Tupolev SB or Tupolev ANT-40

National origin:- Soviet Union

Role:- Fast bomber

Manufacturer:- Tupolev

Designer:- Alexander Arkhangelsky

First flight:- 7th October 1934

Introduction:- 1936

Status:- Retired 1950 (Spanish Air Force)

Produced:- 1936-1941

Number built:- 6,656

Primary users:- Soviet Air Force; Spanish Republican Air Force; Chinese Nationalist Air Force; Czechoslovak Air Force

Sceondary users:- Finnish Air Force; Luftwaffe

Developed into:- Polikarpov I-180

The Tupolev ANT-40, also known by its service name Tupolev SB (Russian: Скоростной бомбардировщик – Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik – high speed bomber) and development co-name TsAGI-40, was a high speed twin-engined three-seat monoplane bomber, first flown in 1934. The Tupolev design was advanced but lacked refinement, much to the dismay of crews, maintenance personnel, and Stalin, who pointed out that 'there are no trivialities in aviation'.

Numerically the most important bomber in the world in the late 1930s, the SB was the first modern stressed skin aircraft produced in quantity in the Soviet Union and probably the most formidable bomber of the mid-1930s. It was produced in the Soviet Union and was also built under license in Czechoslovakia. Many versions saw extensive action in Spain, the Republic of China, Mongolia, Finland and at the beginning of World War II against Germany in 1941. It was also used in various duties in civil variants, as trainers and in many secondary roles. Successful in the Spanish Civil War because it outpaced most fighters, the aircraft was obsolete by 1941. By June 1941, 94 percent of bombers in the Red Army air force (VVS RKKA) were SBs.