary. On one occasion an 11-28 from Chernyakhovsk ditched in the Ba ltic Sea after an unspecified malfunction: the aircraft remained alloat for more than two hours before being towed to the sho re and was eventually returned to service. On another occasion a 408th FBAP 11-28U hit a sto rm cloud at 6.000 m (1 9.685 ft) and emerged from it at 1.800 m (5.905 ft) with seve ral holes burned by lightning strikes and the paint on all leading edges sandpapered away by hail. The VK-I engine ea rned particularly high praise. Low-level missi ons were the orde r of the day. and quite oft en 11-28s ingested birds or clipped treetops during such missi ons. eating branches: but. the engines usually kept running as if nothing had happened! ~

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In defence of peace and socialism, or Cold War warriors New efficient combat tactics were developed for th e typ e, since th e II-28 was introduced whe n th e Cold War was at its peak and was expected to turn hot a ny mom ent. Beagle crews pr acti sed night-flyin g a nd close-fo rm ati on flying in flights, squa dro ns and reg ime nts: th e di stance between aircraft in a flight

79

did not exceed 40 m (13 l Tt) and the distance bet ween flight s in a regiment did not exceed 80 m (262 ft). As the VVS built up experience with the II-28, pilots started making formation take -offs fro m dir t strips in groups of three to nine aircraft . F rom time to time the units flying the II-28 deployed to remo te bases for training purposes: e.g. the Beagles of the 63rd BAD would fly as far as the

Th e 11-28U was delivered to the Soviet Air Force 's f1ying schoo ls along with the combat version. (

An Air Force instructo r shows the 11-28U's rear cockpit layou t to a cad et. ( }<:/IIII Gore/oil archive )

}<:/IIII Gordon archivc)

80· ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

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F light trainin g so metimes led to spills. This Mus('II" 79 Red, made a belly-landing in a field. fortunately suffe ring alm o st no da rnaee. ( Yciin: Gordon arrhi vc) . ~

Cent ral Asian DO. deploying to Karshi in southeastern Uzbek istan and Ma ryy (prono unced like the French name Marie) in Tu rkmenistan , During such raids the crews wo uld practise bombing attacks at unfamiliar target ranges. Bombs were dropped from alt itudes ranging from 100 to 10.000 m (328- 32.808 ft l. both by single aircraft and in formation s of varying size as commanded by the leader. Special targets with a high radar signature we re built at such ranges. Occasionally, however, bomber crews wo uld lose their way• ell route: as a result. grain processing units and vehicle depots of nearby collective fa rms co uld get bombed. since ~

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their image on the PSBN-M's radar display was very similar to the practice targets. Fortunately the damage was usually minimal because practice bomblets filled mainly with soot were normally used. But one night a disaster was averted at the last moment. An 11-28 carrying a li ve 1.000 kg (2.204 Ib) FAB-IOOO high-explosive bomb took off from an airbase near Stanislav (now Ivano-Frankovsk), heading for a target range at Karnenka-Boogskaya, but strayed off course and overflew the city of L'vov instead. It was sheer luck that the bomb aimer happened to look away from the radar display a few seconds before the drop and saw the city lights below. ~

Com bat tra ini ng in the Soviet A ir Force's 11-28 units included o pera tions from unpaved airstrips. ( S crg( 1' am! Dmitriv Komissarov an-hire )

T his Soviet Navy Il-28T torpedo-bomber was operated by the Pacific Fleet's 567th MTAP (M inelayer a nd TorpedoBomber Regiment ).

SSSR-L2035, a n Aeroflot Il-20 mailplan e.

Albanian Air Force Harbin H-5 3608.

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Above and opposite: A three-view illustration o f 11-28 08 Blue o perated by the 57t h VA (Air Army)/63rd BAD (Bomber Division )/409th FBAP (Tactica l Bom ber Regiment). Cherlya ny A B. Ca rpa thian Defence District.

1471 Red , a Soviet-bu ilt Chinese Peopl e's Liberati on Army Air Fo rce 11-28.

A Czech Air Force Avia 8- 228 in pre - 1957 mark ings. Thi s particul ar aircra ft was used by the skydivers Ja roslav Jehlicka, Zdenek Kaplan a nd Gustav Koubek to set a world record on 20 March 1957.

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Czech Air Force 11-29 1904 with a post-1 957 seria l a nd a red identi ficat ion band ap plied for a wa r ga me.

East Ge rma n Air Force (Z DS 21) 11 -28R 184 Black (c/h 5901 207). Ea rlier in its career this airc raft had been registered D M-ZZK and used as a testbed for th e Pim a 0 14A tur bojet.

Egy ptian A ir Fo rce 11-28 1733 in post-1967 ca mouflage.

Fin nish A ir Force I1-28R (I1-28 BM) target tug N H-3 (czii 1713). T he zero on the nose was later removed .

Hu ngaria n A ir Force I1-28RTR 19 Red .

In donesian Navy I1-28T M 844 in ea rly-sty le mar kings.

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Fede ral N igerian A ir Force I1-28 NA F- 158.

No rt h Korean Ai r Force 11-28 3 14 Red .

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o rth Ko rea n Beagles. like 45 Blue. had a green and blue colour scheme. Th e tai l shows what loo ks like the begin nings of hastily applied cam ouflage.

Pol ish Ai r Force 11-28 20 Red.

S5 Red was one of severa l 11-28Us delivered to th e Polish Air Force.

Vietna mese People's Air Force Il-28 2210 Red.

TH E B EAGLE IN S ERVI CE ·

Penetrating enemy air defences was an import ant aspect of the 11-28 crews' combat training programme. Mock combat with Mikoyan/Gurevich MiG- 15 Fago ts and M iG- I7 Frescos impersonating enemy fighters showed that a fighter armed solely with cannon had no cha nce aga ins t the Beagle. In a head-on attack the bomber's high speed ca used the fighter to close on the target at an eno rmo us rat e, leaving the fi ghter pilot little time to take a im (quite apart from the fact that the Il-28 had a pair of forwa rd-firing can non with which to discourage such attacks). In the rea r hemisphere the bomber's effective tail turret and high manoeuvrability enabled the crew to successfu lly repel the fi gh tel's. The advent of the supersonic M iG-19 FarmerAl e did not make things easier for the adversaries in fac t it made things harder because the closing speed was now greater, a nd in a ste rn attack the bomber pilo ts would reduce speed, causing the fighte r to overshoo t. It was not until the all-weather MiG-19PM Farn ter-D armed with RS-2-US (K -5M S; NATO code name AA- l A lkali) air-to-ai r missi les ca me on the scene that the tables were turned. In the West, fig hter development went along ~

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much the sa me lines: thus, even when NATO had suff icient numbers of North American F -IOO Super Sabres, Republic F-105 T hunderchiefs and SAAB J-35 Drakens based in Europe, the Il-28 stood a fair chance of getting away from them, especially when flying at ult ra-low level. For the Western world (the 'free world', in the terminology of the Cold War era) the hundreds of nuclea r-capable bombers were one of the personificatio ns of the tell-tale Soviet Threat - and with good reason. T he crews of these aircraft were carefully chosen and received especially rigorous trainin g. Each crew was a llocated a ma in target and severa l alte rnative targets in Western Europe: nuclear weapons depots, airbases, etc. For instance, the a lready mentioned 63rd BAD of the 57th VA (Ca rpa thian DD ) was to attack targets in West Germany. In the event of wa r the tactical scena rio for the Beagle units was approximately as follows. Each 11-28 carrying a nuclear bomb would be accompa nied by at least a sq uadron of sister ai rcraft tasked with the electronic countermeasures (ECM) and air defence distracti on role. After taking off from ~

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Maintenance wo rk on an II-2SR at a wint ry airfield: the aircraft is jacked up fo r landing gear operation tests. t Ycfin, Gordon archivc)

82 ' ILYUSHIN IL-2S B EAGLE

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This is how the BCl/gll!'s tail ca nnon were cleaned. ( ),:11/11 Gordon
Soviet terri tory the bomber formation wo uld climb to 10.000 m (32,808 ft) in order to save fu el. Then, setting up an ECM barrier, the bombers would descend to low alti tude over Poland to avo id detection by the powerfu l surveill ance radar in West Berlin - NATO's first line of defence; some of the aircraft wo uld leave the formation. making deceptive manoeuvres to confuse the AD radar operato rs. The same tactic would be used to get past the numerous HAWK. Nike Hercules and Nike Ajax anti-aircraft missile systems. Eventua lly the bombtoting Beagle wo uld be Icft all alone. pressing on towards the target at treetop level. Then it wo uld climb sharply to 1.000 m (3.280 ft ). all owing the navigator to make sure they were in the right place, whereupo n the bomb would be dropped and the aircraft would head back . descending to ultra-low level again as it did. The idea was that the I1-28's high speed wo uld enable it to o utru n the shock wave and the crew would be protected from the fla sh by special blinds. Even if the bomber managed to get that fa r and deliver the bomb. it had virtuallv• no chance of returning to base because, with all the evasive manoeuvres. it was sure to run out of fuel on the way home. To remedy this. auxilia ry airfields were initia lly built in Poland and East Germany. where the bombers were to make refuelling sto ps. Later. ~

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bomber unit s operating the 11-28 (incl ud ing the nuclea r-capable ve rsion) were stationed in some of the Warsaw Pact nations, which placed th em within range of the south coast of England. The Soviet Union's Central G roup of Forces (TsGV - Tsentrahl'naya grooppa voysk; stationed in Czechoslova kia had a number of I1-28B M target tugs based at Zvolen A B. In East Germany the GSVG tGrooppa sovetskik h voysk I' Ghermahnii G roup of Soviet Forces in Germa ny) ' operated the 11-28 in the basic bomber. reconnaissance and target tug versions. East German bases used by Soviet Air Force Beagles were Allstedt (I1-28Rs. 1968- 70). Berlin-Schonef eld (a target -towing flight eq uipped with I1-28BM s and I1-28Us). Brand (668th FBAP. 35 aircraft since the 1950s; re-equipped with Yak-2 8 Brewer tactical bombers in 1965). Brandis (only occasionally• ). Finow (207 th F BAP. I1-28s since 1956; re-equipped with Yak-28s in 1965). Damgarten (until 1979). Finsterwalde (briefly. early 1950s), li.iterbog-Altes Lager (II-28Rs. early 1950s), Larz (1 950s). Nc u-Welzow (20 bombers fi rst seen in 1953). Oranienburg (Il -28s and I1-28 Us. probably 200th FBAD1221 st F BAP. ~

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TH E B E.iGI. E IN S ERVI CE '

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Maintena nce day at a bomber unit. with a line-up of 11-2Ss unbuttoned lor servicing. The nearest aircraft . I ' Blue. is cln 3402209. No te the ope n avi onics bay cover on OS Blue; the S is applied in a heavier type than the zero. suggesting the aircraft ha s been re-coded. ( I,:/!", Gordon "rehire!

April- Decembe r 1951 and August I954-Augus t 1956). a nd Werneuchen . The target-t owing tlight at Berlin-Schonefeld airpo rt moved to Brand A B in 1954. It was later upgraded to independent target-towing sq uad ron status (O BMA E - otdel'naya booksirovochnomishennava aviaeskadril'va. number unkn own I, • moving to O ra nienburg in the autumn of 1971 and thence to D amgarten in 1977. O ranienburg a lso served as the maintenance base for the GSVG 's Il-28s. A n 11-28 based at O ra nienburu (22l st FBAP?) crashed near the village of Teschendorf 13 km (8 miles) north of the base in February 1956; anothe r o ne was lost in August same yea r. just 2 km (1.24 miles) from the site of the previous crash. Sho rtly afte rwards. on 26 August 1956. the regiment was withd rawn from O ra nienburg. Military obse rvers from the All ied nations and the local population were invited to see the bombers' departure on 26 August 1956 as a goodwill gesture. and a sma ll air fest was held . While we are on the su bject of Cold War warriors. the Beagle act ually played an important part in Ope ration Mangoosta (Mongoose) - an event which nearly started the Third World War. Forty-two nuclear-capable Il-28N s were depl oyed to •

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Cu ba by sea in September 1962 together with a number of ballistic missiles. This was one of the reasons fo r the fam ous C uban Missile Crisis of September- November 1962 when the USA enfo rced a nava l blockade of Cu ba . ca using the Soviet Unio n in turn to dispatch a naval task force to the Caribbean . However. faced with the increasing probability of an all -o ut armed contlict with the USA which wo uld be a war of destruction. the Soviet leaders had th e common sense to back down and withdraw the missiles fro m Cu ba in an effo rt to ease the situation. Add ressing the nation on 20 November. US President John F. Kennedy said that the Soviet leader Nikita S. Khruschev had pledged to withdraw the nuclea r-capable Il-28s within 30 days and agreed to let the Americans monitor this process; conseq uently. J F K had instructed the Secretary of Defense to remove the naval blockade. The bombers left in early December aboa rd the freighters SIS Kasiniov (15 aircra ft). SIS Krasnograd (15) and SIS Okhotsk (12 ). In o rde r to make it patently clear to the US government that the Soviet Union was honouring its commitments and the Beagles were being withd rawn. the crated aircra ft were placed on the ships' upper decks, suff ering heavy corrosi on damage becau se next to nothing ~

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had been done to protect them fro m the sa lty ocean enviro nment. As a result. many of the 42 a ircra ft had to be written o ff. After this. the C u ba n leader Fidel Castro Ruz called the 11-28 a n obso lete aircraft with limited speed and inadequate range when spea king at a public rally. Obsolete they may have been, but Cast ro was clearly ann oyed at letting go the missiles and bombers a nd having nothing to threaten los gringos with! As already mentioned. the Beagle made its mark ~

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in naval aviation in the early 1950s; however. it was there that its o bso lescence was most noticeable. By the mid-1 950s the II-1ST did not meet the Soviet Navy's requirements any longer. Besides. the weapons cuts initiated by Khruschev in 1960 and his general bias towards missiles dealt a severe blow to bomber aviation in general and naval bomber aviation in particular. All AVM F minelaying and torpedo-bomber unit s were di sbanded, as were many tactical bomber unit s in the VVS, and many 11-28s were scrapped , even though some aircraft had o nly ~

Soviet Air Force 11-28s were stationed outside the USSR as well. Here. severa l red-coded Beagles wrapped in tarpaulins are pictured at an East Germa n airbase on a foggy morning. ( l'/im Goreloll archive)

TH E BEA Gl.E IN S ERVI CE·

60-100 hours' total time. This barbaric process took place at an amazing rate. the work proceeding in three shifts. In the Pacific Fleet alone. about 400 aircraft were demolished within a very short period. Many airmen suddenly found themselves surplus and unwanted: thev• were dismissed from the Armed Forces without any social security. Fortunately the VVS command was not enthusiastic about this mayhem. and many 11-28s were simply placed in storage. Numerous Beagles were transferred to flying schools where they served alongside the 11-28U Mascot dedicated trainers until the mid-1980s. Others soldiered o n as target tuzs, also until the mid-1980s. Nearlv . all of the Soviet Union's defence districts had independent target-towing flight s or squadrons operating four to ten. and sometimes more. 11-28BMs. These were based at Novorossiya AB (Far East DOl. Berdyansk (Red Banner Odessa DO). Starokonstantinov (Carpathian DO). Tokrnak (Central Asian DO. 10th OBAZ): Zvolen (Czechoslovakia). etc. Moreover. the 11-28 got a new lease of life (if only briefly ) in the late 1960s and early 1970s when the post-Khruschev Soviet government headed by Leonid I. Brezhnev decided to revive the ground attack arm of the VVS (which was one o f the hardest-hit by Khruschevs reforms). A number of B eagles were converted to 11-28Sh ground attack aircraft. Up to a full regiment of these aircraft was based at Domna AB (Tran sbaikalian DO) and Kh oorba AB near Kornsorn olsk-on-Amur (Far Ea st DO). ~

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People's Liberation Army A ir Force lPLAAF) air bases in Manchuria . The aircraft wore PLAAF insignia but were fl own bv . Soviet crews. A second maj or batch of Soviet-built 11-28s was delivered in 1953. It is not known if the Beagles actually saw acti on in the wa r. but they did put in an appearance in N orth Korea . UN envoys monitoring prisoner-of-war excha nges reported Chinese bombers. including 11-28s. landing illegally on air bases near Pyongyang in direct violation of the truce agreement. A sho rt while later. however. the Beagle did see action during China 's last civil wa I' when the Chinese Nationalists led bv . C hiang Kai-shek claimed independence for Taiwan . In early January 1956 PLAAF 11-28s bombed the Tachen islands 360 km (200 nm) north o f Taiwan which the Nationalists were forced to abandon in February. • H owever. the high accident rate and the danger of being shot town by Republic of China Air Force (ROCAF) Republic F-84 Thunderjets and North American F -86 Sabres fo rced an end to these attacks. In the autumn of 1956 a large gro up of Soviet forces was deployed to Hungary to qua sh the anticommunist uprising in that co untry. M ore than 120 Beagles based in the Carpathian DO were placed on maximum alert duty. ready to launch strikes again st the insurgents. Fortunately this never happened. but Soviet Air Force 11-28Rs seco nded to the Special Corps tasked wit h quelling the mutiny did fly reconnaissance missions ove r Hun gary. One o f them was sho t d own by the rebels over Csepel Isl and on the Danube on 8 November 1956. killing the crew. On 18 D ecember the Supreme Soviet o f the USSR (the nati on's top governing body ) issued a decree granting the Hero of the Soviet U nion title posthumously to an 11-28 crew co nsisting of sq ua d ro n comma nder Capt. A. A. Bobrovskiy (pil ot l. Cap t. D. D. Karmishin (navigato r) and the sq uad ro n's chief of communications Lt . (sgj Y. Yeo Yartsev (gunner/radio operato r). It seems very probable th at it was the same crew. O n the o ther side. it is reported that a handful of Hungarian pilots who had sup ported the rebels made a few so rties fro m Kunmada ras A B. attacking Soviet troops who had built po ntoon bridges across the Ti sza River. Soo n. however. a ll Hungarian airbases were ove rr un by Soviet troops. a nd the rebels' flyin g ac tivities stopped. A nother a rea where the Il-28 saw action in the autumn of 1956 was the Middle East. Egy ptian Air Force (EAF ) Beagles first saw ac tion during the Suez C risis (26 Octo ber-7 November 1956). G reat Britain was th o roughly d ispleased with President ~

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The 11-28 at war The Il-2 8 had its fair share of ' hot" wars. the first o f which was the Korean War of 1950-3. C hina supported North Korea actively during the wa r. send ing the tell-tale one million vo lunteers (actually regular People's Liberati on Army troops) to the battlefields. This angered the USA badly en ough to make it promise strikes against C hina. including if C hinese forces crossed nuclear strikes if necessarv, • the 38th parallel at which the frontlin e had stabilized (this was eventually to become the demarcation line between North and South Korea). Not to be o utdone. C hina threatened to hit both South Korea and US bases in Japan if USAF aircra ft as much as ove rflew C hinese territory. To add weigh t to these words. 70 Il-28s were deployed on

-I O BAZ = oulcl'novc booksirovochnovc a viazvcno -: indepe nden t

[ta rge t-] towing n ight.

