The Tu-16 Badger
NATO’s formation created pressure on the Soviet military to develop a high-speed jet bomber that could strike targets across Western Europe and counter U.S. Navy carrier groups operating globally. The original Tu-16, which made its first flight in the mid-1950s, was later adapted into nearly 50 different variants for a wide range of missions. These included nuclear strike roles, anti-ship missile attacks, torpedo bombing, minelaying, reconnaissance, and electronic countermeasures, as well as experimental versions used to test new engines, avionics, and other systems.
Known in the West as the Badger, the aircraft was also used as an aerial refueling tanker.
Wing-to-wing refueling
According to Yefim Gordon, Dmitriy Komissarov, and Vladimir Rigmant in Tupolev Tu-16: Versatile Cold War Bomber, aerial refueling—especially using the Tu-16’s wing-to-wing method—was a difficult operation that placed significant stress on the crew.
Maj. Gen. Aleksandr A. Balenko, commander of the 2nd TBAD, one of the first operational pilots to master in-flight refueling, famously described it as ‘akin to holding a tiger by the tail—all fear and no fun,’ and that refueling at night was ‘just the same, except that you can’t see shit’. During IFR missions, pilots experienced extreme physical strain: blood pressure rose sharply, pulse rates could climb as high as 200, and some lost as much as 2 kg (4.4 lb) in a single sortie. A Soviet Air Force joke even suggested that the pilot of an IFR-capable Tu-16 could be recognized by the sweat stains on his leather flying jacket.
A dangerous procedure
The refueling process carried serious risks. If the receiving pilot moved the aircraft’s port wing onto the tanker’s hose too suddenly, the hose could kink into a loop and catch the port aileron, almost certainly causing a loss of control. This hazard became known as the `Gibalevich Loop,’ named after a captain from the 185th TBAP who was the first to die in such a crash. Flying into the tanker’s wake vortex was equally dangerous, as it could force the receiving aircraft to roll to port and collide with the tanker.
In 1956, when the 13th GvTBAD—then made up of the 184th, 185th, and 226th GvTBAPs—began learning in-flight refueling, the tanker aircraft were centralized in the 175th TBAP at Mirgorod. A dedicated IFR training unit was also established within the 184th GvTBAP. Initially, Col. Vladimir D. Ikonnikov and Col. Nikolay V. Novozhilov from DA’s Flight Safety Inspectorate served as instructors, while Badger crews from across the force were assigned there for training.
Mastering the wing-to-wing refueling technique
The refueling process was recorded from within the aircraft, and the footage was later used as training material. By the end of 1960, around 70% of the crews in the 226th GvTBAP were qualified to conduct refueling both during the day and at night; by 1962–63, the entire unit had achieved night IFR qualification. The training program was extremely demanding—for instance, the regiment’s deputy commander, Col. Gheorgiy T. Goobin, completed no fewer than 330 tanker contacts.
In the end, the wing-to-wing refueling method was successfully learned, but the cost was extremely high. Between 1958 and 1964, two regiments alone—the 184th GvTBAP and the 226th GvTBAP—lost fifteen Tu-16s with no survivors during in-flight refueling operations, amounting to 90 young, highly trained airmen. Beyond these fatal crashes, many other incidents also occurred, including cases where the tanker’s hose snapped or was sucked into the receiving aircraft’s port engine.
Specialised aerial refueling unit
The DA had only one dedicated aerial refueling unit equipped with the Badger: the 179th Berlinskaya OTAE SZ at Siauliai, created in 1959 through the reorganization of the 345th TBAP. Its honorary title was inherited from that earlier regiment, which had earned the distinction through its active role in the 1945 Berlin Offensive. Even so, the 179th OTAE SZ was neither exclusively a Badger unit nor solely a tanker unit, since it also operated Tu-16 bombers and Myasishchev M-4-2 Bison-A tankers in addition to the Tu-16Z. For reasons that remain unclear, the squadron was unofficially known as Normandiya (“Normandy”). At the same time, several bomber regiments also maintained tanker squadrons, including the 1225th TBAP at Belaya Air Base, the 303rd TBAP at Khorol Air Base, and the 219th ODRAP at Khvalynka Air Base, all of which were subordinate to the 8th OTBAK, an independent heavy bomber corps.
After March 1964, the Air Force stopped conducting in-flight refueling with the Tu-16 as intercontinental ballistic missiles were being deployed in increasing numbers. The Navy, however, decided to keep this refueling capability. By the early 1970s, the number of active Tu-16Z tankers had fallen as the need for wing-to-wing refueling evolved and the aircraft themselves neared the end of their operational careers. Many of these tankers were subsequently converted into anti-ship missile carriers. As a result, numerous regiments lost their tanker aircraft, even though nearly all combat Tu-16 variants, along with the reconnaissance and ECM versions, were capable of in-flight refueling.
Probe-and-drogue system
The Tu-16N/111-16NN tanker, which used a probe-and-drogue refueling system, was relatively rare. A single unit operated it—Squadron 4 of the 200th Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (GvTBAP), stationed at Bobruisk. This squadron was formed in 1972 to support Tu-22K missile carrier operations in Belarus. Later on, these tanker aircraft were reassigned to the 251st Guards Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment (GVTBAP) at Belaya Tserkov.
The video below provides an overview of the distinctive Tu-16 wing-to-wing in-flight refueling system.
Tupolev Tu-16: Versatile Cold War Bomber is published by Schiffer Publishing and is available to order here.
