page_title: Ilyushin Il-28
section_title: Former operators
hierarchical_section_title: Ilyushin Il-28 / Former operators
caption_attribution_description: English: Ilyushin Il-28R, LZ-32, of the 47th Reconnaissance Air Regiment of the Czechoslovak Air Force, spring 1957 Čeština: Iljušin Il-28R, LZ-32, 47. průzkumného leteckého pluku československého letectva, jaro 1957
context_page_description: The Ilyushin Il-28 is a jet bomber of the immediate postwar period that was originally manufactured for the Soviet Air Forces. It was the Soviet Union's first such aircraft to enter large-scale production. It was also licence-built in China as the Harbin H-5. Total production in the USSR was 6,316 aircraft, and over 319 H-5s were built. Only 187 examples of the HJ-5 training variant were manufactured. In the 1990s hundreds remained in service with various air forces over 50 years after the Il-28 first appeared. The only H-5s in service currently are approximately 80 aircraft which operate with the Korean People's Air Force.
  The Il-28 has the USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 27" and NATO reporting name "Beagle", while the Il-28U trainer variant has the USAF/DoD reporting name "Type 30" and NATO reporting name Mascot.
context_section_description:  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 (BAF)
  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.
  Second Aviation School
   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 locally designated 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. The IDF rated the Il-28 as a high priority target during the Six-Day War. Some Il-28s still in service for limited use.
   Finland
  Finnish Air Force
  Received four aircraft (one IL-28 and three Il-28Rs), coded NH-1..4, in the 1960s. The aircraft were used as target tugs and for maritime reconnaissance and patrolling as well as aerial mapping until 1981. The code letters of the type (NH) originated from Neuvostoliittolainen Hinauskone (Soviet towplane) but since they also matched initials of the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev (spelled Hrushtshov in Finnish), their usual nickname was Nikita.
   Hungary
  Hungarian Air Force
   Indonesia
  Indonesian Air Force
  21 Skuadron 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. They were based at Surabaya, in what is now Juanda International Airport. 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 Yemen
  North Yemen Air Force
   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 1977.
  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 Force
   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 provide
caption: Ilyushin Il-28R, LZ-32, of the 47th Reconnaissance Air Regiment of the Czechoslovak Air Force, spring 1957
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