April 27, 1952

The Tupolev Model 88, the prototype of the Tu-16 jet bomber, makes its first flight. The Tu-16 (later given the NATO reporting name “˜Badger’) is the Soviet Union’s first strategic jet-powered bomber and is also the first with swept wings. Approximately 2,000 Tu-16s will be built in 25 versions and the type served well into the 1990s.