Tupolev Tu - 16 The Tupolev Tu - 16 ( NATO reporting name : Badger ) was a twin - engine jet bomber used by the Soviet Union . It has flown for more than 50 years , and the Chinese licence - built Xian H - 6 remains in service with the People ' s Liberation Army Air Force . Development . In the late 1940s the Soviet Union was strongly committed to matching the United States in strategic bombing capability . The Soviets ' only long - range bomber at the time was Tupolev ' s Tu - 4 ' Bull ' , a reverse - engineered version of the American B - 29 Superfortress . The development of the extremely powerful Mikulin AM - 3 turbojet led to the possibility of a large , jet - powered bomber . The Tupolev design bureau began work on the Tu - 88 ( " Aircraft N " ) prototypes in 1950 . The Tu - 88 first flew on 27 April 1952 . After winning a competition against the Ilyushin Il - 46 , it was approved for production in December 1952 . The first production bombers entered service with Frontal Aviation in 1954 , receiving the service designation Tu - 16 . It received the NATO reporting name Badger - A . It had a new , large swept wing and two large Mikulin AM - 3 turbojets , one in each wing root . It could carry a single massive FAB - 9000 9 , 000 - kg ( 19 , 800 lb ) conventional bomb ( the Russian equivalent of the British Grand Slam bomb ) or various nuclear weapon s to a range of around 4 , 800 km ( 3 , 000 mi ) . Although the Tu - 16 began as a high - altitude , free - fall bomber , in the mid - 1950s it was equipped to carry early Soviet cruise missile s . The Tu - 16KS - 1 ( Badger - B ) version could carry AS - 1 missiles over a combat radius of 1 , 800 km ( 1 , 125 mi ) . These very large weapons were aerodynamically similar to the Mikoyan - Gurevich MiG - 15 fighter , fitted with either a nuclear or conventional warhead , had a range of about 140 km ( 90 mi ) . They were intended for use primarily against US Navy aircraft carrier s and other large surface ships . Subsequent Tu - 16s were converted to carry later , more advanced missiles , while their designations changed several times . A versatile design , the Tu - 16 was built in numerous specialized variants for reconnaissance , maritime surveillance , electronic intelligence gathering ( ELINT ) , and electronic warfare ( ECM ) . A total of 1 , 507 aircraft was constructed in three plants in the Soviet Union , in 1954 – 1962 . A civilian adaptation , the Tupolev Tu - 104 , saw passenger service with Aeroflot . The Tu - 16 was also exported to Egypt , Indonesia , and Iraq . It continued to be used by the Air Forces and naval aviation of the Soviet Union and subsequently Russia until 1993 . Delivery of the Tu - 16 to China began in 1958 , and the Xi ' an Aircraft Industrial Corporation ( XAC ) produced a copy of it under the Chinese designation Xian H - 6 . At least 120 of these aircraft remain in service . 14 May 1965 , one of the PLAAF Tu - 16 bombers carried out the first airborne nuclear weapon test inside China . Variants . Among the main production variants of the Badger were the Tu - 16 and Tu - 16A bombers ; Tu - 16KS and Tu - 16K - 10 missile carriers ; Tu - 16SPS , " Elka " , and Tu - 16Ye ECM aircraft ; Tu - 16R reconnaissance aircraft ; and Tu - 16T torpedo bomber ; others were produced from conversions . Individual aircraft could be modified several times , with designations changed , especially concerning missile - carrying aircraft .