AEROFAX: TUPOLEV Tu-16 BADGER

The establishment of NATO posed the need for the Soviet war machine to create a fast jet bomber capable of reaching targets throughout Western Europe and combating the US Navy carrier task forces. The basic Tu-16 which first flew in the mid-1950s was developed into nearly fifty versions adopted for various roles, including nuclear-capable bombers, anti-shipping missile strike aircraft, torpedo-bombers and minelayers, numerous reconnaissance and ECM variants, assorted development aircraft for testing new engines, avionics and systems. The Tu-16 even found civil uses as a fast mail plane and a weather research/rainmaking aircraft! The Badger, as the bomber was known to the West, served as the basis for the Soviet Union's first jet airliner, the Tu-104. Nearly 1,500 Tu-16s were built in the Soviet Union, and the Tu-16 was also built under licence as the H-6 in China. Other foreign users were Egypt, Indonesia and Iraq. All known versions are described here, together with a full account of the Tu-16's operational career. The book features many unpublished photographs and a detailed production list. With 317 black and white and 58 colour photographs, plus nine pages of line drawings.