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ILY USHI N IL-28 B EAGL E

Garnal Abdel Nasser's independent political course: when Egypt nationalized the Suez Ca na l on 26 July 1956. this was the last straw. In co ncert with France and Egypt's arch-enemy. Israel. G rea t Britain took action. Acc ording to the plan. Israel wo uld start a n armed contlict with Egypt. then Great Britain a nd France would interfere on the pretext of ensuri ng the safetv of international traffic in the Suez Canal and occupy the area. Stage I. Ope ra tion Kadeslt (cleansina' in Hebrew ), was sched uled for 29 Oct ober-l overnber, and Stage 2. O pera tion Musket eer. for 1-7 November. EAF had taken deliverv of about fift v Bv then the • • • Beagles but only o ne sq uadro n ope ra ting twelve aircraft was fully combat-capable. Two ot her squadrons had on ly j ust been formed before the fighting bega n. a nd the crews had not yet ma stered the new jet bombers. Co nseq uently the Il-28 was used in the co ntlict on a small sca le. For instance. on the night of 3 1 Octo be r o ne o f the Beagles bombed an Israeli kibbutz named Geze r. A n Israeli Defence Force/Air Fo rce (IDF/AF - Hevl Ho 'aviri G los ter Meteor N FI3 took off to intercept the intruder but could not find the target in the darkness. On the same day a group of Il-28s ra ided Lod airbase but the bombs missed their target. explod ing near the Jewish sett lement o f Ramat-Rachel. The EAF top commanders fu lly rea lized th at . with no qualified crews to fly them . the Beagles wo uld be sitt ing ducks and a lucrative target for the Angl o-French strike force. Hence President Nasser ordered the EAFs assets to be d ispersed to rem ote and Sa udi A rabia. (It bases or relocated to Svria • was just as well that he did: on the night o f I Novem ber Great Brita in and France launched Operation Musketeer as plan ned . RAF bombers detached to Luqa. Ma lta . and Royal Navy strike aircraft fro m the ca rriers HM S A lbion. HMS Eagle and H MS Bulwark attacked Egy ptian airbases in the Suez Cana l a rea .) Twent y 11-28s were fl own to the Roya l Sa udi A ir Fo rce (RSAF ) base at Riyadh by Soviet and Czech crews: the o ther 24 o r 28 Beagles moved to Luxo r. Egypt's so uthe rn most airba se. where they were supposed to be sa fe. This assumption turned out to be wrong: o n 4 Novem ber RAF English Electric Ca nberras bombed Luxor. forcing the evacuation of eight mo re 11-28s to Saudi Arabia . On the same day the base was attacked by French Air Force (A1"II/(' e de FAir) Republic F-84F Thunderjet fighter-bombers: the French claimed the destruction of everv . single aircra ft at the base but the EAF acknowledged the loss of only seven . bombers. Sporadic armed incidents between Egy pt and Israel continued between the Arab- Israeli wars. ~

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Com bat aircraft took part in these o peratio ns: for exa mple. U nited A rab Republic A ir Force (UA RA F) 11-28s fle w severa l night reconnaissance missi ons over the Israeli sea port of Eilat in December 1958. In 1959 Chinese Il-28s saw action aga in when the government forces ruthlessly stam ped o ut an ethnic minority uprising in Tibet. Apa rt from that. the Beagles were used in numerous skirmishes with the over the Strait of Tai wanese Natio na lists - mostly • Tai wan . Some so urces suggest that Il-28Rs a nd HZ-5 s actuallv overfl ew the island o n reconnais• sa nce so rties: several o f these aircraft fell victim to N ike Ajax missiles, One C hinese Beagle. however. was lo st in a different way. On II November 1966 pilot Li H sienpin. navigat or/bomb aimer Li Tsai-wang and gunner/radi o operator Liang Pao-sheng o f the 22nd Bomber Reuirnent/Sth Bomber Division defected to Tai wan in an 11-28 seria lled 01 95 Yell ow. The three had conspired to defect long before the flight, joining the PLAAF and successfully passing the complex loyalty check system. The aircraft took o ff at noon from H angch ow coa stal airbase o n a routine practice bombing sortie. A fte r following the coastline for a while it turned and headed for Tai wan at full speed . C hinese fi gh ters scram bled a nd gave chase - too late. The Il-28 was quickly spotted by Taiwanese a ir defence radars: ROCAF Lockheed F- 104G Sta rfi zh ters to ok 011' to intercept. esco rt ing the bom ber to Taoyu an a ir base after the pilot had made his intentions clear by rocking the wings. The aircraft ove rran o n landing. collapsing the nose gear and damaging glazing: ..... ..... the nose ..... ..... all three crew members were injured. the gunner dying a day lat er. The defecti on was timed to coincide with the centenary celebration of Sun Yat-sen, the 'father o f the C hinese revolution' revered by both Communists and Nationalists. celebrated on 12 N ovember. Sure en ough. the Taiwanese and Western press created an almight y uproar. This was compounded by the pilot. who was the least injured in the crash landing. spea king at the Centennia l Rally the next day and den ouncing Red C hina and communism in general. Mean while. the unfortunate event was p romptly reported to the PLAAF HQ in Beijing. a nd retribution foll owed swiftly. The A ir Force ViceComma nde r Cheng C hung arrived at Hanuch ow on the sa me day and probably gave everyo ne a thoro ug. .h .dressin g-d own. A ll ni .....ghts fro m Hanzchow ...... ..... a nd ot her bases nearest to Tai wan were suspended until further notice. Apa rt from the nose sectio n. 0 195 Yellow was vi rtually intact. The Nationalists repaired a nd test fl ew -~

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TH E B E.iGL E IN SERVI CE '

the aircraft , then reportedly used it for reconnaissa nce flizht s over mainland China (some so urces sav the aircraft was handed over to the U SA for close exa m ina tion ). Shortly afterwards. the British model kit manufacturer A irfix relea sed a 1/72nd sca le m odel of the Beagle. (Speaking of which. a no ther kit of the Il-28 to the sam e scale from the C hinese company Trumpeter ha s appea red on the market recently.) In 1962 Nasser sent his combat aircraft (including Il-2 8s) to Yemen, extending militarv aid to the Republicans who had over thrown the king. At the sa me time the Soviet Un ion also suppo rted th e Republicans. supp lying them with a number o f Beagles. The Il-28s attacked the Roya lists' position s a nd flew reconna issance so rties: the Western press reported that they were fl own by both Yemeni and Soviet crews. (This may well be true. Soviet mi litary person nel participated in many regiona l contlicts in which the Soviet Union was not forma lly invol ved , a nd n ot only in a n advisory ca pacity. and that was someth ing the public back at home wa s definitely not su pposed to know!) Sometimes the bombers att acked the Saudi towns of Dha hran and N aj ran located next to the Yemeni border. In June 1966 a so li ta rv- Il-28 escorted bv UA RA F MiG-1 7Fs . bombed the RS AF base at Khamis M ushayt ; in the same m onth UA RA F Il-28Rs tlew reconnaissance missions over the Saudi seapo rt o f Qi zan. W hen the Six-Day War eru pted . however, a ll Egyptian troops had to leave Yemen because things were bad en ough back at home. ~

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The Il-28 saw act ion in A frica as well. In April 1967 a CO /IP d'e tat occur red in Nigeria and the corrupt government was toppled by Gen. Irons. C-in-C o f the N igeria n Armed Fo rces. T he next month. however, Irons was killed in a new CO/IP organized by Co l Oj ukwu, gove rno r of the Eastern province and one o f the leaders of the Ibo tribe. T he rebe ls declared their int ent ion to secede. form ing the socalled State o f Biafr a , named after a big ht in the G ulf o f G uinea. This immediately spa rked a bitter three-year civil wa r be tween the sepa ra tists and the federal government. The Fed eral N igerian Air Force (FNAF) orizinally used six impressed N igeria Airways Dougla s D C- 3s (ex- 5N-AA N. 5N-AAP. etc.) and twelve Czech-supplied Aero L-29 Delfin adva nced trainers against Co l Oj ukwus rebels in the light bomberlparad rop and strike ro les respectively. Pretty soo n. however. it obtained rea l combat aircra ft fro m Arab nat ions suppo rting the Islam ic govern ment in Lagos in its struggle against the C h ristia n Ibo sepa ra tists. Egypt was the first to extend help. supp lying 4 I M iG- 17Fs (misidentified as MiG -15s by some sources) and. together with A lge ria . six second-ha nd Il-28s in 1969. The bombers were fl own by Egyptian mercenary crews. O pe ra ting fro m Enugu and Kalabar, the Beagles bore the brunt o f the bombing missions but were reportedly found to be ineffecti ve. T hey certainly did not ve nt ure near the Biafran capital. Uli, which was well protected by tla k. Moreover. poor mission planning and th e lack of a clearly defined forward ~

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\Vhe n th e 11-28 was phased o ut, many of th ese bombers sat at Sov iet a irbases, awai ting disposa l. ( Yctin. Gordo" archive}

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I LY USHIN l L-2 8 B EI GLE

line of own troops (F LaT) sometimes res ulted in friendly forces being bombed! Sometimes the 11-18s we re used to escort the DC-3s o n bombing/pa rad rop so rties o r for st ra fi ng Biafran positions. In February 1969 a group o f DC-3s esco rt ed by 11-18s and MiG-15s paradropped sup plies and a m m unitio n for government forces surro u nded at O werri. When this didn't work a nd the D C-3s were temporarily unf1yable through f1 ak d ama ge. the federal forces com ma ndee red a Pan Africa n Ai rwavs D C-4 which had landed at • Po rt H a rco urt. loaded it with a m m unitio n and ordered the captain to f1y to Owerri. esco rted by an 11-18. H owever. the capta in co ntr ived a n engine ma lfunctio n. forci ng a retu rn to Port Harcourt which probably saved both a ircra ft and crew. The wa r presented no great danger for FNAF fighter pilots and bomber crews. since the Biafran A ir Force had no aircraft ca pable o f air-to-air combat. A ll the enemy could put up was Malmo M F I-9 B primary trainers conve rted int o makeshift attack ai rcraft. Flown by mercenary pilots led by the Swedish Cou nt Ca rl G us tav von Rosen. these ai rcraft were known loca lly as Minicons - p robably a corr up tio n of m ini-C al (cou n te r-ins urgency aircraft) - and could on ly a tt ack ground targets, which they d id wi th a mea sure o f success. Still. the accide nt rat e was rather high and all the Beagles were soo n grounded after being damaged in accid ents. O n 10 March 1969 o ne 11-18 st ruck trees during a low-level missi on a nd suff ered a n en gine fa il ure. m ak in g a successful forced landing at Port H a rcourt. A no the r Beagle veered off the strip at Po rt H a rco urt o n land in g. bu rning o ut the brakes and tyres, but was later repaired . On a no the r occasion an 11-18 was slig. . . ht lv d am aged at Enu uu bv . ..... ...."' Minicons b ut was later repa ired . In 1967 there was trouble in the Middle East aga in when the third A rab- Israeli wa r, cornmonlv . referred to a s the Six-Day War (')-10 June 1967). bro ke o u t. The Israelis had been planning thi s war long a nd ca refu lly - right d own to building fi ve mock Egyp tia n a irbases in the Negev D esert. where they consta n tly practised ra ids against the real thing. Wit hin a yea r a ll ID F/AF com bat sq uadro ns had passed a tra in ing co urse at these facili ties. Build ing on the resu lts of this tra ining, the Israeli high comma nd developed a pre-emptive a ttack plan know n as the Mo ked Plan . The combined a ir forces of the Arab nations o utnum bered the IDF/AF a lmost three times, so it was d ecided to destroy them o n the gro und rather than tangle with them in the a ir. The fi rst wave o f strike a ircra ft was to attack nineteen ai rfields deep in Egyptia n territory, knocking ou t the a ircra ft ba sed there. but it was decided to ~

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spa re the run ways at the four ba ses located on the Sinai Peninsula so that Israel i a ircra ft could use them. o nce the peninsula had been o ccupied. The fi rst strike was sched uled bet ween 08.3 5 a nd 09. 10, when the Egyptian lighters were not expected to be o u t o n combat air patrol and the base comm anders were usually not o n site. Thi s would be followed by three m ore waves o f strike aircraft which we re to destroy the greater part o f the Egyp tia n A ir Fo rce o n the ground by 14.00. A fte r that. the st rike force wo uld be redirected at a irbases in Svr ia, Jo rda n a nd • Iraq. By the sp ring o f 1967 it became clear that war was imminent: skir m ishes o n the Israeli-Syria n borde r in which both sides used heavy weapons a nd a irc ra ft we re becoming increasingly m ore frequ ent. O n 17 May Egypt sta rted concentrating troops o n the Israeli border; four days later Egypt and Israel called a m obilization of the armv reserve, a nd o n 11 • May President N asser declared the Suez Ca na l closed to Israeli ships. The Arab nati ons (Egypt. Sy ria , Jord an. Leba no n a nd Iraq ) had a total o f some 800 com bat aircraft at the sta rt o f the confl ict. This total includ ed 49 to 56 11-18s - 35 o r 40 in Egypt. ten in Iraq and fo ur to six in Syria. These aircraft a nd the Tu-1 6 Badger- A bombers (30 in Egypt. including some Tu-1 6KS-l mi ssile strike aircraft, and six in Iraq ) we re consid ered priorit y target s during th e planned air strikes. On the m orning o f 5 June a massive assa ult was la unched against A rab airbases. A mo ng o ther things. 18 EAF 11-18s were d est roved . o n the grou nd at Ras-Ban as A B a nd Luxor. O ne m ore Beagle and its lighter esco rt (pro bably M iG - 17 Fs) we re shot d own by H evl Ha 'a vir D a ssault M ystere IVs while a ttacking Israeli troops a dva ncing o n a t El'A rish , The Syrian A ir Force lost two 11-18s o n the gro u nd. In February 1968 the 11-18 first put in a n a ppea rance in Vietnam , when three Beagles were d epl oyed to Fukien AB. 30 km (1 8 miles) north-west o f Hanoi. It wa s believed they were to su p po rt the large-scale Viet Con z off ensive launched a fte r the U SA had sto p ped the first series o f bom bi ng att acks o n Vietnam (the Tet o ffensive), bu t the II-18s did not participate in this operation. No rm a lly the Beagles were based in so uthern C hina ; if the U S in te ll igence service repo rted the p resence o f these a ircra ft o n a ny Nort h Viet na mese airfield, the airfields in question wou ld be pou nded with cluster bombs loaded with pellets. In 19 7 1 the N orth Vietnamese 11 -18s did see action. supporting the Vietnamese People's A r my and the Pathet La o gu errilla s in La o s. Soviet a ir men to ok part in these o peratio ns, to o; pilot Berko ot ov a nd navigat or/bomb aimer Kh achemizov were even ~

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A r mo ure rs load la rge-calibre H E bombs int o a regim ent of PL AAF 11-28s. C hinese Beagles a lso had their share of lightin g. ( Chill a A ircrat t )

awarded the title of Hero of the Vietname se People 's Army. August 1968 added ano ther shameful page to the II-28's biography when Beagles were used, along with other Soviet Air Force aircraft, to suppress the mutin y in Czechoslovakia. Specifically these were 7th FBAP bomb ers from Starokonstantinov, and possibly 11-28R reconn aissance aircraft from Schu chin (Beloru ssian DO ). Skirmishes between Israel and Egypt continued after the Six-Day War unt il 1970. EAF 11-28s participated actively in these clashes, flying reconnaissance missions over Israeli territ or y: two of them were sho t down between 10 July and I August 1970. One more example was lost in a "friendly fire' incident in March 1970 when an 11-28BM towing a sleeve-type target was destroyed by an S-125 Koob (Cub e: NATO SA-3 Gainful ; surface-to-air missile: the missile system was mann ed by a Soviet crew und er N. M. Kootynt sev. Of cour se a scanda l erup ted: to mak e matt ers worse one of the airm en

who had perished in the shoo tdown was a member of one of the Arab royal families. However, using the missile system's da ta recording equipment. Koot yntsev proved that the air defence crews had not been inform ed of the bomb er's mission and the II-28's IF F tran spond er was out of order. Furthermore, a grou p of four Heyl Ha 'avir McDonn ell Douglas F-4E Phantom lIs had crossed the Suez Canal, formatin g with the Beagle, then heading back at ultra-low level. As a result. the missile team misidenti fied the Il-28 as the leader of an Israeli strike group and opened fire. The Egyptia ns had to admit the Soviet officer was right. Iraqi Air Force Il-28s were used opera tionally in the late 1960s and in the first six mont hs of 1974 in Sadda m Hussein's relentless war with the Kurdish minority living in the north of Iraq and striving for sovereignty. Th e Kurdish rebels claimed one bomb er shot down in April 1974. Acco rding to some repor ts, Soviet Air Force Il-28Sh strike aircraft were used operationally

