Aircraft Tu-16

Tu-16 (NATO: Badger - «Badger") - a Soviet long-range twin-engine jet bomber bomber. Produced in various versions, including a missile-carrying version of the aircraft - tanker aircraft electronic warfare, and other serially produced from 1953 to 1963 with three aircraft factories.

Was in service with the Soviet Union, Russia and CIS countries for nearly 50 years. It is also in service with Egypt, Iraq and Indonesia. Produced under the name Xian H-6 in the People's Republic of China. During the production was created more than a thousand TU-16.

For decades, the Tu-16 has remained the main aircraft in the aviation component of strategic deterrence forces of the USSR. Tu-16 naval aviation fulfilled the task of tracking and support the U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups in the whole Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes these flights have led to accidents and disasters. Thus, May 25, 1968 in front of the sailors carrier "Essex" was killed spy plane of the Northern Fleet in the Norwegian Sea. According to some Russian sources, July 26, 1980 a couple of scouts Pacific Fleet lost one of the planes under mysterious circumstances at the time of tracking U.S. aircraft carrier in the Sea of ​​Japan.According to Western reports, the accident occurred on June 27 (maybe a typo in the source, it should be July 27) at 13 hours and 50 minutes to Tokyo time in front of the Japanese sailors landing ship "Nemuro." When you turn right at the height of the plane caught ultra wing of the water. As a result of the search and rescue operations, the Japanese Coast Guard in the day lifted from the water bodies of two pilots and third parts of the body.

During the 1967 Six Day War, Israeli Air Force, through the use of the element of surprise, and destroyed on the ground 30 Tu-16, the Egyptian Air Force, and an Iraqi bomber was shot down over Israel. Egyptian planes were parked in the open and killed Israeli napalm and cluster bombs during the flight along the taxiway strip. After that, the entire Soviet military aviation began to be translated kaponirnye parking.

In the Arab-Israeli war of 1973, Egyptian Tu-16 was limited involvement by issuing a total of 25 missiles, the DAC-2 and DAC-11 of which have achieved their objectives only 5. Lost two aircraft, both crews were killed.

Tu-16 bombers also took part in the Iran-Iraq War, based on an air base near al-Walid the Syrian border, and occasionally taking part in raids on Iranian cities.

During the Afghan War, the Tu-16 has repeatedly been used to bomb Afghanistan. In April 1984, aircraft of the 200th Heavy Bomber Regiment participated in the Panjshir operation to suppress the mujahedin factions of Ahmad Shah Massoud. Along with the Tu-22M bombers and tactical aircraft of the 40th Army, they have created unprecedented in the history of the density of the air above the Panjshir Valley - Bagramskogo airfield surveillance radar is designed to accompany the 100 targets simultaneously, "choking" on overload.The main armament of the Tu-16 during this operation were high-explosive bombs OFAB-250.

In the summer of 1986 before the long-range aircraft was tasked to suppress the strong points of the Mujahideen, located in the caves. Bombing conventional gauges does not work, because the caves were carved in stone and concrete. It was decided to use the worst of the production of conventional bombs - FAB-9000, an analogue of the British Grand Slam. By the time the only aircraft of the Soviet Air Force, which could be FAB-9000, was the Tu-16. The task set before the 251st Heavy Bomber Regiment of the White Church. Heavy bombing of land-mines on the slopes gave an impressive effect: the gathering of hundreds of tons of rock buried the mouth of the cave and approaches to them on the bottom of the gorges were falling cornices, few roads and trails rested on piles of rocky boulders, and to find workarounds to the enemy had to spend a week.