<!-- This article is a part of Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft. Please see Wikipedia:WikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout. -->
The Ilyushin Il-38 (nicknamed Dolphin) with the first production aircraft following in September 1967. Production continued until 1972, when the longer-range and more versatile Tupolev Tu-142 derivative of the Tupolev Tu-95 strategic bomber entered service.
The airframe is based on the Il-18, with the wings moved forward 3 m (9.84 ft). Unlike the Il-18, only the forward fuselage of the Il-38 is pressurised. The tail contains a MAD, while under the forward fuselage a Berkut ("Golden Eagle") search radar (named "Wet Eye" by NATO) is housed in a bulged radome. There are two internal weapons bays, one forward of the wing, housing sonobuoys and one behind the wing housing weapons. of which about thirty remain in service with Russian Naval Aviation. Five were passed to India in 1977/8. The Il-38s of the Indian Navy have been sent back to Russia for upgrades. They will incorporate the new Sea Dragon avionic suite, incorporating a new radar, a Forward looking infrared turret under the nose and an electronic intelligence system housed in a box-like structure mounted on struts above the forward fuselage. After two Il-38s were lost in a mid-air collision in 2002, two ex-Russian Il-38s were purchased in 2008, and these were delivered in Il-38 SD standard in 2009 and 2010 respectively. Indian Il-38 can also fire Kh-35E missiles.
In February 2017, it was reported that the Russian Navy would acquire 30 upgraded Il-38Ns.
Operational history
thumb|An IL-38 May passing low over [[USS Midway (CV-41)|USS Midway on 18 May 1979]]
One prototype was lost in the early 1970s when it was forced to ditch at sea.
The type made its first visit to a NATO base in 1995, at NAS Jacksonville in United States.
On 31 October 2023, the Indian Navy retired all 3 of their aircraft with a cumulative total of 46 years and 55000 hours of surveillance over the seas. They have been replaced by Boeing P-8I Neptune and HAL 228 aircraft as a part of the modernisation of the navy.
In December of 2025, a Russian Il-38N aircraft was seriously damaged and disabled by a Ukrainian drone at the Yeysk air base.
Variants
thumb|An unmarked Ilyushin IL-38, which was later delivered to the Indian Navy in 1983 and was the navy's first Il-38 to be modernised to SD standard.
thumb|Ilyushin Il-38N in 2020
;Il-38
:Production aircraft
;Il-38M
:Modified with a receiver probe as part of a probe and drogue air refueling system. System not adopted.
:Il-38SD
;ISD-38MZ
:Tanker variant of the Il-38. Prototype only
;Il-38N
:Improved variant sometimes referred to as Il-38SD for Sea Dragon, which is a new search and tracking system. The Russian Navy version is equipped with the Novella P-38 system. Novella P-38 is able to find air targets at ranges of up to 90 kilometres and follow surface objects within a radius of 320 kilometres, can track 32 above- and underwater targets simultaneously. 8 aircraft have been delivered to the Russian Navy. Modernised anti-submarine planes have entered into service with Russia’s Pacific and Northern Fleets.
Operators
thumb|Il-38 of the Indian Navy at [[INS Hansa in Goa in 2006, with a Tupolev Tu-142 in the foreground]]
<!--READ FIRST: This section is for cited entries only. Please do not add entries into this list without a citation from a reliable source. All entries without a citation will be removed. Thank you.-->
- Russian Naval Aviation
Former operators
;
- Soviet Naval Aviation
;
- Indian Naval Air Arm: Operated a total of 7 aircraft. Of these, 3 were delivered in 1977, followed by 2 in 1983. Two were lost in a mid-air collision in 2002, and were replaced by two ex-Russian Il-38s in 2009 and 2010. The type was retired from Indian service on 31 October 2023.
Aircraft on display
;India
- IN-301: Preserved at the National Maritime Heritage Complex, Lothal, India. The first Il-38 to enter Indian service, IN-301 was commissioned on 1 October 1977. In 2002, the aircraft was converted to Il-38SD standard. She was decommissioned in January 2022, and subsequently transferred for preservation.
- IN-305: Preserved at the Naval Aviation Museum (Goa), Goa, India. This aircraft entered service in 1983, and was upgraded to Il-38SD standard in 2002.