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I LYUSHIN I L-2 8 B EAGLE

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t China Aircratt )

during the Sino-Soviet a rmed confl ict around Dam an skiy Island on the Amur River in the early 1970s. In the late 1970s the bloody regime of Pol Pot used a handful of Beagles (p robably C hinese-built H-5s) aga inst the opposition forces headed by Heng Samrin, who became head of the government after Pol Pot was ousted . One of the 11-28s was reportedly sho t down: two more were captured intact at Pochentong AB near Phnom Penh on 7 January 1979 when the base was overrun by Vietnamese troops suppo rting the oppositio n. The Afghan War was the last conflict in which the venerable bomber participated . Despite its age, it turned out to be well suited for this war, thanks to its rugged depend ability in the harsh conditions of Afgha nista n, with its ill-equipped airfield s and pervasive dust. Unexpectedly, the seemingly archaic man ned tail gunner's station turned out to be quite useful: the gunner wo uld fire at enemy troops on the ground, disco uraging attacks with sho ulderlau nched surface-to-air missiles. The efficiency of this tact ic ca n be judged by the fact that not a single Afghan Air Force 11-28 was lost to the 1\1 ujahidin rebels ' air defences. However, the Beagles were lost one night in Januarv . 1985 in a way. that was not ~

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uncommon during the Afghan War. Trait ors among the Afgha n personnel of Shindand A B who had been bought off by the rebels blew up eleven of the bombers: the flame s quickly sp read to the other aircraft and the 335th Composite A ir Regiment ceased to exist. In 1985 an other Chinese Il-28 ab sconded , this time to South Korea . The crew was less lucky this ti me; the aircraft was totally destroyed while attempt ing a forced landing in a field, killing the gun ner a nd a local farmer. Finn is h 11-28Rs were used a lot for snooping around the Soviet border. (Fin land was on friendly terms with the Soviet Union, but that did not stop the Finns from spyingl) The neighbour's Beagles were a constant so urce of annovance for the Soviet • Air Defence Force (PVO - Protivovozdooshnaya 0 /)0 ,.0//(/ ) fighter regiments stationed in the a rea . As soon as the air defence radars detected a n aircra ft heading towards the border from Finland , fighters wo uld scra mble to intercept. Realizing they had been detected, the Finnish crew would fl .v along the border on their side, while the Soviet fighters would do the same on their side, firrnlv . indicatin g that the neighbours sho uld 'keep their pooch off our lawn' . Then the 11-28 would ostensibly give up a nd head ~

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into Finnish ter ritory: as soon as the fighters, too , headed back to base, the spyplane wou ld pop back up . By then the fighters would be getting critically low o n fuel a nd had no choice but to head for home, the ang ry pilot s radioing to base to urgently send a relief cre w. The I1-28R 's lo ng end ur ance (thanks to its tip tanks) a llowed the Finns to play thi s game of tag .

S urvivors As alrea dy recounted, h uge numbers of II-28s were wanto nly de stroyed beca use of Khruschev's missilization idea s or ende d up as AAA a nd gunner y targets. Others sim ply ro tte d away at va rious bases, waiting to be scrapped: for insta nce, the hu lk of an I1-28 was prese nt at Kubinka A B near Moscow unti l at least 1997, and several dozen were d umpe d at Ta mbov whe n th e T VVAUL re-eq uipp ed with the Tupo lev Tu-134U BL Crusty- B trai ner. Fortunately several exa mp les of thi s sleek bomber have been preserved for po ster ity. The co llecti on of the Soviet Air Force M useum in Monino nea r M oscow incl ude s Il-28 04 Red (c/n 5300577 1): int erestin gly, thi s a ircra ft origina lly sported ten missio n markings on the nose . Another M oscow-bu ilt Beagle (10 Red , c/n 650 10809 ) is pre served in the Soviet Ar med Force s Mu seum in M oscow. An Om sk -built example (01 Red , c/n 36603807) is on display in the open-air aviation museum at Kh od ynka a irfield in the centre of Mo scow: at one

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time th is aircraft featured crude nose a rt depicting Santa Cla us a nd Cheburashk a (a ca rtoo n cha rac ter) on the sta rbo a rd side. An I1-28 cod ed 07 Red is on display at the Naval Air Arm Mu seum in Sa fon ovo near Severom or sk-I A B (M urrnansk Region ). An Om sk-b uilt example cod ed 85 (c/n 56606201) is a ground instruction al airframe at th e Samara State Aviati on U niversity (SG AU - Samarskiy gosoodarstve nnyy aviat seeonnyy ooniversitet: formerly KuAI - Kuibyshev Aviati on Institute). On e exa mp le coded 30 Red is d ispla yed on a plinth outside the Air Force 's Aircraft O verh aul Plant No . 712 in Chelyabin sk , which refurbished I1-28s. Others prob ab ly surv ive as gate guard s on various Russian airbase s. A few more Il-28s are o n display in the aviation mu seum s of Bulgaria , Czec hia , Finland, Hunga ry, Poland and Rom an ia.

*** Th e I1-28 has been apt ly described by one Russian a uthor as 'a successful design that was always o ut of luck ' . Even though the II-28's co mba t pot enti al was no t used to the full. it was thi s type that int roduced jet aircraft and all-weather ca pability to the bomber element of the Soviet Air For ce and several other a ir a rms. The I1-28 help ed to train hundreds of first-class naval pilot s. Western aviatio n experts gave the Beagle du e credit. describing it as a masterpiece of Soviet a ircra ft de sign .

• B EAGLES WORLD-WIDE

- he 11-28 was o perated by 25 nations in Euro pe. Asia (includ ing SE Asia ). Africa and the Middle East. Second -hand aircraft were a lso exported . which incidentall y saved a few I1-28T torped o-bombers from the torch .

Afghanistan A number o f o bsolete I1-28 bo mbers phased o ut by the VVS were delivered to the Royal Afgha n A ir Force in 1969. Reports o n the number o f a irc raft supplied va ry considerably, rangi ng fro m twelve a ircraft (one sq uad ro n ) to 45 a irc ra ft (three sq ua dro ns ). The Beagles were most ly based at Mazar-e Sharif where most o f the Soviet mili ta ry• adv isers were stat io ned . The 11-28s were probably used o pera tio na lly by the Afghan Republica n A ir Force tAfglum H auai Quraln at the o pe ning stages of the Afg ha n civil wa r (i.e, pri or to the Soviet invasio n ). O nlv. o ne a ircraft wea rin g the seria l 163 Black a nd ea rly-style red ro undels with yellow Dari script has been identified: it was o pera ted by the 335th Com posite Air Regiment at Shindand in the summer o f 1979. A ll of the unit's 11-28s were destroved • o n the ground in Januarv . 1985. ~

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Force (A I 0111 I'l vat al-Jawwi.va al-Ja:a 'erivalForce . Aerienne A lgerienne ; via Egypt. wit h which A lgeria was cl osely a llied: direct deliveries might have caused unfavourable political consequences for the Soviet Union. These aircraft probably participated in the clash with Morocco in 1963. Another twel ve Beagles were delivered directly from the USS R a fter the 1965 mil ita ry coup when the new government (which was even mo re pro-Soviet) req uested addi tional milit ary a id. Nea rly a ll t he Beagles were unserviceable by 1979, a nd the few which rem ained operatio na l were relegated to secondary d uties.

Bulgaria The Bul ga ria n Air Force (BVVS - Bolgarski Voycnno Vozdooshui Seeli; o pera ted va rio us versio ns of the Beagle. Around 36 11-28s were based at Tol bukh in A B in the north-east o f the countrv: • these included four I1-28R rec onnai sance a ircra ft , a fe w 11-28T torped o-bombers and two 11-28 U trainers. A dozen aircraft m odified for electronic wa rfa re duties were reportedly still o pera tio na l in 1981. Onlv o ne aircraft, coded 43 Red (c/n ... 2504). has • been identified so far: it is o n display at the Bulga ria n Air Force M useum (Graf Igna tiev AB. Plovdi v ).

Albania The Albanian People's Repu blic Air Fo rce i Forca t Ush tarake Ajore Sliquipetare, later renamed A viacione Uslttarak Shquipetare ; took delivery o f a n unspecified number of C hinese-built H arbin H-5s. Three aircraft seria lled 026, 29 a nd 3608 have been identified to date: the last example bel o nged to the 4020th (formerly 7594th ) Aviation Regiment based at Rinas AB near the Albanian capita l, T ira na , a nd rem ained o peratio na l until 1993. (In some so urces the A lba nia n name has been rendered as A viatik a Militar e Rep ublik a Popullore I.' S hquiperise. s

Algeria

China Com m unist C hi na was by far the largest foreign o pera to r of the type. Deliveries to the Peo ple's Liberati on A r my A ir Fo rce (PLAAF, o r Chung-k uo S hell M ill Tate-Fang- Tsun Pu-tah sta rted in 1952. By 1956 the PLA A F inven tory incl uded more than 250 Soviet-built 11-28s. This number was furt her expa nded when prod uc tion of the Beagle and Mascot as the H-5 a nd HJ- 5 respectively sta rted at Ha rbin . R AT- 57 to rped oes for the 11-2S were also manufactured loca llv. • M ore than 300 I1-28s were in serv ice bv the end of • 1964, not counting 11-28 Us (a tot al figure o f 400plus has been reported in service wit h twel ve tactical bomber regiment s). T heir principal role was to be o n ready al ert and intimidate the Taiwanese atio nalists. M ore than 100 11-2&s we re transferred to the naval a ir arm (P LANA F) a nd converted ~

The Soviet Unio n bega n providing military assistance to A lgeria in 1962, right a fte r the countrv ga ined independence from France. Initia lly twelve 11-28 bombers were delivered to th e A lgerian A ir ~

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BEAGLES W ORLD-WIDE '

93

PLA NAF as the H-6 IV armed with C-60 1 Silkworm missiles - C hinese copies of the K-1 6/NATO AS -5 Kelt.

into torped o-bombers simila r to early Soviet conversions. This was at a time whe n a marine assa ult fro m Tai wan was considered a distinct possibili ty in mainland C hina, K nown PLA AF 11-28s are li sted in Table 16. The mea ni ng of PLAAF seria ls is o bsc ure. but in the case of five-d igit serials the first two digits may be a code denoting one of the eleven defence di stricts. the fo urth di git a unit code. while the third a nd fifth d igi ts make up the individual number o f the aircraft in the unit. C hinese 11-28s usu ally had dark green upper surfaces and pale blue undersurfaces. but who le unit s a re known to have been equipped with natu ral metal (or silver-pa inted ) aircraft.

Czechoslovakia

~

The first three 11-28s were delivered to the Czech Air Force (CzA F. o r CV L - Ceskoslovenske J'ojenske Letect vo i in January 1955: the type was intended to replace the obsolete Aero C-3 (the Czech designation of Siebel Si 204Ds used as bomber trai ners). Four Soviet instruct ors (su rna mes Tsilin. Yershov, Lisitski y a nd Salazkin ) sta rted tra ining the first ten crews o n 9 February. The Czechs were quick on the uptake. a nd the three a ircra ft participated in the VE-Day air parade on 9 May in the same yea r. llown by Czech crews (fl ight leader M aj .

~

The Beagle remained in service until the late 1990s (300 H- 5s a nd HZ-5s were reportedly still o n strength with the PLAAF and 150 torpedobombers with the PLANAF in 1997). though it was grad ua lly su pe rseded by Tu-1 6 bombers and Tu-1 6K-II-1 6 anti-shipping missile carriers. The latter type was built in Xian (without the benefit of a licence ) as the H -6. a nd so ld iers o n with the

K oncir).

On 17 September 1955 ten 11-28s escorted by fight ers took part in the Aviation Day llypast in front o f th e Czech government. d ro pping live bombs on 'enemy fortificati ons' (!) . However. the perform ance was a lmost overshadowed by a

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A busy scene at a Chinese airbase, with numero us H-5 s get ting ready for the day's fl ight training. ate the serviceman in the foreground who has li vened up his khaki att ire with a decidedly non- regulation straw hat! t Chinu Aircrutt )

94 ·

I LY USHIN I L-2 8 B EAGLE

Table 16. Known PLAAF 11-28s Serial

Cln

Version

61 Red 0031 Red 013 1 Red 0194 Red 0195 Yellow

')

Il-28U 11-28 Il-28 11-28 Il-28

0986 Red 111 0 Yellow 1206 Red 121 0 Yellow 1400 Red 1402 Red 1403 Red 1471 Red 151 0 Red 1512 Red 1513 Red 161 8 Yellow 171 8 Red 1801 Red 101 98 Red 10692 Red 305 18 307 10 307 11 307 12 307 13 307 14 307 15** 307 16** 307 17 307 18 307 19** 30810 30811 30812 308 13 ** 30814 308 15 43050 Red 43684 Red 43693 Red 44690 Red 45552 Red 630 19 Red none none

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4149 54120

Il-' 8 11-28 11-28 11-28 11-28 Il-28 11-28 11-28 Il-28 Il -28 11-28 I1-28 11-28 Il-28 Il-28 HJ-5 (I1-28U) Il-28* Il-28* Il-28* Il-28* 11-28* Il-28* Il-28* I1-28* 11-28* 11-28* Il-28 * 11-28* 11-28* 11-28* I1-28* 11-28* I1-28* Il-28 H-5 H-5 Il-28 Il-28 HJ-5 (I1-28U) Il-28 (H-5?) 11-28 (H-5?)

Notes: * Exact version not known (may be H-5). ** Existence not proved but likely.

Notes

Natural metal Ha ngchow AB: green with blue undersurfaces. Defected to Taoyuan AB, Taiwan. 11- 11-66: preserved Natural metal Green with blue undersurfaces Natural metal Green with blue undersurfaces Natura l metal Natural metal Nat ural metal G reen with blue undersurfaces G reen with blue undersurfaces Natural metal Natura l metal G reen with blue undersurfaces: unconfirmed (drawing only) Natural metal Natural metal Natural metal. Preserved PLAAF Museum. Datangshan AB Natural metal. Preserved PLAAF Museum

Natural metal Natural metal Natural metal: sometimes re po rted in erro r as 11 -28U Preserved PLAAF Muse um. two-tone blue camo uflage with white undersurfaces: no n-sta nda rd nose Nat ural metal Natural metal. Preserved PLAAF Museum Nat ural metal. Preserved PLAAF Museum •

B EAGLES W ORLD- WID E ·

95

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A Czech Air Fo rce IPS (o r Avia B-2')S) in pre-1 957 markings. ( RA R Ti

fo rmat io n of 31 C-3s shaped like a hammer and sick le. The o rganizers o f the flypast had probably wa nted to show that aircraft which had done sterlin g service make way for new types. but the implicatio n was j ust the opposite - the o ld guard never surrenders. it only di es! The bomber units eq uipped with 11-28s became fully operationa l by October 1955 . Until the mid1960s the Czechs had a habit of red esignating foreign military aircraft in Czech AF service. For exa mple. the Messerschmitt Bf 109G was the S-99 (the Bf 109G-12 trainer was the CS-99 ). the Mi G-15bis Fagot-B was built as the Aero S-I 02 (and the UT I-M iG -15 Midget as the CS- I02 ). etc. As a lrea dy mentioned. Czech-built 11-28 bombers and 11-28U trainers were designated B-228 and C B-228 respectively. Besides the bomber version (sometimes referred to as the 11-28B by the Czechs ) a nd the 11-28U trai ne r. the Czech A F had so me 11-28RTR ELI NT ai rcraft. The a ircra ft were p rogressively modified: e.z. the nose guns were removed and new avionics installed in 1959- 60. Some a ircraft were fitt ed with empty shell collecto r cases under the tail turret. A t least one bomber was converted locally into a n ELI NT or EC M aircraft. This was cha racterized by large cylind rica l pods at the wingtips resembling the ~

~

11-28R's d rop tan ks. T he fro nt and rear portions of these pods were dielectric a nd pa inted dark blue. Initially Czec h military aircraft and helicopters had a lp ha -numeric serials consisting of one or two letters and two fi gures: the letters were a code denoting the squad ro n to which the aircra ft belonged. 11-28s were allocated serials in the A D. BA. C D. DE. ER Fe. FH . GO. LR PK. P U, PX . RL. TH blocks and possibly others. The seria l was painted on the forward fuselage in huge characters. A different system was introduced in mid-1 957. with four-digit serials matching the last four of the a ircraft's const ruction number: the seria l was now painted o n the rear fuselage. U ntil 1960 Czech Beagles continued appea ring at airsh ows. For example. the 1956 VE-Day pa rade featured a fl ypast by no fewer than sixteen 11-28s. The grand show staged in Prague-Ruzyne airport on 2 September 1956 was opened by a format ion of three 11-28s led by M aj . H ajek a nd closed by an other 11-28 escorted by four M iG - 15s. followed by three vies of three Beagles. Business comes first. however. and the crews kept training. Training was not limited to home ground : in June 1956 nine aircraft were deployed to Hungary and nine more to East G ermany to participate in Warsaw Pact military exercises. acting as aggresso r a ircra ft. To this ~

~

96·

I LYUSHI N I L- 2 8 B L/GI. E

This Czech Air Force I1-28U (o r Avia C B-228 ) carries no alpha-numeric serial on the forward fuselage, showing that th e picture was taken aft er 1957, when the four-digit serials on the a ft fuselage were introd uced . I R.IR TJ

end they were suitably marked by a blue or red stripe a round the rear fu selage. Czechoslova kia also served as a training ground for Beagle crews from Egypt, Syria. Ind onesia , Nigeria and a few more countnes. ~

