finland Finnish Air Force IL-28 "NH-1"

[WayOfTheWolk 1,573]

Finnish Air Force IL-28 "NH-1"

Introduction & General History:

After the events of the Second World War the Finnish Air Force was looking to re-equip its forces with modern equipment under the conditions of the war treaties. As stipulated by post-war agreements with the Soviet Union Finland was able to order second hand Soviet equipment provided that they were only to be used in the defense of Finnish airspace. Looking to fulfill a new bomber requirement and forbidden from building their own the Finnish government turned to the Soviets in 1960 receiving a total of four "hand-me down" IL-28s including one bomber and three reconnaissance models. Between 1960 and 1981 the Finnish Air Force operated the IL-28 for a variety of roles including target towing and maritime patrol duties. The recon models were utilized for full effect in geographical mapping while the lone bomber designated "NH-1" had the opportunity of doing a bit of everything. 

NH-1 in particular had the honor of being the only IL-28 during the Cold War era to set foot outside the Eastern Bloc in a coincidental series of events. On September 16, 1968 while on the way to the Farnborough Air Show a Finnish Air Force DC-3 carrying high ranking officers developed an issue with its communication equipment and was forced to make an emergency landing in Sweden. Unable to render local help they were forced to call for support back home at Utti air base. In response the air force was guaranteed permission from the Swedish government to send a single IL-28 (NH-1) with a new radio to the airfield in Malmo that same day leaving at 6 PM. NH-1 arrived at Malmo by 9 PM with a crew of four and the radio was swapped by 23:26 later that night. By next morning on the 17th the DC-3 was ready again for travel and NH-1 returned to Finland. This was all done without Soviet knowledge and was kept a state secret til the end of the cold war. Unfortunately for the NH-1 she would suffer a career ending accident on landing in 1976 which was not repaired.

Images:

Spoiler

 

Place in War Thunder:

I give the choice to either choose a Swedish or Soviet tech tree for this aircraft's representation. With the Swedish tech tree now a reality already seeing Finnish premiums the NH-1 might make for a nice Rank V bomber for the Swedes in absence of an indigenous design. That said if community members feel the aircraft's communist heritage is too strong for them to pass up the option is there for a Soviet addition which I personally wouldn't be opposed to if this were to be implemented by Gaijin. As seen above in the photos the NH-1 does have some rather unique paint differences with the orange intake housings and Finnish Air Force decals. Unlike her Soviet counterparts the Finnish IL-28s were equipped with search radar and modernized with western avionics in the late 1960s which vastly improved their maritime patrol performance.

 

Specifications:

Crew: Three (Pilot, Navigator, Gunner) 
Length: 17.65m
Wingspan: 21.45m 
Height: 6.7m
Wing area: 60 m2
Empty weight: 12,890 kg
Loaded weight: 18,400
Powerplant: 2 x Klimov VK-1A centrifugal-flow turbojet engines
Thrust: 26.5 kN (6,000 lbf)
 

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 902 km/h at 4,500 m, 800 km/h at sea level 
Service ceiling: 12,300 m (40,400 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/s)
Wing loading: 525 kg/m² (108 lb/ft²)
Thrust/weight: 0.39

Armament: Guns: 4×23mm Rikhter NR-23 in front, tail turret, 3,000 (6,000 Ib) of bombs 

Radar: PSBN-M

 

Sources:

Spoiler

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-28
• https://lae.blogg.se/2015/october/vad-gjorde-en-iljusjin-il-28-pa-bulltofta-en-natt-1968.html
• http://tiikki.blogspot.com/2012/11/il-28-in-finnish-air-force-and-some.html

 

Edited December 21, 2019 by Private_Wolk

[ItssLuBu 1,803]

Approved and open for discussion. 

[Borotovas 4,500]

+1

[Sternjaeger84 1,076]

+1 for Sweden.

[Solarmod 1,204]

+1 for Sweden, they don't have many bombers, and as far as I know, no jet bombers.

[Milocat 4,857]

+1 for the Swedish tree.

[MasterOfUltramar 1,711]

+1 German tree.

[WayOfTheWolk 1,573]

4 hours ago, FinlandSupreme said:

+1 German tree.

Germany already is due to receive its own IL-28, it doesn't make much sense to give it to a nation that has little connection with Finland. I'd rather give it to the Swedes who currently lack a native Tier V bomber and have some history with the aircraft. When I told you the Swedish tree was looking to be more of a Nordic mix, I wasn't joking about that.

[MasterOfUltramar 1,711]

5 minutes ago, Private_Wolk said:

Germany already is due to receive its own IL-28, it doesn't make much sense to give it to a nation that has little connection with Finland. I'd rather give it to the Swedes who currently lack a native Tier V bomber and have some history with the aircraft. When I told you the Swedish tree was looking to be more of a Nordic mix, I wasn't joking about that.

We do have more and better relations with Germany. We almost got an German king willingly. They saved our asses in the civil war, and twice in ww2.

But either way, I would not mind where it was added. But it would be kinda copy paste so premium only perhaps, tho the way of the gaijin is still unknown.

Edited January 1, 2020 by FinlandSupreme

[Z3r0_ 4,128]

Seeing as Sweden post-WWII didn't really build any dedicated bombers, I'll support this, since otherwise their bomber line ends after the T-18s (well...technically they could also get an Avro Lancaster, but that was imported as a jet engine testbed and never intended for use as a bomber, and while they also had B-17s, those were all immediately converted into airliners and never saw military service with the Flygvapnet).

Edited January 3, 2020 by Z3r0_

[KnightsCross20@psn 3,636]

+1 in the Swedish tree

[Panssarikolonna 1,086]

+1

[eleks12 1,079]

+1 But give it to the Swedish/Nordic Tree in the Bomber line!

[MasterOfUltramar 1,711]

Seeing as Germany got Il-28 bombs even though they didnt use bombs in them, especially the 3000kg bomb. I dont see any reason at all for the Finnish Il-28 not getting them.

Edited September 12, 2020 by ProPatriaFinland

[Aerobane 4,140]

edit misunderstanding. Its already showed up in 3 different trees, the game becomes so boring when every team has the same vehicles nomatter the matchmaker. Also remember it would be another pact vehicle fighting on NATO's side in simulator battles.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Aerobane

[AVROVULCANXH558 349]

+1 from me. I never knew the Finns operated the bomber variant, so this is indeed a pleasant surprise.

[CokeSpray 7,274]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.