Tupolev Tu-16
| Tupolev Tu-16 | |
|---|---|
| A Tu-16 flying over USS Hewitt c.1978 | |
| General information | |
| Type | Strategic bomber |
| National origin | Soviet Union |
| Manufacturer | Voronezh Aircraft Production Association |
| Designer | |
| Status | In service with China as Xi'an H-6 |
| Primary users | People's Liberation Army Air Force |
| Number built | 1,509 |
| History | |
| Manufactured | 1952–1962 |
| Introduction date | 1954 |
| First flight | 27 April 1952 |
| Variant | Xi'an H-6 |
| Developed into | Tupolev Tu-104 Tupolev Tu-124 Tupolev Tu-107 |
The Tupolev Tu-16 (USAF/DOD reporting name Type 39; NATO reporting name: Badger) is a twin-engined jet strategic heavy bomber used by the Soviet Union. It has been flown for almost 70 years. While many aircraft in Soviet service were retired after the Cold War ended, a Chinese license-built version, the Xi'an H-6, remains in service with the People's Liberation Army Air Force.
The bomber saw decades of combat use with the Egyptian and Iraqi Air Forces. Egypt conducted its first combat use in the North Yemen civil war, later in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War against Israel, and briefly in the Egyptian–Libyan War. Iraq also used the bomber in the Six-Day War, and later the Iran–Iraq War.
China began license production of Tu-16s in 1959, and developed the H-6 version by 1968. Modern variants such as the H-6K are still being actively produced as of 2020.