•

The basic bomber was retired in 1965. The trainers and reconnaissance versions remained in service until 1973. By 1977 all Czech 1I-28s, except four aircraft displayed at the Military Museum at PragueK bely airport, had either been scrapped or had ended up as target d rones or gunnery targets at practice ranges. Czech sportsme n also used the 1I-28 for setting several world reco rds. The idea was born when the Czechs won every possible medal at the 3rd World Skydiving Championship held at M oscow-Tushino in 1956; the catch-phrase of the day was "T he students have surpassed the teachers'. Of course, the winners were treated like national heroes. Among other things. they had an audience with the

then President of Czechoslovakia. Ant onin Zapotocky who asked them in a private conversation what he could do for them. Seizing the opportunity. absolute world champi on Gustav Koubek said they would like to make a jump from high altitude in order to glorify their homeland, but o nly the Air Force had aircraft which could take them high enough - specifically the 1I-28 bomber. which could accommodate a team of skydivers in the bomb bay. The President tasked the Mini ster o f Defence Lomsky with providing assistance; the minister gave appropriate orders to the Czech Air Force Cvin-C, Lt-Gen . Josef Vosah lo. Apparently the military were not overjoyed abo ut thi s unexpected task , let alone the prospect o f letting civilian s use their aircraft. Since this was a presidential task. they could not just give Koubek and his team the brush-off Hence thev tried to sca re the unwanted guests o ff At the first meeting with Li-Gen. Vos{l!110 the sportsmen got bawled o ut by his aides, who kept telling them they would get ~

B EAGLES W ORL D- WIDE '

97

Table 17. Known CzAF 11-28s Serial

Cln

Version

A D-31 A .. .-81 BA-lO? BA-II(1) BA-II (2 ) 6926 C D- IO

')

5677 5 569')6

11-28 (B-228'!) 11-28 (8- ')') 8) 11-28U (CB-228?) 11-28 (B-228) 11-28RTR (B-228)

650 1050 1'1

IP8U

'J•

•

11-28 (B-')')8'1 ) 11-28 (B-228?) 11-28 (B-228) 11-28 (B-228?) 11-28R (B- ')')8'1)

1904 21 07 2303'1

1904 52107 52303'1

11-28 11-28 (B-228) 11-2 8R (8-228)

2309'1 2404

52309? ...2404'1

11-28 11-')8RT

3303 69 15 not known

53303 569 15 54665

IP8RT (B-228) 11-28 (B-228) 11-28 (B-2') 8)

•

5701 9 'J•

0501

D E-50 D E-51 TH-14 PK-30 PU-12

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Notes Reserialled 70 19'1

Fate unkn own: see next line Reserialled to, sec below • Preserved Czech aerospace museum (VM VH U)*. Prag ue-Kbely Cln reported as 650•I0050 I - misq uote? Reseriulled to. see below Preserved VM VH U

•

Preserved VM VH U • Reported preserved VM VH U but possible confusion with 3303. see below Unconfi rmed (drawing only) Preserved Nadace Letecke H istoricke Spoleinosti J )·'.I:kol' (Vyskov Aviation Historical Society Collection). Slatina. Co uld be B-228 • c/n 52404 • Preserved VM VH Engine testbed Possibly seria lled 4665

Note: • * VM VH U = Vojenske III1 C el/1I1 Vojenskeho historickeho ustavu -: Military Museum of the Mili tary Historical Society.

inci nerated by the engine ex ha us t. o r freeze like rabbi ts a t high a ltit ude. o r get smashed to death again st the a ircra ft's fuselage by the slipstrea m . o r their lungs wo uld burst and they wo uld suffoca te. But Koubek and his team wo uld not be put off that easily and demanded persist ently that a test with a dummy be performed at first. Grudgingly the military had to agree. The spo rtsmen got their first look at th e 11-28's bom b bay a t Mlada A B. Milovice, discussing the modifications which needed to be made to the airc ra ft with the local technicians. An 11-28 seria lled TH-14 was eq uipped with a cine-came ra mounted a hea d of the bom b bay to check how the dummy wo uld travel a fte r leaving the bay. Later. live jumps were m ade by A ir Force parachutists Bilek (first name unknown) and Leopold O zabal. Meanwhile. the spo rts men were preparing in ea rnes t for the record attempt. Special heat-insulated and wind proo f clothing. including face masks o f the kind wo rn by a n ti-terro rist troops. was made to protect them from the slipst ream and th e killing

cold of the stratosp here. The parachut ist s trained in a pressure cha mber. with physicians monitoring their health: two of the candidates fa iled to pass thi s test. Then the aircraft's bomb bay d oo rs were lined with thick felt to reduce the risk of inj uries. special suspension belts were inst alled as a safety measure to restrain the parachutist s until the ai rcraft climbed to a sa fe altitude. and the bomb bay was fit ted o ut with an oxygen system. an interco m. ligh ts a nd add itional cameras. Prior to the record a ttempt the skyd ivers made two training j umps from 6.000 m (1 9.685 It ) and 9.000 m (29.527 ft ), An unexpected complication a rose on the latter occasion - the ba rograph s which were to reco rd the a ltitude during the jump froze a nd failed. A special fro st -resistant lu bri ca nt had to be developed urgently a nd all o f the parach utist s' eq uipment (a ltimeters. ba rographs. chrono meters. oxygen kits ) were tested at - 60°C (- 76°F) a nd simulated altitudes up to 13.000 m (42.65 1 rn. Incident ally. each man's equipment. togeth er with the PTCH -3 parach ute. weighed 60 kg ( 132Ib ).

98'

I LYUSHI N I L- 2 8 B EI GI. E

A n Eas t Ge rma n 1l-2SR abo ut to begin its lake-all' run . ( IU UTJ ~

At 08.07 on 21 M arch 1957. 11-28 TH-14 piloted by Jaroslav Hajek took 011' fro m Ml ad a A B. accompanied by a UT I-I'vtiG - 15 Midget trainer as a camera ship. When the bomber cl imbed as high as it would go. doi ng 550 km/h ()97 kt) . at 08.55 th e skv. divers Jaroslav Jehl icka, Zdenek Kaplan a nd G ustav Kou bek left the bomb bay• at 12.850 m (42. 158 It) a nd fe ll 11.664 m (38,267 ft) before opening their parachut es. No t satisfied wit h this remark abl e achievement th e sa me tri o decided to make a seco nd stra tosphe ric jump - at night. A t 21.1 5 o n 17 M arch they too k 011' fro m M lada A B in th e sa me a ircra ft. leaving it at 2 1.56 at a n altitude of 12.51 8 m (4 1.069 ft ) and fa lling 12.082 m (39.639 It) before opening thei r pa rachutes. Specia l searchligh ts were set up on the ground. shini ng vert ically into th e sky to tell the pilots when and where to drop the skyd ivers. ~

~

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East Germanv• The LS K/LV tLu ft streitkriiite und Luftverteidigung der Deutsclien Deniokrat ischen Republik - A ir Force a nd Air Defence Force of the Germa n Dem ocratic Republic ) used the 11-28 exclusively fo r ta rget-t ow-

ing duties. To this end the 3rd Steffe ! (squad ron) o f J F G I (lagd/liegergesch ll'(uler - fight er wing ) at Cott bus was reorganized in Februarv . 1959 as ordered by East Ger ma ny's mini ster o f defen ce. The sq uadro n's first a nd second /light s continued to opera te PZL Lim-5 (Po lish-built MiG -1 7F FrescoC) dav . lighters a nd Lim-5P (Po lish-built MiG-1 7PF Fresco-D ) all-weather int erceptors, ' while the third /light was initially equipped with two 11-28s serialled 190 Black and 196 Black. To this end four LSK/LV pil ots took conversi on training in Co tt bus o n I Februarv-4 . M arch. while two navigat ors and three radio o pe rato rs underwent theoretical trainin g at the Soviet A ir Force's II th OR AP totdel'nvv raz vedyva tel'nvv a viapolk - independent reco nna issa nce regiment) statio ned a t e u-Welzow A B. Sho rt lv• afte rwa rds 3/JFG I was transformed into Z D S 21 t Zieldarstellungssto ffel - target-towing sq uadro n ).' The unit became full y opera tio na l in the ~

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1 Lim = liccnrvjny mvsliwiec - licence-built fighter. 2 Some Ge rman sources claim that the I1 -28s remai ned on stren uth with J F G 1 unti l Decem ber 1959.

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B EACiI.ES W ORL D- WI DE ·

spring of 1960. providing target practice primarily for Volksarinee (People's Ar my) AA gunners firin g anything from 14.5 rnrn (.57 cali bre) machine-gun s to 57 mm S-60 rad ar-directed a utoma tic AA gun s. The latter were noted for their high accu racy. o fte n shooting t he towed 'sock' right off Target practice took place a t the Z ingst AAA range on the Baltic Sea coast. 11-28 target tugs were used to train East German Navy ( Vo lksniarine s gunners as well; their ta sks incl uded dro p ping tlare bombs which were used as targets by AA gunners (!) . LSK/LV fight er pil ots were to join the fun later o n. practising attacks o n low-Ilying ta rgets. O f course great ca re was taken to ensure t he target tugs wo uld not be hit by friendly fi re. A single 11-28U was delivered in 1961 for crew train ing. The location of Z DS 2 1 cha nged severa l times: at one time th e unit operated from Drewitz A R not far fro m Cottbus. F ive more 11-28s were transferred fro m the II th O RA P to ZDS 21 at this base in 1962. Afte r 1972 the unit was permanently based in Peenemunde. In due time the unit was renumbered . becoming Z DS 33; on I December 1981 it was demoted to ZDK 33 (Zieldarstelhmgskette target-towing flizht ). Origina lly the East Germa n 11-28s were painted ~

~

silver overa ll, but some ai rcraft were later repainted in a camoutlage scheme wi th da rk green/dark ea rth upper surfaces a nd light blue undersurfaces. The 11-28s served witho ut inciden t un til 1982. when thev • were replaced by Czech-built Aero L-39V Albat ros target tuzs and KT-04 towed ta rgets. The last aircra ft. serialled 208. wa s retired on 20 October 1982 a nd preserved at the LSK/LV offi cers' tlying school in Bautzen (Offizierhochschule Fran: Mehring) . East German 11-28s were a lso used to test new models of parachutes. Before a test j umper co uld risk his life. a tin dummy fi lled with sa nd wo uld be d ropped from an 11-28 at va rio us speed s and altitudes. ~

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L

Egypt (United Arab Republic; Arab Republic of Egypt)

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The Egyptia n A ir Force (EAF. o r al Qu wwat alJawwiya il-Misriyai took delivery o f it s first Beagles in December 1955. orde ring about fifty 8 -228s and C B-228s from Czechoslovakia . T he ai rcraft were based at Ca iro-West A B. Afte r the Suez C risis of 1956. in which at least seven of these bombers were lost. President Garna l Abde l Nasser launched a m ajor programme to re-equip his armed forces: this included the acq uisition of m o re Beagles. In March

~

Table 18. East German 11-28s Seria l

C/n

Version

Notes

II ???

...'1002

11-28

180 Black

...90 14 18

11-28R

184 Black

5901'107

11-28R

190 Black 193 Black

5500693 7 650 1031]')

11- '1 8 11-28U

Serial.as repo rted but do ubtful; latest German publications do not confirm existence of this aircraft in East Germanv! • Ex DDR-ZZI (engine testbed. VEB Entwicklungsbau Pima) , transferred 1-11-61. WF U Oranienburg AS '1 -'1-76: SOC* 25-6-79. scrapped Ex DDR-ZZK (engine testbed. VES Entwicklungsbau Pima), transferred 1-11-61. WF U Oranienburg AB '1 -'1-77: SOC '15-6-79. sc rapped DID 1959. SOC I"I- I0-82. scrapped DID 1961. Cln repo rted as 610311. Ca m o u fl aged , SOC 30-3-79. became a target at the aunnerv ran ge in Peeneruiin de DID 1959. Crashed 30-7-71 DI D 12-1 -62. Crashed in Poland I'1 -10-63 DID 1962 . Cras hed in the USSR ')-5-69: SOC 30-5-70 DID 1962. Camo ufl aged . SOC 13- 10-82. preserved Bautzen Museum this date DID 1962. SOC 9-12- n . scrapped DID 1962. Crashed at Peenemiinde 4-2- 70: SOC 30-7-71 .....

196 Black '1 04 Black 'lOS Black '1 08 Red **

55006944 4404426 54006279 55006448

11- '1 8 Il-28 Il-28 11-28

224 Black 226 Black

55006445 550064 17

Il-28 11-28

....

0'

"-

N otes:

* **

99

-

SOC = struck off charge. The red serial on 208 is noteworthv. si ngle-seat fighters wo re red serials in the East German Air . as norm allv. onlv"'.... .... Force: all other aircra ft wo re black serials. The aircraft tra nsferred from the Soviet Air Force have been referred to as Il-28Rs. which certainlv. seems logical. considering that they we re tran sferred from a reconnaissance regiment. However. German sources say only two 11-28Rs were delivered: and indeed the other LSK/LV Beagles do not have the tip tanks characteristic of the • reconna issance ve rsion. .

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tnu - I LY USHIN

I L - ')8 BE I GI.I:

This Egyptian Air Force 11-28 was displayed in Cairo in 1956togcth er wi th o ther a irc ra ft the n o perated by the EAF. The bomber carries pre-UA RAF green and whi te national insignia. r II . inr,

1957 three Romanian ships brought the first ten 11-28s to Alexa ndria . amo ng other things: by late June the EA F had abo ut 40 on strength. In his speech on 25 July 1957 on the occasion of Nasser's fifth anniversa ry as President. Egyptian Air Force Chief of Stair Air Vice-Marshal Mohammed Sidki stated that the EA F's first-line assets had doubled as compa red to the time immediately before the Suez Crisis. To add weight to hi s wo rds. a formation of no fewer than 100 combat jets was to pass over Ca iro on the same day. However. the show of force fi zzl ed because the technical staff had managed to prepare only 42 aircra ft for the di splay - eleven Mi G-15hi.l' Fagot- Bs. eighteen MiG-1 7F Fre.l'co- Cs and thirteen 11-"'8s. The watching crowd went wild all the same. but the message was clear: it wo uld take years for the Egyptia n Air Force to become fully combatcapable. When Egypt and Syria joined fo rces aga inst Israel. creating the United Arab Repu blic on I February 1958. the EAF 11-28s were included in the assets of the newly created Un ited Arab Republic Air Fo rce (UA RA F) . Three sq uadro ns of Beagles ~

~

we re formed: in addition to the basic bomber and 11-28U trainer. the UA RA F reportedly operated I1-28R tactical PHOT[NT airc ra ft and Chinese-built H-5s. Egypt reclaimed most of these aircraft in September [961 when the United Arab Republic ceased to exi st and Egypt and Syria (and their respective air forces) went their sepa rate ways. Reports on the number of Egyptian I1 -28s vary widely. some sources stating as many as 72 aircraft in 1966. These included four second-hand I1-28T torpedo-bombers bought from the Soviet Navy in 1962 with a supply of 90 RAT-52 torpedoes. Other so urces claim that '"' 7 of 30 (!? ) aircraft on strength in 1967 we re destroyed on the ground by Israeli air strikes during the Six-Day War (5-11 Jun e [967). Two 11-28s were resold to Nigeria and six to Syria: it . makes you wonder where the remaining 34 aircra ft went! Anyway. by the beginning of the Holy Day Wa r (6 October 1973) Egypt had a Beagle fo rce of 35 or 40 aircraft in four bomber squad rons and one reconna issa nce squadron. The 11-28s were now based at Aswan . No more than four or five rema ined airwort hy by 1983: two aircra ft were ~

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B EAril.ES WORLD -WIDE ·

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Egyptia n Ai r Force 11-28 1733 a t Korn A ns him A B: the a irc ra ft wea rs ca mo uflage introd uced after the Six- Day War of 1967, ( Yctin ) Gordon archivc)

written off on 25 April 1970 under unknown circumstances (possibly a mid-air co ll ision o r ground coll ision ). Onl •v two aircra ft. seria lled 1733 and 177S. have been positively identified so far: both wo re sand/brown ca mo uflaue, A drawin g ex ists of one • •

more aircraft in natural metal fini sh seria lled 1731 , Spea king of which. Egypt was one of the few air arm s to have camo ut1aged Il-2Ss (most operato rs had silver-painted aircraft ); the camo ufl age was introduced as a result of lesson s learned in the SixDay War.

IIJ2 • ILYUSHIN IL-28 B E IGLE

•

--

•

--

•

-

•

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•

•

An other camouflaged EAF Beagle. 1778. at Cairo-Wes t wit h a Sovi et-built KrAZ- ') 558 6x6 truck in the fo reuround .

-

r RA R T!

Finland The F innish A ir Force (1I/I1(/l'o;/I1al) recei ved one 11-28 bom ber a nd o ne 11-28R phot o reconnaissance ai rc raft in 1960- 1: two m ore 11-28Rs followed in 1966. Strangely eno ug h, a ll four Beagles we re o perated by the Finni sh A ir Force's transport sq uad ro n i Kuljetuslentoluivue, o r Kuljl.L v) a t U tt i.

-

-

N H-2/3/4 were later converted to target tuzs accordin c to the Soviet II-288M sta nd a rd : they worked -

-

with va rious types o f target s. including a conventional sock and a large d art -shaped glider. The a ircra ft were silver overa ll. w ith the d etachable engine cowlings o rigina lly painted green o n H-I: later, the cowlings. wingtips (or tip tanks, in the ca se o f the 11-28Rs) and stab ilizer tips we re painted dayglo o ra nge. The aircraft carried a dayglo o ra nge pennant o utli ned in red o n the fin . possibly to mark them a s target tuas.

