The Canberra medium taticla bomber was designed and produced by English Electric in 1949. The first production aircrat made its maiden flight on the 21st April 1950. At the height of the Korean War the British Government decided to speed up its bomber force rearmerment, therefore Avro and Handley PAge joined in addition to English Electric. 1352 aircrafts of different modifications were produced in 14 years of manufacture. They were used by the air forces of 16 countries.