Editing Polikarpov I-16 (section)

{{Short description|Soviet 1930s monoplane fighter aircraft}}
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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox aircraft
| name = I-16
| image = File:Polikarpov I-16 republicano.jpg
| image_caption = Polikarpov I-16 flying over Cuatrovientos airfield at the {{ill|Infante de Orleans Foundation|lt=FIO|es|Fundación Infante de Orleans}} exhibition
| aircraft_type = [[fighter aircraft|Fighter]]
| national_origin = [[Soviet Union]]
| designer = [[Polikarpov|N. N. Polikarpov Design Bureau]]
| manufacturer = [[Sokol Aircraft Plant|Plant No. 21]] ([[Nizhny Novgorod|Gorky]]), Plant No.&nbsp;39 ([[Moscow]]), [[Novosibirsk Aircraft Production Association|Plant No. 153]] ([[Novosibirsk]]), [[Rostvertol|Plant No. 458]] ([[Rostov-on-Don]]/[[Baku]])
| first_flight = 30 December 1933 (TsKB-12)
| introduction = March 1935
| retired = 1945 ([[Soviet Air Force]]), 1953 ([[Spanish Air Force]])
| status = 
| primary_user = [[Soviet Air Force]]
| more_users = [[Spanish Republican Air Force]] <br> [[Chinese Nationalist Air Force]]
| developed_into = [[Polikarpov I-180]]
| produced = November 1933 – 1942
| number_built = 10,292 (6,848 fighters and 3,444 trainers)<ref>Maslov 2008, p.&nbsp;76.</ref>
| unit cost = 
| developed_from = 
| variants = 
}}

The '''Polikarpov I-16''' ({{langx|ru|Поликарпов И-16}}) is a [[USSR|Soviet]] single-engine single-seat [[fighter aircraft]] of revolutionary design; it is a low-wing [[cantilever]] [[monoplane]] fighter with retractable landing gear, and the first such aircraft to attain operational status. It "introduced a new vogue in fighter design".<ref name="Green">Green, William. "Polikarpov's Little Hawk". ''Flying Review'', November 1969.</ref> The I-16 was introduced in the mid-1930s and formed the backbone of the [[Soviet Air Force]] at the beginning of [[World War&nbsp;II]]. The diminutive fighter, nicknamed "'''''Ishak'''''" or "'''''Ishachok'''''" ("[[donkey]]" or "burro") by Soviet pilots, figured prominently in the [[Second Sino-Japanese War]],<ref name="Liss 1966, p. 10">Liss 1966, p.&nbsp;10.</ref> the [[Battles of Khalkhin Gol|Battle of Khalkhin Gol]],<ref name="Liss 1966, p. 10"/> [[Winter War]] and the [[Spanish Civil War]]<ref>Abanshin and Gut 1994, p.&nbsp;38.</ref><ref>Léonard 1981, pp.&nbsp;18–22.</ref>&nbsp;– where it was called the '''{{lang|es|Rata}}''' ("[[rat]]") by the Nationalists or '''{{lang|es|Mosca}}''' ("[[fly]]") by the Republicans. The Finns called the aircraft '''{{lang|fi|Siipiorava}}''' "([[flying squirrel]])".<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.airvectors.net/avpkpv.html | title=Polikarpov Fighters }}</ref>