-

-

Table 19. Finnish Air Force 11-28s Ser ia l

Cln

Version

Notes

NH- I NH-2 NH-3

... 5706 ... I 7 10 ... I 713 ... I 106

11-') 8

0 /0 * ') 8- 1-60: retired after heavv landing 30-11-76: full c/n 53005706? DID 2~- 6 - 61: W F U 6-8 1: full c/n 590 I 7 1O? DID 1-66. WF U 30-6-8 I : full cln 5901 71 3? DID 1-66. WF U 30-6-8 L preserved SUUII/I'II Ilniailu Museo, Ti k ka ko sk i: not

j

H-~

11-28R

11-28R 11- ') 8R

-

M oscow-bu ilt (see Soviet sectio n/ll -2ST !). full c/n 590 1106? I I

I

Notes:

*

DID Delivery- Dal e

B EAGLES W ORL D-WI DE · 103

NH-2

I (

11-')8 R N H-') (c/n 1710) with camo ufl aged wraps on the tip tan ks to hide the daygl o finish . ( l e/IIII Gordon (/I·,M!",. )

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Another Finnish 11-') 8 target tug. N H-4 (c /n 11 00 ); this aircraft ap parent ly d oes not have the characteristic dayglo markin zs, (. }/..-/i"1II Gordon aft'hi l"l, j ~

.

lOot· ILY USHI N IL-28 BE.ICL E

Hungary The Hungarian Ai r Force (M H RC ~ Magyar Honvedseg Repiilii Csapa ta ii introduced the I1-28 in late 1954/early 1955 . Thirty-seven exam ples were init ially on streng th. wit h one regiment based at Kunmadaras: at least so me of them (possibly all)

were Czech-built B-228s and C B-228s. A secon d Beagle regiment , the 82nd Vegyes R epiilo Hadosztalv . (b ambel' regiment) at Kecskemet, was established later. Little else is known. except that the last I1-28s were retired in 1972. ~

Table 20. Hungarian Air Force 11-28s Seria l

Cln

Version

10 Red 19 Red "'0 Red 34 Red 50 Red 55 Red 71 Red 72 Red TI Red

,)

Il-28 Il-"'8 RTR 11-28 11-28 (8 -228) 11-28 11-28 (8-2"'8) 11-28 11-"' 8 11-28U (C 8 -"'''' 8? )

•

'J• ,) •

564"'4 ') •

56455 ') •

'J •

694"'07

Notes

Often reported in error as a Romanian Air Force aircraft Preserved Oz iget vur Muzeun i. Vecses, in fake Soviet Air Force markings Preserved Magvcn: R epiiliistortenet i Muzeun i. Szolno k Preserved. locati on unknown

•• •

• ...

34 Red. a Hunga rian Beagle. in night. ( ),:Ii", Gordon "rehire)

-

Czech-built Hunga rian Air Force Il-28 55 Red in a local museum . ( R. / RTJ

B EAGLES W ORLD-WIDE ·

105

Indonesia When President Suka rno was in office, Indonesia was on fa irlv- good terms with the Soviet Union and enjoyed Soviet military aid. In 1961 the Indonesian naval air arm tTentera Nasional Indonesia Attgkatan Lalit. or T NI-AL) took delivery of more than thirty overha uled Il-28T torpedo-bombers seria lled fro m M -84 1 onwa rds, together with a suitable complement of R AT-52 torpedoes, a nd six ~

-

Il-28U trainers (M -80 1-M -806 ). The aircraft were su pplied via Czechoslovakia. which also served as a training base fo r the crews, and equipped N o. I and No. 21 sq uadrons at Surabaya . Quite possibly the aircraft were reserialled later on, as a photo exists of T NI-AL Beagles serialled 504, 506 and 508. plus Il- 28Us serialled 511 and 512. In 1966, however. Dr Sukarno was overthrown

-

-

-

Indonesian Navv . II-28T M -842 ta xies o ut for take-oil with M-844 a nd M -847 visible be vond . ( R A R T!

•

, s

•

•

A no the r Indonesian Navv '"

BI!(/~/I!. '--

now wearing... TN I-AL ins ignia a nd the new-stvle ... . seria l 506. ( R A R TI

106· ILYUSHIN IL-2S B EAGLE

M-S03. o ne o f four Indonesian Navy 11-'1 SUs. immediately after take-off I R.·jR TI

Ano ther M ascot in new-st yle T NI -AL insignia. apparentl y withdrawn from use. Note the double ace o f spades nose art . presumably a sq uad ro n badge. ( RA R TJ

by the sta unchly anti-Communist Gen. Suharto. A wave o f repressions against Comm unists swept through Indonesia. and Soviet support was promptly cut oil Predictably. all Soviet -built aircra ft were soon grounded by lack o f spares. The last Beagles were retired in June 1972.

light-bomber sq uadron equipped with ten I1-28s and two I1-28Us. T he aircraft were supplied via Egypt in 1958. replacing de Havilland Venom FB.50 fighter-bombers. In terestinzlv, . the Mililair 'S] handbook reported ten II-28Us in service with the IrAF in 1982.

Iraq

Kampuchea

Prior to the Six-Day War the Iraqi Air Force tal QIII I'I \'(/l al-Jawwiva al-Ira qiva s operated a single

A hand ful of I1-28s (probably C hinese-built H-5 s) were operated by the National Khmer Aviation

~

~

B EAGL ES WORLD-WIDE ·

107

A Federa l N ige rian A ir Force Il-28 und erg oin g min or maintenance. ( R.-' R Ti

This Fede ra l Nigeria n A ir Fo rce Beagle is ph ot ographed in a n intriguing sett ing - possibl y after a n off-field landin g; th ou gh non e were lost to ene my ac tion. severa l Il-28s were dam aged in accid ent s. ( R.·' RTi

(N KA ) whe n th e co unt ry was run by the dict at or Pol Pot.

Morocco T he Royal M o roccan Air For ce ta! Quwwat alJawwiya al-Mulakiva Marakishiva o r Aviation Royale Cherifienne i operated a mere two [1-28s. probably supplied by Egypt.

11-28 bomber s (t wo from Egypt and o ne fro m A lgeria ); so me so urces . th ou gh. cla imed th at the Fede ra l N igerian A ir For ce (F NA F ) had at least six o f th e type. The ai rcraft wore wraparo und greenlda rk brown camoutlage . On ly one Nigerian 11-28. NA F 635. is known: a drawing of an exa mp le seria lled A F-158 has bee n pub lished. but this appears dou btful.

orth Korea Nigeria In 1969 igeri a . which had been in th e th roes of a civil war since M ay 1967. bo ught th ree seco nd-ha nd

A n un known num ber of 11-28s were delivered to the Ko rea n Peo ple's Army Air Force before the end of the Kor ean War: at an y rate. ten Beagles took part in

108 · ILYUSHIN IL-2 8 BE ~ GL E

the victo ry parade in Pyongyang on 28 July 1953. In the ea rly 1960s Com mu nist C hina began rebuilding o rt h Korea's a ir force in an attempt to st rengthen its military presence in th e region. Obsolete exPLAAF eq uipme nt was exported to No rt h Korea in violation o f the ceasefire treaties: this included 70 11-28s deli vered by sea. Deliveries continued until th e mid-1 960s. whe n relat ions bet ween China and ort h Korea deteri orated . Only three exam ples have been identified to date: two o f these are bombers - Harbin H- 5 45 Blue in dark gree n camouflaze with natural metal undersurfaces a nd red rudder. and 11-28 31 4 Red in ove ra ll natural metal finish. The third aircraft is an 11-28R serialled 0220 Red . once again in natural meta l fi nish.

no spa res were forthcoming the force was faced with the daunting prospect of being gro unded entirely o r finding replacement aircra ft. Thus. the Soviet 'C anberra ' was selected as a possible repl acement for the US Ca nberra since it was readily ava ila ble fro m C hina . M oreover. Pa kistan was eve n negotiating the deliverv o f 30 to 40 11-28s directly from the USSR in 1969. Had the deal gone th rough it wo uld inevitably . have ca used a rift in the Indo-Soviet relationship. Even tuall y, however. Pakistan arranged to buy a n adeq ua te supp ly o f Wright J65 turbojets for the B-57s in France. so the 11-28s were put in sto rage and never fl own.

Pakistan

T he first 11-28s for the Po lish A ir Force (PW L Po lskie " 'cljsko Lotnicze ; arri ved at Warsaw-Ok ecie airfie ld (which is now the cit y's internat iona l airport) on 20 J uly 1952. T he type att a ined initi al o perating ca pability (IOC) early th e fo ll owing yea r, a llowing.... the lo ng-servin Pe-2 ........g Tu-2 a nd Petlvakov . bombers to be retired. Th us the second stage of upgrading the PW L was completed: th e fir st was the replacement o f pist on -en gined fi gh ters with M iG-15 Fagot-A IBs and Mi G -1 7 Frescos which were late r licence-built bv the PZL M ielec fac tory. as the Lim-I /Lim-2 a nd Lim-5/Li m-6 series respectively. A pa rt from the baseline bomber version. t he PW L a lso had 11-28Rs eq uipping severa l lo ng-ra nge reco nna issa nce units. A sma ll number of 11-28U trainers was a lso

~

~

~

In 1965 C hina signed a co ntract with Pa kist a n o n th e deli very o f combat jets. mai nly C he ngdu FT-5 tra iners (a MiG -1 7 derivative) and Shenyang F-6 (C hinese-built MiG -1 9SF) lighters to the Pa kistani Air Force (PAE o r Pakistan Fizu 'v ui. The dea l also incl uded fourteen Soviet-built 11-28 bombers which were de livered in 1966 to form a light-bomber sq uadro n. Pakist an denied Ind ia n claims that it was using the type operat io na lly. The reaso n fo r th is dea l was th at the USA had wit hdrawn all m ilita ry support in t he wa ke o f the Indo-Pa kistan i co nflict of 1965. The PA F was ent irely eq uipped with US ai rcra ft. including Ma rt in B-57Bs (a spin-o ff of the Ca nbe rra), a nd as ~

~

~

~

-

~

~

Poland

~

-

•

,

Polish Air Force 11-'18 11 Red just before landin g. ( JI;'isko"" Agel/cia Fotogra/ic:l/a i

•

B EAGLES W ORLD- WI DE '

109

62 Red . a not he r PWL Beagle. in cruise ni ght. Unlike 11 Red . thi s one has a late-m od el SRO -2 Odd Rods IF F tran spon der. ( II iJjsktllrll Agcnc]« Fotograficzna J

A senior office r gives last-minute instruction s to th e crew of a Polish Il-28R . 03 Red . ( lI i JjskOirti

A gcnc] « FOl ogr

110· I LYUSHI N IL-28 B EAGLE

delivered: starting in 1955, they served alongside regular 11-28s at the WOSL (Wl:s:a Oficerska 5:/.;0/a . . Lotnic:a - Officers' Higher Flying School) - popularly known as Szkola Orlat (Eaglets' School) - at Deblin. The Mascots were known locally as SII-28, the S standing for [sall/% f] .1': /.;0 /11.1' (trainer), and had alpha-numeric serials commencing with S. The PWL's 11-28s were of both Soviet and Czech origin. ~

~

Polish pilots quick ly grew familiar with the type and performed well during national and Warsaw Pact man oeuvres. Th e most striking demonstrati on of their skill. however, came at the 1966 military parade in Warsaw commemorating the I,OOOth anniversary of Polish statehood. Until the 1970s it was quit e common to sky-write by fl ying in specia l formations, and messages like 'Peace' or ' 50 -vea l'S of ~

~

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Ma intena nce work o n PWL II-2SU 55 Red. No te the non-st and ard dipole aerial mounted o n th e rear fairin g. Agcnc]« Fotograficzn« }

,

- •

-

• •

•

•

A publicity sho t of seven Poli sh A ir Force 11-28s.

( ll i/i"k" ...., A ge" cia FI/I I/i;r,(/ic:"a )

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B D GLES W ORL D- WI DE '

III

Table 21. Known Polish Air Force 11-28s Serial

Cln

Version

I Red 2 Red 3 Red 4 Red

')

11-28 Il-2 8 ll- "8 11-28

5 Red 7 Red 03 Red 09 Red I I Red 17 Red 20 Red 22 Red

.)

56729

Il-28 11 -28 11-28R Il-28 11-')8 Il-28 Il-28 Il-28 (B-228)

30 Red 32 Red (a) 3') Red (b) 33 Red 34 Red 39 Red 40 Red 41 Red 42 Red 43 Red 46 Red 50 Red

41302

11-28R (B-228?)

?•

11-28 Il-28 Il-28 11-') 8 Il-28 11-28 (B-228) ll- ') 8 11-28 11-28 ll- ')8 (B-228)

52 Red 54 Red 57 Red 58 Red 59 Red 62 Red 64 Red 52 Red 65 Red 68 Red 69 Red 72 Red 00 1 Red 02 1 Red 030 Red 101 Red III Red 11 9 Blue

'J •

'J •

... 1910 •

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.. .2905 ?• .) •

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.) • ')

56729 ') •

'J• 'J•

-'1 6 )-18 'J •

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.. .2308 ,)

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...211 3 ')')1') ... ~...:..

')

'J •

41 909 ') •

'J

• .) •

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.) •

.) •

11-28 11-28 11-28 11-28 11-')8 11-28 11-28 11-28 11-28R 11-28 ll- ') 8R (B-')') 8'J ) 11-28 11-28 11-28R 11 -28 11-')8 IP8

11-28H 133 Red SI Red? S2 Red? S3 Red S4 Red S5 Red not known

'J

IP8

.)

11-28U 11-28U 1I-') 8U (CB-')28) 11-28U 11-28U 11-28 (B-228)?

•

•

'J•

692 16 .) •

'J •

41 906

Notes Air Force Technica l Institute (ITWl). brake parachute testbed Soviet-bui lt but fac tory unknown. Preserved l\ /i C CIIIII Poznauia (Pozna n City Liberation Museum)"

W l'=l l'O/cllia Miasta

Soviet-built but factory unknown

Polskiego (Polish Armed Forces M useum ), Preserved MII=CIIIII JJ ojska . Warsaw. with fake serial 65 Red (see below) Reserialled to. see below ~

Co nve rted to target tug. Preserved MII=CIIIII Braterst wa Broni (Comradeshi pin-A rms M useum), Drzon ow near Zielona G ora ** See live lines below Soviet-bu ilt but factory unknown

Soviet-built but factory unknown. Reserialled to. see below Preserved M II=CIIIII Ore:a Polskiego (Polish Arms M useum ), Kolobrzeg Soviet-built but factory unknown. Preserved WOSL. Deblin Preserved MII=CIIIII Marynarki Wojennej (Navy M useum ), Gdynia Preserved i\ f ll=CIIIII Lotnictwa i Astronautyki (M LiA - Aerospace Museum ), Krak ow: full c1n may be 4305 11909 ITWL. brake parachute testbed

Co nve rted to. see below Inst.vtut Lotnictwa. engine testbed

-

Exi stence not proved but likely Existence not proved but likely Preserved M LiA. Krakow Could be an 11-28R (fu ll c1n 4305 11906?)

Notes: * Aka MlI=CIII II C ytadeli Poznanskiej (Poznan Fortress Museum) ** Some sources state this aircra ft as preserved MICCIIIII Ziemi Lubuskiej (Lubli n Region Museum).

112· ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

something-or-other' made up of aircraft were almost obligato ry at airshows. Yet the Poles went one better and created an eagle - the Polish national symbol - O~l t of no fewer than 33 II-28s. The impressive form ation was led by Lt-Col Jerzy Wojcik. By the mid-1970s the Polish Il-28s had been withdrawn from first-line service and used as target tu zs with fabric sleeve-type target s. ju st as ~1 Ea~t Germany. Yet again the Poles went one better. developing target s with acoustic hit detectors. The last PWL Beagle was retired on 29 December 1977. The Il-28 contributed a lot to the progress of pa rachuting in Poland. On 4 September 1~95 7 the parachuti st Tadeusz Dulla made a jump from an Il-28 flying at 12.500 m (41.010 ft ).' setting a national record . Later. other Polish skydivers made single and group jumps from Il-28s in a similar fashion.

Romania Th is was one Socialist country that was par an oid abou t securit y. so little was known about Romanian Il-28s unt il recently. The type was introduced into the Romanian Air Force tForte!e Aeriene all' Republicii Socia liste ROil/ fin e ) service in ear ly 1955. when the Reginientul ::8:: Aviatie Boinbardanient (282nd Bomber Regiment) at Ianca AB. 40 km (25 miles) south-west of Gal ati. took delivery of the first three aircraft - two bombers and one Il-28U trainer.' Soon afterwards the unit moved to Mihail Kogalniceanu AB. As it often did. the Soviet Union sent a team of instructors to train the customer's personnel in situ; the group which came to Rom ania to . assi ~ t in mastering the Il-28 was led by Capt. Mikhail Boykov. It remained with the unit until 5 May 1955. whereupon the 282nd Bom ber Regiment relocated to Otopeni (now Bucharest's i n tern~tiona l airpo rt). Two years later the unit moved yet again. this

Table 22. Known Romanian Beagles Serial

Cln

Version

001 Red 002 Red 003 Red 014 Red 015 Red 018 Red 115 Red:) 30 1 Red:' 307 Red 308 Red 309 Red 310 Red

.)

? ? ?

11-28U 11-28U 11-28U 11-28 11-28 11-28U

')

'J

'J

B-5 B-5 B-5 B-5 B-5

402 Red 403 Red 405 Red 407 Red 408 Red 433 Red 443 Red -/61 Red ) -/91 Red? 501 Red 5-13 Red:) 701 Red 703 Red 704 Red 706 Red 707 Red 708 Red 709 Red 7/0 Red?

.)

'J

? ')

'J

? ? 'J .)

? ? ? .)

')

? .)

? 'J

? ? ? ? ?

