- Yes
- No
Hello, I would like to suggest the Antonov An-26 bomber in service with the Vietnam People’s Air Force.
Vietnam received its first An-26 transport aircraft in 1979. Due to the need for combat aircraft to strike targets in Cambodia during its campaign against various armed groups, Vietnam used some of its An-26 as bombers.
While the Soviets does intend the An-26 to be converted into an auxiliary bomber capable of carrying up to four 500kg bombs via external racks, Vietnam went a step ahead and modified theirs so it could carry twelve 500lb (227kg) Mk 82 bombs in external racks, and up to twenty-seven additional bombs inside the cargo bay.
While the An-26 itself is not really a fast aircraft, its speed is the only defense mechanism that the aircraft have (along with dropping bombs on pursuing enemy aircraft), as the Vietnamese An-26 does not have a defensive armament. Thus, the aircraft would have a low battle rating if it gets added to the game.
History
Spoiler
Background
The An-26 (NATO codename “Curl”) is a Soviet transport aircraft developed by the Antonov OKB in the 1960s, with the prototype’s first flight on 21 May 1969. An-26 is a development from the previous An-24T with intended use as military transport. As such, notable improvements from the previous design are retractable cargo ramp and a turbojet engine in the starboard engine nacelle for use as APU and extra power during take-off.
A Russian Navy An-26 with BDZ-34 bomb racks, 2015
A 1958 Soviet Air Force regulation requires transport aircraft able to be converted into an auxiliary bomber. To achieve that requirement, the An-26 can be equipped with four BDZ-34 (or BD3-34) bomb racks in the center fuselage (two on each side of the fuselage, located between the frames 15-16 and 21-24), capable of carrying bombs with dimensions up to the 500kg FAB-500M54 bomb. To aim the bombs, the navigator station, located at a blister in the port side of the nose, is equipped with NKPB-7 bomb sight. After bombing tests in 1972, it was established that the external stores reduced the aircraft rate of climb and maximum speed but had virtually no adverse effect on stability and handling.
Service history with Vietnam
Vietnam would receive its first An-26 in 1979 to supplement and later replace old transports and captured South Vietnamese cargo aircraft. In total the 918th Air Transport Regiment would receive around 50 An-26.
Due to the need for combat aircraft to strike targets in Cambodia during its campaign against various armed groups, Vietnamese People’s Air Force (VPAF) ordered the A41 Workshop in June 1980 to convert An-26 into bombers.
A proposal to equip the An-26 with left over American Mk 81 and Mk 82 bombs in the external racks and cargo bay was approved by engineer Nguyen Huu Suu and Assistant of the Air Force Technical Institute Nguyen Kim Khoi. Aside from modifying the cargo bay to be able to carry 27 bombs, Vietnamese engineers also created device that enable a BDZ-34 bomb rack to carry three Mk 82 bombs, so in total the aircraft could carry 39 bombs (12 in four external hardpoints, 27 inside the cargo bay). Alongside the Mk 80 series GP bombs, the aircraft could also carry CBU-49 cluster bombs.
The first aircraft to be converted is an An-26 no. 261. The crew of 918th Regiment had trained throughout early 1984 and were qualified to flew bombing mission. Some of the documented bombing operations were when eight An-26 took off from Tan Son Nhat Airbase in Ho Chi Minh City to bomb a FULRO insurgent base in the Central Highlands on 9 March 1984. On the next month on 27 April, four An-26 from Bien Hoa Airbase near Ho Chi Minh City bombed a Khmer Rouge base in Nui Chi. The next year on 22 September 1985, to support a ground assault on Nui Chi, four An-26 from Bien Hoa again bombed the base from an altitude of 3,500 m using a mix of Mk 81 bombs and CBU-49 cluster bombs.
The last An-26 of the Vietnam Air Defence-Air Force was retired in October 2018, ending the almost four decades career of the aircraft. It was replaced by EADS C-295 in its transport role.
Major General Truong Van Thanh of the Border Guards once recounted: “The bombing [from] the transport [aircraft] was the terror of the Polpot soldiers and every time they saw the An-26 transport plane, they ran away. [They] call it the B-52 of the Vietnamese army”.
