Air International 2006-08
D.Willis - Tupolev Tu-16 Badger /Aircraft profile/
Tupolev Tu-16G Badger-A. Tu-16Gs (G standing for Grazdanski or Civil)were used as crew trainers and fast mail services by Aeroflot under the designation of Tu-104G. This was the final Badger-A variant, nicknamed Krasnyi Shaposhka (Little Red Riding Hood) and was a basic Tu-16, demilitarised with guns removed but retaining the radar.
Tupolev Tu-16R Badger-G of the Soviet Naval Air Service element of Long Range Aviation. It is similar to the Badger-G but has two large electronic intelligence (Elint) pods under the wings and two passive Elint antennae housed in the domes under the fuselage.
Tupolev Tu-16R Badger-G was a modified Badger-A converted to a true multi-sensor long-range reconnaissance aircraft with a camera sensor pallet fitted into the redundant bomb bay. Two passive receiver antennae were housed in the blisters below the fuselage. Although seen in 1969 in Egyptian Air Force colours, this aircraft actually belonged to and was operated by the Soviet Naval Air Arm.
Tupolev Tu-16KS-1 Badger-B. This was the first anti-ship version of the Tu-16 which comprised a Tu-16A airframe with a pair of KS-1 Kennel missiles carried underneath the wings. A retractable 'dustbin' radome in the rear of the former bomb bay would have been used to illuminate the target for the radar-guided missiles. Twenty-five Badger-Bs were supplied to the Indonesian Armed Forces.
Tupolev Tu-16K-10 Badger-C. First seen in public in 1961 the Badger-C was easily recognisable from its huge radome for the 'Puff Ball' I-band radar, which replaced the glazed nose. Other visible differences were the addition of fuselage windows, including one for the radar navigator in front of the cockpit, and the huge K-10 missile housed in a semi-recessed centreline position in the former bomb bay.
Tupolev Tu-16K Badger-G of the Egyptian Air Force, illustrated in two-tone camouflage with two KS-1 missiles (eventually replaced by AS-5 Kelts). Egypt replaced 20 Tu-16KS-1s that had been destroyed by Israel in the Six Day War of 1967 with a similar number of Badger-Gs, and these attacked Israeli targets in the 1973 conflict with the loss of one aircraft.
A pair of Tu-16K-26Ps, both armed with two KSR-5 Kingfish long-range radar-guided missiles. Note the electronic countermeasures fairing above the cockpit.
To house the YeN radar’s two large antennae the Tu-16K-10 was fitted with a distinctive 'duck-bill' radome. This variant was optimised for attacking naval targets.