? 'J

11-28R 11-28R 11-28R 11-28U (BT-5?) 11-28U (BT-5) 11-28 11-28 B-5 B-5 11-28U B-5 B-5 B-5 B-5R B-5 B-5 B-5 B-5 B-5

Notes

Existence not confirmed Existence not confir med Target tug conversion Repainted in grey/blue cam ouflage by 7-01 as 310 Black. Dam aged bevond rcpair atB orcea-Fete~tiAB2 1 - 7 -0 1 ~ • Preserved Mu seu! Aviatiei. Bucharest-Otopeni airp ort Target tug. Cra shed at Bacau A B 1-8-55 Preserved Mus eu! Aviatiei. Baneasa section 0 /0 1979. Sto red Baciiu AB DID 1979 Target tug Existence not confirmed Existence not confirmed Existence not confirmed Stored Bacau AB Stored Baciiu AB

Existence not confirmed

B E.ICI. LS W ORLD- WIDE '

•

113

•

••

A long row o f VVS Beagles o n the !light line, head ed by I1-28U 03 Blue, ( ><:/111I co,.do" urchivc)

time to Boteni. and was transformed into the Regimentul ::8:: Aviatie Cerceture (Reconaissance Regiment ). In 1960 it was dem oted to sq ua dro n stat us, becoming the Escadrila ::8:: Aviatie Cercetare. a nd relocated fo r the last time to Borcea A B. near C oca rzea ua . where it remain s a t the time of writing . Two of the bombers (433 Red a nd 443 Red ) were fo r target-towin g duties a t Mih ail used Ko ualn iceanu A B in the I960s: it is not known whether they were sta nda rd Il-28BM s or local conversio ns. The original Soviet-built Beagles (unofficia lly designated II-28B in Romanian Air Force service) a nd II-28 U trainers were later su pplemented a nd gradually replaced by C hinese-built B-5s delivered in 1972. One of th em , 307 Red, was a lso conve rted for target-towing duties: target practice took place at the Cap M idia gunnery range. Starting in 1961. all Romanian Beagles and their engines were refurbished at the Baciiu aircraft overhaul plant (U R A Bacau).' In due time the unit was renumbered , becoming Escadrila 38 Aviatie Cercetare: a lso, the o riginal natural metal fini sh of the H- 5s gave way to an overa ll light grey co lour scheme (except for the tail turret. which is white ) and the new Romanian ro undels replacing the Socialist-e ra sta r-type insignia . Romania is the last ~

~

~

~

~

Euro pea n natio n to o pe ra te the type. Incidenta lly, the Romanians have given the Beagle a nickna me, Bk indul Bell (Gentle Ben' , after a good-natured bear in a T V series ), re/lecting th e a ircra ft's easy a nd fo rgiving handli n g. A m inor sensa tion (and a major treat for wa rbird ent husiast s) was planned for 27-29 July 200 I. when a Roman ia n Ai r Force H-5 was to participate in the 30th Rova l Internationa l Ai r Tattoo a t R AF C ottesmore, Rutl a nd , making th e type's first-ever visit to the West. U nfo rt unately these plans were d ashed to th e gro und (l iterally) just a few days before the show when the a ircraft (31 0 Black ) cras hlanded durin g a training /light on 2 1 July, losing it s en tire sta rboa rd wing. Since a ll othe r surviving H-5s were non-airworthy at the time (or in less than showcase co nd ition a nyway), th e trip had to be cancelled , ~

~

~

~

-

Somalia In the late 1960s the Soma lian Aero na utical Corps (Davuuradaha X oogga Dullea Somaliyeeds reported ly o pera ted ten II-28s. Unfo rt unately no details a re known .

Soviet Union 3 O ther reports state a height of 11.900 m <39.04 1 ft ) 4 Some sources cla im th at all three aircraft delivered initially were tra iners. 5 Later rena med IAv Baca u (/1I 11"<'1'1"<,lI d <'I";0 Avioanc - aviation e nterpri se ): now Aerosta r SA .

T he Soviet Air Force (VVS) was the largest operato r of the type. Unfo rt unately, because of the system of tactica l codes described earlier. the only way of positively identifying an aircraft is by th e cons truction num ber. o f which o nly a few a re known .

11.t · I LYUSHIN I L-2 8

BEAGI.E

Table 23. Soviet Beagles

Cln

Tactical code/ registration

a) Moscow prod uction 5030 II 04 none 5030 II 06 not known 4 Red not known 5030 1408 not known 5030 180 1 4305P 30 1 not known 6100300 I ') not known 6*00350 1'1 not known not known 5200370 1 5")00371 4 none not known 520037 19 not known 53005005 53005112 12 Red 54005217 38 Red 53005 71 0 10 Blue 530057 17'1 09 Red 53005771 04 Red 55006424 26 Blue 55006445 not known not known 55006448 55006542 II Red not know n 55006937 03 Red 55006968 65009706 42 Blue 65009807 100 Red 650 10311'1 not known 16 Red 650 10809 10 Red

Version

Notes

11-28T* 11-28T* 11-")8T M 11-28 11-28 11-28R 11-280 11-28U 11-28 11- 28 RI'vl 11-28 11-28 11- ")8 LSh 11- ") 8 11-28LL 11-28T 11-28 11-28 11-28 11- ")8 11-28 11-28 11-28 1I-") 8U 11-28U 11-28U 11-28

Protot ype. Ilyushin O K B Protot ype. Ilyushin O K B. C o nverted to, see below Prototype. Ilyushin O K B

b) Voronezh prod uction 645000 I not known 6450301 not known ")4021 0 I 01 Red 3402209 12 Blue 340270 1 not know n

11- ")8 11-28 11-28 11-")8 11-28

c) Omsk production 00 1660 1 not known 041660 I not known 36603509 not known 36603807 0 I Red 5660570") 33 Red

11-28 11-28 IP8 11-28 11-28

56606")01

85 Red

d) unknown factories ... 1905 not know n .. .2007 not known .. .3513 ...4702 ...4705 ~ •

not known not known not known 2 Red

11-28 11-28 11-28 11-28 11-28T IP8T 11-28-1 31

C1n reported as 6300 I C1n reported as 63 50 I VK-5-powered ve rsion/fi rs t protot ype. Ilyushin O K B Protot ype. Ilyushin O KB VK-5-powered ve rsion/second protot ype. Ilyushin O KB Ilyushin OKB. ski landing gear testbed Year in c/n out of seque nce - delivered late? Ll I. ejection seat testbed Nikolayev Minelayer and Torpedo-Bomber Flying School Preserved Soviet (Russian) Air Force Museum. Monin o Transferred to the East Germa n A F as 224 Black Tran sferred to the East German A F as ")08 Red GSVG. Orani enburu AB (until 1975 ) Transferred to the East German A F as 190 Black

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C1n reported as 0311 . Transferred to the East German AF as 193 Black Moscow-built. Recoded to, see below Preserved Armed Forces Museum. Moscow (currently resprayed as 10 Red outline )

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LI I. refuellinz system testbed .

Preserved M oscow- Khodvnka • Preserved Civil Aviation Museum. Ulva novsk, as 11-")0 (no tactical code. Soviet flau on tail. Ae roflot loco on fuselaae) Preserved/G IA Kui byshev Aviation 1nstitute (KuAI)** • o

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Probably Moscow-built (c/n 50301 905) • Probably Moscow-built (c/n 50302207). Development aircraft. Ilyushin O K B. brake parachute tests Full c/n 52003513 or 36603513 Fu ll c/n 52004702 or 466047()"l Full c/n 5"004705 or 46604705

B E.IGLES W OR LD-W IDE ·

115

Table 23 (co ntinued). S oviet Bl!tlK!I!S

Cln

Tactica l code! • • regrstranon

Version

No tes

0)

7 Red 08 Blue 19 Red ")") Red 21 Red 25 Red 29 Red 30 Red

11-28T* 11-") 8 11-28Sh 11-28 11-28Sh 11-") 8Sh 11-28Sh 11-28

Pacific Fleet/567th MTAP 57th VA/63rd BAO/408th FBAP. Cherlya ny A B. 1957

CCCP-i\ CCCP-i\... 538 CCC P-i\2035

11-20 11-20 11 -20

') • oj • oj • oj

0) • oj

? •

54005777 540061 04 0) •

Preserved R igas Aviacijas M lb :js. Riga-Spilve

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Preserved as gate gua rd at a Russi an airbase Ie. SSSR-L...538 Ie. SSS R-L2035: existence not confirmed

Notes:

* **

The purpose-built 11-28T wi th a long weapons bay. Now Samara State Aviation University (SGAU) .

A typical publicity shot from a Soviet airfield. wi th 11-28 crew chiefs reporting to the pilots. At least one aircraft. 35 Red. has red-pa inted cowli ngs. Note the 11-28U trainer (03 Red ) at the end of the row. ( Ii:/ im Gordon archive}

116 · ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGI.E

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A typical Soviet Air Force 11-28 cruising at high alt itude. ( Ycf in: Gordoll arch ire )

Th is 11-28. 67 Red. ca rries an "Excellent aircra ft' badge o n the nose. an award to the gro und crew for main tainin g the bomber in per fect co nd ition. ( It:!;'" Gordon archi ve]

B L IGLES WOR LD-WIDE ·

Syria • The Syria n A ir Force ta! Quwwut al-Jawwiya alArabiya as-Suriva i to ok delivery o f six ex-Egyptia n 11-28s. Two of them were dest royed by Israeli Wa r (511 June 1967l. a ttacks durin g the Si x-Day ~

Taiwan (Republic of China) The Republic of C hina A ir Force operated a single ex-P LAA F 11-28 which fell into a tio na list hand s when its crew defected o n II Novem be r 1966. The airc raft was reportedly used for spy missi ons over m ainl and C h ina . retaining its PLAA F sta rs-a ndbars in signia a nd the serial 0 195 Yellow. It is now o n di spl ay a t the ROCAF museum a t Taoyuan A B.

11 7

Peo ple's Air Force (V PAF. or Khong Quail Nlunn Dall Viet N aill ). For inst ance. Vietnamese 11-28s (obvio usly ex-P LA A F but Soviet-built a ircra ft) a re kn own to have been repa ired at Mengtse a irbase in Yunnan province. In 1968 the VPA F invent ory included eight or ten 11-28s based in Ha noi. Only . th ree se ria ls. 181 7 Red. 22 10 Red a nd 3256 Red. have been reported. but the former two a re unconfir med. VPAF 11-28s p robably suppo rted ort h Viet na mese ground troops during the Vietnam War but d id no t intrude into South Vietnam in orde r to hit Repu blic o f Viet nam Air Force o r USA F bases. ~

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Vietnam (North) Having es tablished fairl y close ties with N orth Vietnam in the mid-1 960s. Com munist C hina sta rted foisting its o bso lete milit ary aircraft. including Beagles. o n the Vietnamese. C hina served as a trainin g a nd maintenance base for the Vietnamese ~

Yemen Both N orth a nd So uth Yemen o perated the Beagle o n a sma ll sca le in th e mid-1 960s. T he Yemen Arab Republic (N o rt h Yemen) had six 11-28s. while th e People's Democra tic Repu blic o f Yemen (Sout h Yemen) had twelve. U nfo rt unately no serials or ba se det ails a re known .

• THE IL -28 IN DETAIL

- he following str uctura l descript ion applies to the basic bomber versio n o f the 11-28. The 11-"'8 is an a ll-meta l m o noplane with sho ulder-mo unted unswept trapezo ida l wings. two tu rboj et engines in underwing nacelles a nd a conventio na l swept tail unit with a low-m ounted tailplane. The crew incl udes three person s: pil ot. navigat or/bo mb aimer a nd tail gunne r/ ra d io o perator. T he ai rfra me is made chiefl y o f D-1 6T duralumi n. with fl ush rivetin g used th rou gh out. A K6 alumini um a llov . is used for the win g/fusela ge attachment fittings a nd grade 30 K hGSA steel fo r the tai l unit/fuselage a ttachment fittings. The ~

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fra mes o f the cockpit canopy. navigat o r's statio n a nd tail gunne r's statio n glazing fra mes are made fro m ca st M L5-T Ch magnesium a ll oy. as are the fra mes o f the navigat or's a nd tail gunner's en tra nce ha tches. Fuselage: C irc ula r-sectio n stressed-s kin sem im on ocoque str uct ure built in four sectio ns fo r ease o f assembly. The skin panels are 0 .8-2 .0 mm (0.03-0.78 in.) thick and are suppo rted by 50 frames (1 -17. 17A . 18. 18A. 188 a nd 19-4 7). including 14 mainframes. and 38 str in gers. 7 o f which are reinforced. Ma ximum fuselage diameter bet ween frames 17 and 20 is 1. 8 m (5 ft 10.86 in . ). The forward fuselage (section Fl. frames I-II A )

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A diagram from the manu fa ctu rer's d rawin . gs.show .... . . .in.g the interual lavou .. t o f the Il-28R confi ...uured for night . . . (above) a nd day (below) reco nna issa nee missio ns. ( J<:/1111 Co,.. /o" a,..-II11'<' )

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TH E I L- 28 IN DETAIL ' 11 9

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This pho to shows so me o f th e removable access panels whic h made th e Beagle so easy to service. ( l i:/ illl Gordon archi ve}

incorporates a pressurized cockpit (frames 6- 11A ) a nd a pressurized navigator's com pa rtment (frames 0-6), both of which have slo ping rear bulkhead s. The navigat or's com pa rt ment features extensive Plexiglass glazing, with a n optically nat Triplex lower forward panel 13-1 5 mm (0.51 - 0.59 in.) thick. T he ent ra nce hatch (fra mes 3- 6) located in front of the cockpit cano py is o ffset to sta rboa rd and hinged to port: the navigat or's ejection seat is immediately below. Fo r bomb aim ing by means o f the optica l sight the navi gator uses a folding jump seat attached to fra me 2. The cock pit ca no py consists of a fi xed winds hield with an ellip tica l n at Triplex forward panel 13-15 mm thick a nd two curved sidelights, and a rear section hinged to sta rboa rd with a one-piece blown Plexiglass tran sparency. The cockpit is eq uipped with a con tro l co lum n featuring a W-shaped cont rol wheel. hin ged rudder pedals. port and sta rboa rd consoles wit h th rottles and o ther con trols. The forwa rd fuselage incorporates the nosewheel well (frames 4-11 A) a nd the n ose cann on ammunition boxes (f ra mes 7-8). The ejection seats have back plates of 10 nun (0.39 in.) steel a rmour and di shed sea t pans of 6 mm (0.23 in .) steel. Add itiona l duralumin a rmour sheets 10- 30 mm (0 .39- 1.18 in. ) thick are installed under the navigator's seat. The pilot's winds hield does not incorporate bu lletproof glass. Total weight of the a rmour is 4 54 kg ( 1.000 lb ),

The centrefuselage (section F2 . fra mes II B- 38A ) is unpressurized, incorporating t he bomb bay (fra mes 18-29 ) and the avionics bay for th e search rad ar (frames IIB-1 6). It also accommodates the win g cen tre section (fra mes 23-27) a nd the fuel cells a re located in the fuselage forward and aft of th e wings. The bomb bay is closed by two pne umatica lly act uated d oors powered by the pne umatic system. wit h a n emergency a ir bo tt le. The rear fuselage (section F3 , fra mes 38 B-42A ) is ~

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120· ILYUSH IN IL-28 B EAGLE •

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The cockpit canopy.

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a te that 11-28 crews st ill wore leath er helme ts and fl '"vi nu goggles. ( l d. illl G"I'd"" urdtivc) ... ..........

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also un pressurized. incorporating an avionics bay (with ventra l access hatch) and tail unit attachment fittings located at frames 38. 40 and 42 A . Il-28s built bv Plant No. 64 in Voronezh have sectio ns F2 a nd F 3 com bined int o a single wh o le. so that the fu selaze is bui lt in three sections wit h manufacturing joint s at frames I I and 42. The aftfilse!age (section F.J. frames 42B--4 7) is the tail gunner/radio o perato r's pressuri zed cabin accessed from bel ow via a forward -opening hatch located between frames 42B and 45 . The tail turret is m ounted on frame 47. The gunner's station ha s a 106 mm (4 .1 7 in.) bulletproof rear window and 68 mm (2.67 in .) bulletproof side windows: add itionally, th e gunner a nd the ammuniti on boxes of the II-K 6 turret are protected by 8 mm (0.3 1 in .) steel a rmo ur. W ings: Ca ntilever shoulde r-mo unted two -spar st ruct ure built in three sections. The centre section is integ rated int o the fuselage a nd th e det achable onepiece wing panel s carry the engine nacelles. The wings em ploy a TsAG I SR-5S (Pl l-I) aero foil wit h ~

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The forward fuselage of an 11-28 U. ( I<-lilll G" n lon archive] .

