Ilyushin Il-28 - Operators

Operators

Afghanistan

• Afghan Air Force

54 aircraft acquired (including four Il-28U examples) from 1957. Only trainers were retained beyond 1994. All grounded during the civil war in the 1990s.

Albania

• Albanian Air Force

Aviation Regiment 4020 operated one Il-28 acquired in 1957 attached to 2 Skuadrilja (2nd Squadron). This aircraft was traded for an H-5, the Chinese version of the Soviet Il-28, in 1971 and retired from service in 1992.

Algeria

• Algerian Air Force

Twelve Il-28s were received from Egypt in 1962, with a further 12 delivered from the Soviet Union in 1965.

Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force

14 Il-28Rs and one Il-28U received in 1955 and retired in 1974.

China

• Hundreds of these aircraft were operated by the People's Liberation Army Air Force and People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force. Originally equipped with Soviet-built aircraft, the Chinese began full production of the H-5 by 1965. All Il-28s are retired as of 2011.

Cuba

• Cuban Air Force

A total of 42 were received in 1962, but soon returned to the Soviet Union as a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovak Air Force

Il-28 and Il-28Us were built under licence as the B-228 and CB-228 which operated from 1954 until 1973. 90 Il-28s, 30 Il-28RTs and an unknown number of Il-28Us were delivered.

East Germany

• East German Air Force

Operated 12 Il-28s and one Il-28U aircraft, primarily on target tug and engine testing duties between 1954 and 1982.

Egypt

• Egyptian Air Force

Received 70 Czechoslovakia-built Il-28s in 1956, shortly before the Suez Crisis. Some Il-28s still in service for limited use.

Finland

• Finnish Air Force

Received four aircraft (two bombers and two Il-28Rs) in the 1960s, two of which were used as target tugs until 1981.

Hungary

• Hungarian Air Force

3 Il-28s, 3 Il-28RTRs and 2 Il-28Us received from USSR and used between 1955 and 1967.

Indonesia

• Indonesian Air Force

21 Skadron based at Kemayoran Air Force Base, Jakarta received 12 Il-28s acquired in 1961. Aircraft were used during Operation Trikora in 1962 (the handover of Western New Guinea to Indonesia from the Netherlands). All of the aircraft were grounded in 1969 and retired in 1970.

• Indonesian Navy

Received more than 30 Il-28T torpedo-bombers and six Il-28U trainers in 1961. The last one was retired in 1972.

Iraq

• Iraqi Air Force

Received 10 Il-28s and two Il-28Us in 1958. All destroyed or grounded after Desert Storm.

Morocco

• Royal Moroccan Air Force

Morocco operated two Il-28s.

Nigeria

• Nigerian Air Force

North Korea

• North Korean Air Force

Satellite imagery shows what appear to be up to 32 Il-28 and H-5 aircraft of unknown airworthiness located at airfields around the country.

Pakistan

• Pakistani Air Force

Operated a number of H-5s under the designation B-56. These aircraft served alongside American-built Martin B-57s. The H-5s were not popular with Pakistani pilots, and they were eventually traded back to China in exchange for more Shenyang F-6s.

Poland

• Polish Air Force:Received 72 Il-28s, 15 Il-28Rs and 16 Il-28Us. The first aircraft arrived in 1952, last was retired in 1986.
  • 7 Pułk Lotnictwa Bombowo-Rozpoznawczego was based in Powidz.
  • 21 Pułk Rozpoznania Taktycznego operated Il-28R variant and was based in Sochaczew.
  • 33 Pułk Lotnictwa Bombowego was based in Modlin.
• Polish Navy

Romania

• Romanian Air Force

About 22 Il-28s, three Il-28Rs and eight Il-28Us, both Soviet- and Chinese-built, operated from 1955. All remaining Il-28s were retired from service by June 2001.

Somalia

• Somali Air Corps

South Yemen

• South Yemen Air Force

Soviet Union

About 1,500 served with the Soviet Air Forces and the Soviet Navy (Soviet Naval Aviation), with operations beginning in 1950. Front line operations continued through the 1950s, with a few examples remaining into the 1980s. A small number of demilitarized aircraft were provided to Aeroflot.

Syria

• Syrian Air Force

Syria operated six Il-28s. Replaced in 1980s by Su-24

Vietnam

• Vietnam People's Air Force Retired.