The Tupolev design bureau began work on the Tu-88 ("Aircraft N") prototypes in 1950. The Tu-88 first flew on 27 April 1952. After winning a competition against the Ilyushin Il-46, it was approved for production in December 1952. The first production bombers entered service with Frontal Aviation in 1954, receiving the service designation Tu-16. It received the NATO reporting name Badger-A.
It had a new, large swept wing and two large Mikulin AM-3 turbojets, one in each wing root. It could carry a single massive FAB-9000 9,000-kg (19,800 lb) conventional bomb (the Russian equivalent of the British Grand Slam bomb) or various nuclear weapons to a range of around 4,800 km (3,000 mi).
Although the Tu-16 began as a high-altitude, free-fall bomber, in the mid-1950s it was equipped to carry early Soviet cruise missiles. The Tu-16KS-1 (Badger-B) version could carry AS-1 missiles over a combat radius of 1,800 km (1,125 mi). These very large weapons were aerodynamically similar to the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 fighter, fitted with either a nuclear or conventional warhead, had a range of about 140 km (90 mi). They were intended for use primarily against US Navy aircraft carriers and other large surface ships. Subsequent Tu-16s were converted to carry later, more advanced missiles, while their designations changed several times.
A versatile design, the Tu-16 was built in numerous specialized variants for reconnaissance, maritime surveillance, electronic intelligence gathering (ELINT), and electronic warfare (ECM). A total of 1,507 aircraft was constructed in three plants in the Soviet Union, in 1954-1962. A civilian adaptation, the Tupolev Tu-104, saw passenger service with Aeroflot. The Tu-16 was also exported to Egypt, Indonesia, and Iraq. It continued to be used by the Air Forces and naval aviation of the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia until 1993.
Delivery of the Tu-16 to China began in 1958, and the Xi'an Aircraft Industrial Corporation (XAC) produced a copy of it under the Chinese designation Xian H-6. At least 120 of these aircraft remain in service. 14 May 1965, one of the PLAAF Tu-16 bombers carried out the first airborne nuclear weapon test inside China.General characteristics
- Crew: 6-7
- Length: 34.80 m (114 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 33.00 m (108 ft 3 in)
- Height: 10.36 m (34 ft 0 in)
- Wing area: 165 m2 (1,780 sq ft)
- Empty weight: 37,200 kg (82,012 lb)
- Gross weight: 76,000 kg (167,551 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 79,000 kg (174,165 lb)
- Powerplant: 2 × Mikulin AM-3 M-500 turbojets, 93.2 kN (21,000 lbf) thrust each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 1,050 km/h (650 mph; 570 kn)
- Range: 7,200 km (4,474 mi; 3,888 nmi)
- Service ceiling: 12,800 m (41,995 ft)
- Wing loading: 460 kg/m² (94 lb/sq ft)
- Thrust/weight: 0.24
Armament
- Guns: 6-7 × 23 mm Nudelman-Rikhter NR-23 cannons, two each in dorsal and ventral remote turrets and manned tail turret, with the occasional addition of one fixed forward in the nose
- Missiles:
- 2 × Raduga KS-1 Komet (AS-1 Kennel) anti-ship missile on underwing hardpoints, or
- 1 × Raduga K-10S (AS-2 Kipper) anti-ship missile semi-recessed in bomb bay, or
- 2 × Raduga KSR-5 (AS-6 Kingfish) anti-ship missile on underwing hardpoints
- Bombs: 9,000 kg (20,000 lb) of free-fall weapons
