The Ilyushin Il-28 'Beagle' was one of the first truly successful Soviet jet aircraft which shared a similar role to the British Canberra which it resembled. Its development began as early as World War II although problems developing indigenous jet designs protracted its completition until the powerful Rolls-Royce Nene turbine was obtained from the sympathetic Labour government in the UK at the time. As such, the Il-28 featured straight wings coupled with a swept tailplane as well as auxiliary wingtip tanks on later versions. The Il-28 served with Soviet forces up to the 1980s as bombers, reconnaissance platforms, and anti-shipping torpedo bombers. It was in foreign service, however, that the Il-28 achieved most of its recognition: it was exported to over 20 countries including most Warsaw Pact and Soviet client states and used extensively in the various wars in the Middle-East and Africa. License production was also undertaken by Czechoslovakia and most notably with China (reverse engineered after the Sino-Soviet split) where it is known as the H-5, hundreds of which remain in service long after the last Soviet units were retired in the 1980s.

Based on the Il-22 prototype, the Il-28 first flew on 8 July 1948 after being developed as a private venture, beating its British contemporary, the Canberra, in service by a year. Variants included the Il-28R with wingtip fuel tanks, the Il-28T torpedo-armed anti-ship platform, and the Il-28U 'Mascot' dual control trainer. Foreign-built versions were the Czech B-228 and the Chinese H-5 built by Harbin.