Specifications
Spoiler
General characteristics and performance
Crew: 5 (two pilots, one radio operator, one flight engineer, one navigator/bombardier)
Length: 23.8 m (78 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 29.2 m (95 ft 9 1/2 in)
Height: 8.58 m (28 ft 2 in)
Wing area: 74.98 m2 (807.1 sq ft)
Wing loading: 320 kg/m2 (65.5 lb/sq ft)
Max takeoff weight: 24,230 kg
Max speed: 540 km/h
Max altitude: 7,500 m
Rate of climb: 9.2 m/second
Fuel capacity: 5,100 L (1,122 imp gal)
Take off rating: 2 x 2,820 ehp + 900 kgp
Powerplant: 2 × Ivchenko AI-24VT turboprop engines, 1 × Tumansky RU19A-300 turbojet engine (as APU and booster)
Propellers: 4-bladed AV-72T propellers
Armaments
- 4x 250lb Mk 81 bombs (external racks)
- 4x 500lb Mk 82 bombs (external racks)
- 12x 250lb Mk 81 bombs (external racks)
- 12x 500lb Mk 82 bombs (external racks)
- 27x 250lb Mk 81 bombs (internal bay)
- 27x 500lb Mk 82 bombs (internal bay)
- 6x 840lb CBU-49 cluster bombs (internal bay)
In addition, the BDZ-34 bomb rack is also compatible with following munitions:
- 4x 100kg OFAB-100 bombs
- 4x 250kg OFAB-250 bombs
- 4x 250kg FAB-250M-54 bombs
- 4x 500kg FAB-500M-54 bombs
Images
Spoiler
Payload images
A single Mk 82 bomb suspended from BDZ-34 rack. Via QPVN documentary video
Modified BDZ-34 racks capable of carrying three American bombs
Internal bay modified to accommodate bombs
Crew loading bombs into An-26 internal bay for combat missions in Cambodia, 1984. Photo via Mai Thanh Hai
3D illustration of the bombs inside the internal bay. Via QPVN documentary video
3D illustrations of the bombs being dropped. Via QPVN documentary video
Navigator/bombardier aiming using NKPB-7 bomb sight. Via QPVN documentary video
Aircraft photos
An An-26 bomber with its old camo scheme in the 1980s. Via QPVN documentary video
Selection of An-26 photos with its 2010s camo scheme. Photos owners can be seen in the watermark
Vietnamese An-26 crew performing reconnaissance missions at sea, 2017. The navigator/bombardier station is on the left corner. Photo via Mai Thanh Hai
Cockpit of an An-26. More photos at Category:Cockpit of Antonov An-26 - Wikimedia Commons
Special thanks to @DaCosmonut for providing me with some of the Vietnamese sources and translation. If you have any inquiries or info to add, feel free to message me here or via DM. Thank you for visiting this suggestion!
Information Sources
Gordon, Yefim; Komissarov, Dmitriy; Komissarov, Sergey. 2003. Antonov’s Turboprop Twins: An-24/An-26/An-30/An-32. Red Star Volume 12. Hinckley, Leicestershire: Midland Publishing. ISBN 1-85780-153-9
An-26 | Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic
https://an-26.com/literature/an26rle.pdf
Chiến binh bầu trời - Kỳ 1: Máy bay vận tải ném bom
Tiếc đứt ruột dàn phi cơ An-26 của Việt Nam: Bề ngoài mới cứng vẫn phải “về hưu“ - Tạp chí Doanh nghiệp Việt Nam
[ẢNH] Việt Nam hoán cải vận tải cơ An-26 thành máy bay ném bom cực mạnh | Báo điện tử An ninh Thủ đô
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cKDtvsUP6k
Image Sources
Kỳ tích Việt Nam nâng cấp vận tải cơ An-26 thành máy bay ném bom | Báo Tri thức và Cuộc sống - TIN TỨC PHỔ BIẾN KIẾN THỨC 24H
Russian warplanes used practice bombs with "To Berlin!" and "For Stalin" slogans during Baltic drills - The Aviationist
Chiến binh bầu trời - Kỳ 1: Máy bay vận tải ném bom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cKDtvsUP6k
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8282204
https://www.planespotters.net/photo/1036133/280-vietnam-peoples-air-force-antonov-an-26
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/8913399
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/7343819
File:An-26 Szolnok 2010 1.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