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TH E

IL-28 IN D ETAIL· 121

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The aft fuselage and tail unit of an 11-28R (dn 2905). showing the gunner's entry hatch. which doubles as an escape slide/sli pstream deflec to r. ( JJ; ifsk Ol Il/ Agcncja Fotogra ficzna }

122· ILYUSHIN I L-28 BEAGLE

a th ickness-to-chord rati o of 12'1.,. Dihedral 1°12 '. incidence 3°. as pect ratio 7. 55. taper 2. 08. T he wing box formed by the two spa rs (att ached to the fuselage at fra mes os. 23 and 27). reinforced skins and multiple ribs a nd stringers accepts the aerodynamica l loads. The wing skins are 2-4 mm (0.07-0. 15 in.) th ick . At the tips. the trailing edge is occupied by a ilerons. the starboa rd ailero n incorporating a trim tab. The rest of th e trailing ed ge is occupied by two-section hyd raulically actuated slotted fl aps inboard and o utboa rd of the engine nace lles. The llaps are deflected 20° for take-off and 48° for landing: total fl ap a rea is 7.45 m (80 sq . ft). Both the ailerons and the llaps are horn-balanced to reduce contro l/actuato r forces. Tail unit: Conventional swept tail surfaces with ca ntilever tail planes. The fin and the stabilizers have a two-spar structure and are attached to the fu selage by three pairs of bolts. The fin is swept back 41 ° at quarter-chord (leading-edge sweep is 45°). The stabilizers have 33° lead ing-edge sweep a nd 7° dihedral. The tail unit utilizes symmetrical NACA aerofo ils with a thickness-tochord rat io of 12- 10% for th e vertical tail and 11 - 10% for the horizontal tail. Stabilizer spa n is 7.36 m (24 ft 1. 77 in.). stabilizer a rea is 10. 82 m (116.34 sq. ft) : fin area is 7.8 m: (83.87 sq . It ). ~

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Landing gear: Pneumatically retractable tricycle type. with oleo-pneumatic shock abso rbers on each unit. The aft -retracting nose unit has twin wheels origina lly 600 x 155 mm (23.6 x 6. 1 in.). later 600 x 180 mm (23.6 x 7.08 in. ) or 600 x 185 mm (23. 6 x 7.28 in.) . The main uni ts wi th si ngle 1.150 x 355 mm (45.27 x 13.97 in.) wheels retract forward into the lower portions of the engine nacelles. the wheels turning th rough 90° bv . means of mechanical linkages to lie flat under the jet pipes. The nosewheel well is closed by a forward door segment attached to the nose gear oleo and two lateral doors: each mainwheel well is cl osed by twin lateral doors and a sma ll rear door hinged o n the inboard side. All wheel well doors remain open when the gear is down. - The I1-28R ha s a hydraulically retractable landing gear \. 260 x 390 mm (49.6 x 15.35 in.) main wheels feat uring a hydraulic spin-up system to prolong tyre life. Wheel track 7.4 m (24 ft 3.3 in.). wheelbase 6.677 m (21 ft 10.8 in.). N osewheel tyre pressure 4.5 kg/ern- (0.315 psi). rnainwheel tyre pressure 7-8 kg/em- (0.49-0.56 psi). Powerplant: Two Klimov YK-I A non-afterburning turbojets. each rated at 2. 700 kgp (5.952 Ib st) for take-off a nd 2.400 kgp (5.29 1 Ib st) fo r cruise. The YK- IA ha s a single-stage centrifugal ~

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This view of 11-18U 42 Bl ue (c/n 65009706) shows how the 11-28's two-piece a nnular cowli ngs are removed to expose the engine completely.

THE I L-28 IN D ETAIL· 123

co mpressor. nine stra ight-flow combustion chambers. a si ngle-stage axia l turbine and a subso nic fixed-area nozzle. The engine features an accessory. gearbox for dri ving fuel, oil and hydraulic pumps and electrical equipment. Starting is electrical by mean s of an ST2 or ST2-48 starte r. The engines are installed in area-ruled underwinz nacelles and fitt ed with long extension jetpipes. Each engine is mounted on a bearer via four attachmen t points: two trunnions on the right and left sides of the compressor casing bel ow the axis of the engine and two mount ing lugs in the upper part of the engine. Th e fo rwa rd part of each nacelle co nsists of two annula r cowling sections. the front sectio n inco rpo rating a parabolic centrebody carried on a straight-thro ugh vert ical pyl on; when these are detached. the engine is exposed almost completely for maintenance or removal. To reduce the take- off run. two PSR-1500-15 jetassisted take-o ff (JATO) rockets with a thru st of 1.650 kgp (3.637 Ib st ) and a burn time of 13 sec. cou ld be fi tte d to the centre fusela ge sides und er the W1l1g roots. Control system: Manua l co nt rols throu ghout. . One-piece ailerons for roll co ntrol, one-piece elevators for pitch co ntrol and one-piece rudder for directiona l co ntrol; the rudder and elevato rs are horn-balanced to reduce co ntrol forces. The starboa rd aileron. rudder and both elevato rs incorporate trim tabs. The elevato rs and rudder have cable co ntro l run s. while the ailerons are controlled bv • push-pull rods. The elevato r trim tabs are mechanically operated by means of cables. while the starboard aileron and rudder trim tabs are electrically actuated. Fuel system: Five se lf-sealing fuel cells (bladder . tanks) located in the fuselage ahead and aft of the wings (No. I. frames II A-1 5; No. 2. fram es 15-1 8; No.3. fram es 18-21: No. 4. frames 29-32: No. 5. fram es 32-36). The ceIl wa lls are 3.3-10. 8 mm (0. 12-0.42 in.) thick. The total capacity of the fu el system is 7.908 lit. (1.739 imp. gal.) on the sta nda rd bomber and 6.600 lit. ( 1,45""' im p. gal.) on the 1I-28U trainer. The 11-28R reconnaissance ve rsion fea tures modified interna l ta nkage and 950 lit. (209 imp. gal.) drop tanks at the wingtips, which gives a tot al of 9.550 lit. (2. 10 I imp. gal.). Electric system: Two GS R-9000 (later • STG- 12000l starter-generato rs dri ven by the engi nes and two 12-A-30 lead-acid batteries installed in the fuselage. Hydraulic system: The hydraulic system operates the flaps. wheel brakes and. on the Il-28R. the landing gear actuators and main wheel spin-up dri ves. Hydraul ic power is provided by a GN P- I hydraulic ~

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pump dri ven by the port engine. with two hyd raulic acc umulato rs as a back-u p. Pneumatic system: The hyd rau lic system operates the landing gear (on all versions except the 1I-28R ). bomb bay doors. gunner's statio n entry hatch. and inflatable canopy/hatch seals. In an emergency it is also used to deploy the fl aps. operate the wheel brakes and jettison the navigator's hatch cover. Compressed air is sto red in seve ral spherica l bottles which are charged on the gro und and topped up by engine bleed air in fli gh t. De-icing system: The wings. tai l unit and engine air intakes are de-iced by engine bleed air. Armament: The defensive armament comprises four 23 mm (.90 calibre) N udelma n/Richter R-23 canno n. Two of them. with 100 rpg, are rigidly mounted in the nose. the other two. with 225 rpg, are carried in the II-K6 tail turret installed in the rear fu selage and co ntrolled by the gunner. The normal bomb load of the 11-28 consists of 1,000 kg (2.204Ib ) of bombs carried internally. The maximum bomb load is 3.000 kg (6.6 12 lb )- i.e. one FA B-3000 HE bomb. ~

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Avionics and equipment The 11-")8 features a comprehensive avionics suite enabling the aircraft to operate at night and in any wea ther. a) piloting and navigation equipment: SD- I VO R receiver. AP-5 electric autopilo t. OSP-48 instru ment landing system (com prising an AR K-5 Amur automatic direction finder (in a dielectric fai ring immediately aft of the cockpit). an RV-2 Kristall low-altitude radio alt imeter and an M RP-48 Dyatel marker beacon receiver). RV- I0 high-altitude radio alt imeter. b) communications equipment: RSU- 5 (on early production aircraft) or RSI U-3 Klyon (Maple) UHF command radi o; RSB- 5 communicatio ns radio with antenna cable stretched between tin top and antenna mast immediately aft of the cockpit: SPU-5 intercom tsamol yotnoye perego vornoye oo.\'tro•vstvo ). c) night instrumentation: AG K-47 B artificial horizon. GPK-46 gyro compass. DG MK- 3 remote gy ro magnetic compass indicator. KI- I I compass. AB-52 navigation display. K US- 1200 airspeed indicato r (ASL kombincerovannyy ookazahtel' skorosti i. VD-1 7 altimeter. RV-2 radi o altimeter indicator. EU P-46 electric turn and bank indicator telektricheskiy ook azahtel' povorota i, VA R-75 vertica l speed indicator (VS L variometri, UP-2 turn indicator tookazahtel' povorotai . MA-095 Mach meter. AV R-M and AChKhO chronometers. etc. ~

12-t • ILYUSHI N IL-28 B EAGLE

Ta ble 2-t. Specifications Overall len gth Span Height Wing area

17.65 m (57ft 10.88 in.) 21A5 m (70 ft 4 A 8 in .) 6.7 rn (21 ft 11.77 in. ) 60.8 m ' (653 .76 sq . ft)

Emp ty o perating weigh t j orrna l gross weight Ma xim um gros s weig h t G ross weigh t in ove rloa d co ndi tio n Ma ximum land ing weigh t

12.890 18,400 21.000 23.200 14.750

kg kg kg kg kg

(28,41 7Ib) (40. 564Ib) (46.296 n» (51 .146Ib) (32.51 7Ib)

Nor ma l bo mb load M a ximum bomb load Top speed: a t S/L at 4. 500 m (14.763 ft) at 10.000 m (32.808 ft)

1.000 kg (2.204Ib) 3.000 kg (6 .6 12Ib) 800 km/ h (444A k t ) 902 km/ h (50 I kt) 855 km/h (475 kt )

Unstick speed :

23 5 k m/ h (13 0.5 kt) 260 km/h (144.4 kt)

with an 18,400 kg (40.564lb) T OW with a 23.200 kg (5 1.146 Ib )TOW

Landin g speed

185 km /h ( 100.0 k ts)

Rat e o f climb

15 m/sec (2.952 It/mi n)

Service ceiling: T ime to he ight" :

with an 18,4 00 kg (40.564l b ) T OW with a 23.200 kg (5 1.146 Ib) TOW 5.000 m (16,404 ft) 10.000 m (32.808 ft) 2.500 m (4 1.0 10 ft)

T ime to service ceiling :

with a n 18,4 00 kg (40 .564 Ib) T OW with a 23.200 kg (51.1 46Ib) T OW

Endurance**

T /O run***: Landin g run

6.5 min 18.0 min 3 1.0 m in 40 .7 m in 45.4 min 1.930 krn (1. 198 m iles)

Ra nge**

T /O run *:

12.500 m (4 1.0 10 ft) 10.750 m (3 5.269 ft)

3 hr s 7 min

co ncre te strip. un st ick speed 220 km/h ( 122 .2 kt) dirt strip. un stick spee d 235 km/ h ( 130.5 kt ) co nc rete strip. un st ick speed 260 km/ h (144A k t ) dirt strip. un stick speed 260 km/ h ( 144.4 kt)

87 5 m (2.870 ft) 1.290 m (4.232 ft)

I. 720 m (5.643 ft) 2.350 m (7.709 ft) 1.170 m (3.838 ft )

Notes: * with a n 18,400 kg (40.564l b ) TOW. ** with a 20. 750 kg (45.745 Ib) TOW a nd cru ising a t 9.700- 11.500 m (31.824- 37.729 ft ). *** with a 23.200 kg (5 1.146 Ib) TOW.

T HE IL-28 IN DETAIL · t25

d) tar getin g equipment: PSBN-M 360 0 groundmapping and search radar. OPB-6SR optical comp uting bomb sight (on radar-equipped a ircra ft onl y: su bstituted by O PB-5s on aircraft with the radar remove d ). PKI co llimato r gun sight (for the pilot) a nd a collimat or gun sight for th e gunner. T he revol ving rad ar antenna is covered by a teardrop fa iring mad e o f Pvc. e) IFF equipment: Bari y-M (Barium) IF F tr an sp onder in rear fuselag e. later rep laced by SRO-2M Khrom (Chromium) IF F transponder (samolyo tnyy rahdiolokatseconnvy otvetchik i with tripl e rod aerials a head of the nose gear unit.

Rescue equipment: In an em ergency. the pilot and navigator/bomb aimer use up ward-fi rin g ejection seats. The tail gunner/radi o opera to r ba les out downw ards via the entrance hat ch: the hatch cover is actuated by twin pn eumati c ra ms. d oubl ing as a slipstream deflector. I1-2ST torpedo-bombers ca rried an LAS-3 inflatable rescue dinghy: one was a lso carried by reconnais sance a ircra ft and bombers on overwa ter mission s. Ex terior lightin g: port. sta rboard and tail navigation lights: retractable landing light s in the outer faces of the engine nacell es.

Appendix I· A CRONYMS AND GLOSSARY

AD - air defence. ADP - advanced development project. AFA - aerofot oapparaht - aerial camera. AM - [pllshka] Afanas 'veva i Mak ahrova Afan as'yev/Makarov cannon. AMD - a viatsionna va mina desanteeru vem a va air-dropped [anti-shipping] mine. ARK - a vtom aticheskiv rahdiokompas - automatic direction finder (ADF) used in conj unction with gro und beacons ASW - anti-submarine warfare. AUW - all-up weight. AVM F - Aviahtsiya voyenno-tnorsk o vo p ow Naval Air Arm. BAD - bombardeero vochna va u viadiveeziva -: bomber division (= group). BD - bahlochnvy derzhatuel' - beam-t ype [weapons] rack (as distinct from bomb cassettes for small-calibre bombs). Bleed air - excess air piped fro m the comp ressor section of a gas turbine engine for va rio us uses (pressurizati on, de-icing etc.). CG - centre of gravity. C-in-C - Commander-in-Chief. COIN - counter-insurgency (role or aircraft), i.e., for use against guerrillas: typically, this applies to light fixed-wing attack aircraft. oft en adapted from general aviation designs. DD - Defence District (l"oyelllly.1' okroogs - one of the large area s into which the terri torv . of the Soviet Union (Russia) was (is) divided with respec t to the Mo D's cont rol of the Armed Forces. DF - direction finder. D K - distantsiann o [o op r{/\'~rayemllya] konnovaya [slrelk Ol'lIyll oostanovku s-: remote-controlled tail barbette. ECM - elect ronic countermeasures (disrupting the operation of enemy radios and the like). Elevating angle - angle of vertical motion of a trainable gun. ELIN T - electronic intelligence (reconna issa nce). FBAP -ifronto voy bombardeero vochnyy aviapolk tactica l bomber regiment (= wing). FFA R - folding-lin aircraft rocket - unguided rocket designed to be launched from a podded •

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or ret ractable launcher and having foldaway stabilising fin s to tit into its launch tube. FaD - foreign object damage (damage to a jet engine caused by ingestion of foreign objects, usuallv . on the ground). Free-fall weapons - i.e. , with no provision for guida nce to the target. G HQ - Genera l Headquarters. G KAT - Gosoodahrstvennyv k oniitet p o a viatseeonno v tekhnike - State Committee on Aviation Hardware (ex/to MA P, which see: demoted d uring the Kh ruschchov years but then reinstated). GSVG = Grooppa so vetskik h vovsk I" Ghen nahnii Group of Soviet Forces in [East] Germany ( 1945- 89): renamed ZGV iZ ahpadnavo gmopp a voysk - Western Group of Forces. i.e.. Soviet/Russian Armed Forces contingent in East Germany and then re united Germany in 1988- 94). HD U - hose drum unit (a powered drum insta lled on a flizht refuelling tan ker from which the fue l transfer hose is deployed ). HF - high freq uency (rad io). IF F - identi fication friend-or-foe (usually by mea ns of in terrogators and tran sponders sending coded signals when interrogated to identify the aircraft as 'friendly') . IFR (I ) - instru ment Ilying rules. IFR (2) - in-fli cht refuelling. ILS - instrument landing system (system of ground-based and airbo rne radi o navigati on aids permitting blind runway approach and landing at night or in adve rse weather). 1MC - instrument meteorol ogical conditions (when the pilot has no external visual references for judging the aircraft's attitude and altitude and has to rely solely on the Ilight instruments). JATO - jet-assisted take-off (by means of rocket boosters to shorten the take-off run). KP-14 - kislorodnyv preebor - individua l oxygen breathing appa ratus. KU - konnovaya [st r elkOl'a.1'a] oostano vka - tail barbette. L11 - Lvotno-issledo vatel 'sk iv , . institoot - Flight ~

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A CRONY M S A ND G LO SSARY '

Resea rch Institu te named a fte r M ik ha il M . Gromov in Z h ukovskiy near M oscow. LL - letavuschcliava . . laboratoriva - lit. 'flvinz .... laboratory' (testbed o r research!survey a ircra ft ). Localizer (LOC) - a radi o beacon indicating the la nding approach hea d ing (pa rt of the gro und component of an ILS ). Mach buffetinz - vibra tion a t high M ach numbers ca used by disru ption of the airflow over the tail surfaces. Mach number - the a ircra ft's speed in relati on to the speed of sound (333 m!sec) which is M ach 1.0. MAP - Ministerstvo aviatseeonnoy prom ys hlennosti - Ministry of Aircra ft Industry. MMZ No. *** - Mo skovskiv mashinostroitel'n•vv • ~{/\'od - M oscow Machinery Plant No. ***. Mock-up review com m issio n - a com m issio n co nsis ting o f c us to mer (in this co ntex t. A ir Force) a nd aircraft in dustry representat ives wh ich inspects a fu ll -sca le m o ck-up of a new a irc ra ft and reviews the adva nced develo pment proj ect in order to elim inate a ny. o bvio us sho rtcom ings before p ro to type constr uc tio n begin s. MO P - Ministerst vo oboronnoy promJ'slt!ennosli Mini stry o f D efence Industry. M RP - markernyv rahdiopreeyomnik - marker beacon receiver. MTA P - minno-torpednyy aviapolk - minelaying and torpedo-bomber regi ment. M TOW - ma ximum ta ke-off weight. Never-exceed speed (V NE ) - the speed limit d etermined for an a ircra ft due to str uctura l stre ngth lim its: exceed ing it may ca use the a irc ra ft to break up due to ra m a ir pressure. N Il - naoochno-issledovatel'skiv institoot research instit ute (a ny kind). N Il VVS - naoochno-issledovatel'skiv institoot vo,venno-vozdooshn.vkh seel >- (Soviet) A ir Force Research Institute named after Ya leriy P. C hka lov. N K P B - nochuoy kollim ahtornyy pritsel botubardirovochnvv . . - collimato r bomb sight for n ight use. N R - [pllshka] Noodel'tuana i Rikhtera N udelma n/R ichte r ca nno n. NS - [pllshka] Noodel'niana i Soorahuova N udelman/Soo ra nov ca n no n. O K B - opt vno-k onstrooktorskoye byuro - ex pe rimenta l design burea u . OMTA P - otdel 'nyy minno- torpednyv aviapolk independent minelaying a nd torped o-bomber rezirnent . O P B - opticheskiy pritsel bombardirovochnyv optica l bomb sight. ~

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O RA P - otdel 'nyy raz vedvvatel'nvv aviapolk independent reconn ai ssance regimen t. OSP - oboroodovaniye slepoy posahdki - blind landing eq uipmen t (lLS ). PHOTI NT - photographic intelligence (reconnaissa nce ). PO - preobrazo vahtel' odnofa hzuvv - single-phase AC co nver ter. PSB N - p ribor slepovo bombometahniya i navigahtsii - blind-bombing a nd navigation device. PSR = porokhovaya startovaya raketa - solid-fuel rocket booster. PZL - Pan stwowe Zak lady Lo tnicze - State A ircra ft Facto ries concern (Poland). R AT - reaktivnaya aviatsionnava tor pedo - airdropped rocket-pro pelled to rpedo. Radar cross-sect ion (RCS ) - a measure of how visible a n a ircra ft is to ground rad a rs, RB (in RB-1 7 designati on ) - reaktivnvv . . bombardirovschcliik - jet bomber. RBP - rahdiolok atseeonnvv bombardirovochnvv pritscl ' radar bomb sight' (bomb-aiming radar ). RD - reak tivnyy dvigatel' - jet engine. RDS - the m eanin g o f this acro nym designating early Soviet nuclea r muni tio ns (R DS-3, RDS-4 etc.) is not known but some sources have deciphered it as reaktivnyy dvigatel' Stahlina 'Stalin's j et engine'! R EB - rahdioelektrouna va bor'bah - ECM. RP - rahdiopreetsel -: ' rad io sight' (i.e., fire contro l radar) , rpm - a ) revolutions pe r minute (rota tio n speed of a shaft etc.): b) ro unds per min ute (rate of fire of a m achin e-gu n or an automatic cannon). RTR - rahdiotek hnichesk a va raz vedka - ELI T. RY - rahdiovvso tomcr - radio a ltimeter. • SAM - surfa ce -to-a ir m issile, Self-sealing fuel tanks - flex ible tanks with a specia l protective ru bber layer. The ru bber swells when it comes into contact with jet fue l if the tank is p unct ured by bullets. thereby closing the bullet holes and stopping the lea k . SP - [sistema] slep oy posahdki - blind landing syste m (lLS ). SP U - saniolvotnvv , . . dahl'nomer - d istance mea suring equipment (D ME) SPU - saniolyotnoye peregol'ornoye oostroystvo intercom. ss (as a suffix to numbers of official documents) sovershenno sekretno - top secret. Sta te acce pta nce trial s - in the Soviet U nio n/ Russia , tri al s in o rder to determine wh ether a military a irc ra ft is suitable fo r service. >-

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128'

I LYUSHIN I L-2 8 B EAGLE

For civil aircraft , State accepta nce tria ls are basically certification trials. TK R D - toorbokompressorni ~1 ' reak ti vnyv dviga t 1'1' - lit. 'turbo-compressor jet engine' (an early Soviet term for turbojet s). Traversing angle - angle of sideways motion of a trainable gun. TsAG I - Tsentrahl'nyv aero- i ghidro dinameechesk iv institoot - Central Aerodynamics & Hydrodynamics Institute named after Nikolay Yezorovich Zhukovskiv . U (i.e.. U- 19 ) - ooskoritel' - booster. UB (I), e.g.. U B-2F Chaika - oopra vlyavemaya ~

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bomba - guided bomb.

V B (] J. e.g. . V B-16-57 - ooniversahl 'nyv b/ok versatile [rocket] pod, i.e.. one that can be ca rried by vario us aircraft types. VA - vozdooshnava armiva - air arrnv• ( = air force). VEB - , 'olkseigener Betrieb (German) - people's (i.e.. state-owned ) enterprise in former East Germanv. VH F - very high freq uency (ra dio). VMC - vis ual meteorological conditi ons (more or less clear weather when the pi lot can judge the aircraft's atti tude and altitude by using ex terna l visual references ). VVS - Vovenno-vozdooshnvve . . . .1'1'1'/.1' - Air Force (in this instance, Soviet/Russia n Air Force). • •

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• Appendix II D ETAIL P LANS

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130· ILYUSHIN IL-28 B EAGLE

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I LY USHIN I L-2 8 B U GLE

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I LY USHI N I L-2 8 B EAGLE

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The Soviet 11-28R used as a testbed for a Dooshkin liq uid- propellant rocket engine.

DM -ZZI (eln 1418) or DM-ZZK (c/n 5901207). one o f two 11-28R s used as testbed s for the East German Pim a o14A -l turbojet.

139

140 · ILYUSHIN IL-28 B E.1GL£

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141

INDEX Page numbers in italics refer to illustrations

access pa ne ls 119 Aeroflo t 64. 66-67. 66. 6 7 Afgha nista n service 90. 92 'aircra ft 73' (Tu- 14 ) 15 'aircra ft 77' (Tu- 12) 10. 10 'aircra ft 8 r 18 airfra me 11 8 Alba nia n service 92 Algerian service 92 anti-submarine warfare airc raft. 11-28PL 49 A rab-Israeli wars 86. 89 see also Six-Day Wa r a rma me nt 11 -12. 123 see also tai l turret. I1-K6 ball attack aircra ft. 11-28Sh 49-50. 50. 85. 89-90 Avia B-228: 63 . 65-66. 70. 70. 95 Avia C B-228: 96 avion ics 13. 16. 123. 125 avionics test beds 54-55. 55 ba nk. unco mma nded 13 Berkootov, pilot 88-89 Biafra 87-88 Bobrovski y, Capt. A. A. 85 Bogdan ov, Fyodo r D. 53 bomb. RDS-4 nuclear 40 bomb. U B-2F C haika guided 47.4 7.49 bomb load 13 bomb sight 13- 14 bomber version. basic 22. 24 Boogaiskiy. V. N. 14 Bruno Baade BB 152: 62. 65 Bulgarian service 92

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CG shift problem 22. 24 Castro Ruz, Fidel 84 Che ng Chung. Vice-C ommander 86 Chinese Air A rm (PLA A F) 67-68.68.69. 70.89. 90. 92-93 . 93. 94 Chinese defections 86-87 .90 Chinese production 67-68.68. 70 see also Harbin cockpi t 12-1 3 cockpi t cano py 12. 18.22. 11 9.120 Cold Wa r 79-85 combat tactics 79-80. 8 1-82 construc tion number systems 20 Cuba n Missile C risis 83-84

C zechoslovakian mu tiny 89 C zechoslovakian prod uc tion 70. Tl. see also Avia B-228: Avia C B-228 C zechoslovakian service 34. 65- 66. 70. 70. 93. 95-98 . 95.96 de-icing syste m 13. 123 defects 78 EC M aircraft . 1l-28R EB (?) 33. 34 E LiNT aircra ft. 11-28RTR 33.33 Egyptian Air Fo rce 85-86. 99- 10 I. IOO. 101. 102 ejection seat testbed. 1l-28LL 56.56.5 7. 58.58 ejection seats 13. 24 ejectio n tra iner versio n . 11-28U 29.29 engine test beds C zech 63. 65-66 East German 62. 64-65 11-28H 66 Soviet 6 1-62. 62 English Electric Canberra 70. ri equipment 123. 125 fighter deve lopment 8 1 Finnish A ir Fo rce 90-9 I. 102 N H-2: 103 N H-3: 53 N H-4: 103 first fli ght 14-1 5 foreign production 67-68. 70. ti fuel cells 22. 24. 123 fu selage 13.11 8-120 Galla i. M ark L. 54 Germa ny. East. service in 82- 83. 84. 98- 99. 98 G oryay nov, N iko la i O. 59 guided bomb carrier. 11-28-1 31 : 47. 47. 49

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Ha rbin BT-5: 68. 69 H-5: 67-68. 68. 69. 70. 92. 93 HJ-5: 68. 69 H Z-5: 68. 70 H unga ria n Air Force 33. 104.104 H unga ria n uprising 85 hydrogen bomb test 73-74

INDEX · 143

Ilyu shi n , Sergey Vlad im irovich 8 , I I, 14, 17 Ilyu shin I1-20 (Il- 28P ) m ail plan e 64 , 66-67, 66 , 6 7 11-22: 9-1 0, 9 11-28 Beagle bom ber 22, 23,25 08 Blue 83 10 Red 24, 35 12 Blu e 83 23 Red 74 26 Blue 21 27 Blu e 2 1 30 Red 24 35 Red 115 51 Bl ue 23 67 Red 1/ 6 11-28- 131 guid ed bo mb ca rr ier 47.4 7,49 11-28A (Il -2 8N) nucl ea r-capabl e bomber 40, 40 Il-28B M ta rget- towin g a ircra ft 50. 51.52.53 Il-28H eng ine testbed 66 Il-28LL eje ctio n sea t testbed 56. 56. 5 7, 58, 58 Il-28LL ra dar testbed 54-55 I1-28L Sh lan d ing gea r testbe d 60,6 1, 61 II-28M target d rone 53, 54 11-28N ( I1-28A) nucl ea r-cap ab le bomber 40 . 40 I1-28P (Il-20) m ail plan e 64, 66- 67, 66, 67 11-28P L a n ti-sub ma rine wa rfa re a irc ra ft 49 I1-28R tact ical reco nna issa nce a ircra ft 29-30, 32. 8 I . 90-9 1, 98, 103, 121 avio nics 32 ca m eras 30 fuel sys tem 30 in tern a t layo u t 118 landing gea r 30, 32 perfo rmance 32 performa nc e. ta ke-o ff (field) 33 Pol ish 31. 109 p rot ot yp e 29, 30 Il-28 R E B (?) EC M a ircra ft 33, 34 11-28R M experime n ta l tac tica l reco nna issa nce a ircra ft 4 1, 41. 42. 43, 45 11-28RTR E LINT a ircra ft 33, 33 11-28S tactica l bo m ber p roj ect 41 11-28Sh attack a ircra ft 49- 50. 50. 85. 89- 90 11-28T to rp ed o -bomber 36- 39. 36.3 7. 105 fue l sys tem 37 o rd na nce loa d 37,39 prot ot yp e 37, 39 specifica tio ns 38 11-28T to r pedo-bom ber co nversio n 39-40 Il-28T M exp erimenta l torped o -bo m be r 46-47, 46, 48 11-28U Ma scot tr a iner 25-29. 25. 28 . 79. 96. 106, 110, 120 03 Blue 113 03 Red 1/ 5

18 Blu e 55, 55 42 Blue 122 79 Red 80 85 Red 26 87 Red 26 cock pit 26-27 ejec tio n tr ainer versio n 29. 2 9 p roducti on 28 pro to typ e 27, 28 I1-28Z A wea ther reco n na issa nce a ircraft 50 Il-46: 71, ti im proveme n ts 22, 24 in-flight refuelling syste m testbeds 58-59,59.6 1 Indon esian N avy 105-1 06, 105, 106 instrum ent landing sys te m 13 Ira qi A ir Force 89, 106 Iro ns. Gen . 87 Ka mpuche a, serv ice in 90, 106-1 07

Karm ishin, Ca p t. D . D. 85 Ken ned y. Pr esid en t Joh n F. 83 K hache mizov, navigat o r/bo m b ai mer 88-89 Khrusch ev, N ik ita S. 83. 84 Kokkin aki, Vlad imir K . 14-1 5, 16, 18-1 9. 27. 29. 32. 39, Ko ot yntsev, N. M . 89 Korea . No rt h. serv ice in 85. 107-1 08 Ko ub ek, G ustav 96,97,98 Krau tz, H elmut 65 Ku rc ha to v, Igo r' V. 74 Kiiss. I. B. 29

n

la nd in g gea r 12, 122 land in g gear testbe d s 60. 6 I, 61 Lavoch kin La- 200B 54, 55 Li H sien-pin 86 Li Tsa i-wan g 86 Lian g Pa o -sh en g 86 maiden fligh t 14- 15 m ai lp lan e, II-20 (Il- 28P ) 64, 66-67, 66. 6 7 manufacturing cha nges 24 M ewes, K la us-H erman n 65 M ikoyan Mi G -19 Farmer-A 58-59. 81 Mi koyan MiG- 19 Farm er-C 8 1 M ikoya n MiG- 19P Farm er-B 28 m issile ta rget ing syste ms research a ircraft 55 mi ssiles 53 m odificati on s 22, 24 Morocca n se rvice 107 Moscow M ay D ay parad e, 1952: 76. 78 M ya sishchch ev, Vla d im ir M ik hai lovich to N AT O co d e na m e given 21

144 · ILYUSHIN IL-28 B E.I GLE

Nasser. President Ga rna l A bde l 85-86. 87. 88. 99 navigator's station glazing 119. 119 Nigeria . service in 87-88. 107. 107 nuclear bomb test 73 nuclear-capable bomber. 11-28 (I1-28A) 40. -10 nuclear exerci se. tactical 74. 76 Ojukwu, Col 87 Operation Kadesh 86 Operation Man goosta (Mongoose) 83-84 Operation Musketeer 86

Pa kista ni serv ice 108 parachu te test bed s 65-66 pa rachuting world record atte m pts 96-98 perfor ma nce co m pa riso n 17. 32 SI'I' also tak e-off (field) per for ma nce Polish Air Fo rce 31. 66. 108. 108. 109. 110-112. / /0 powerplants Klimov RD-4 5F 16 Klimov VK- I : 17-1 8. 78 Klirnov VK- IA 122-1 23.122 Klimov VK-5: 41. 44. 45 Rolls-Royce ene (Klimov RD-45 ) 12 pre-production 11-18: 18-19. 18. 19 production. total 70 production commences 19. 21. 22 protot ypes 14-1 5. 1-1. 16 Puhlrnann, Gerhard 65 rad ar 18 rad ar testbed. 11-28LL 54-55 radiation reconnaissa nce aircraft 34 Razum ov, R . A . 54-55 reco nnaissa nce aircraft S I' I' Ilyush in 11-28R : Ilyu shin 11-18R M reliab ility 78 Rom ani an Air Force 53. 112-11 3 serial numbers 15 Sidki, Air Vice-M ar sh al Mohammed 100 Six-Day Wa r 88 sk i la nd ing gea r testbed . I1-18L Sh 60.6 1. 61 Somalian serv ice I 13 Sorokin, N. D. 14-1 5. 18-1 9. 39 Soviet Air Force (VVS) 10. 73. 85.11 3-11 5 63rd 8A D 79- 80. 81 647th Special Compos ite Support A ir Regiment 34 flying scho ols 78. 85 target-towing flights/sq uadrons 85 Soviet Army mot orcyclists 7-1 Soviet aval Air Arm (AVMF) 18-19. 76. 77. 84-85 specificatio ns 114 speeds. top 19

sta bility 15 St alin . Josef 17. 78 St alin . Vasiliy I. 76. 78 Suez c risis 85-86 surv ivors 9 1 Syr ia n Ai r Fo rce 117 syste ms 123 tacti cal bomber. experime nta l. with VK-5 engines 44. 45 tacti cal bomber project. I1-28S 41 tacti cal co des 15 tail turret. ll-K 6 ball 11-12.1 9. 82 ta il unit 12.13.121 .112 Tai wan 's claim of independence 85.86 Taiwanese service 117 tak e-off performance 15. 33 target drone . II-18M 53.5-1 target d rones. PM-6G/R 51 target-t owing aircr aft Eas t German versio n 52- 53 performance co m pa riso ns 51 Rom ani an vers io n 53 Soviet versions (II-288 M) 50. 5 1. 52. 53 Tit ov. G he rma n 58 to rped o. RAT- 51 roc ket-propelled 34.35.36 torped o-bomber con version 34. 35. 36 SI'I' also Ilyushin I1-28TrrM tra iner SI'I' Ilyushin I1-18U M a S COl trainin g 79-8 1 Tupolev, A udrey N. 15-1 6 Tupolev Tu -12 ("airc raft 71' ) 10.1 0 Tu -14: 15.1 6.1 7 Tu -14T (Tu- 89) 16 Tu -77 (Tu -11) 10.10 Tu- 8 1 (Tu-14) 16 Tu- 89 (Tu-14T) 16 tyres 16 und erc arriage 11. 111 Vietna m. service in 88-89. 117 Vinog radov, A . P. 17. 19 .39 Vosto k re-entry vehicle ejecti on seat 56. 56 . 57. 58. 58 war service 85-9 1 weat her reconn aissan ce a ircraft . I1-28ZA 50 wings 12. 13. 120. 122 Yar tsev, Lt. (sg ) V. Yeo 85 Yem en . service in 87. 117 Yerofeyev, B. A . 17. 29

Th e Il-2 8 e ntered servi ce with the USSR Air Force in 1950 a nd has often been dubbed 'The Russian Canb erra' . The firs t pro totype was power ed by Rolls -Roy ce Nene turb ojets, but pr odu ction models were powered by two 5,950 lb st Klimov VK- 1s, a littl e 'b orrowed ' technology. The aircraft had a maximum sp eed of 600 mph at sea level and 5 15 mph at 36,000 ft. Th e se rvice ce iling was 40,000 ft and the ran ge 2,000 miles. It was armed with two fixed forward -firi ng 23-mm ca nnon and two 23-nnn ca nnon in a man uall y directed tail positi on. Th e aircraft served with the air forces of Egypt, China, Czec hoslovakia a nd Poland . in addition 10 the USSR. A tra iner vers ion is known by the NATO nam e Mascot. Th e Il-20 was a conve rsion for Aero llot opera tion on high-sp eed freight services.

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