Why did the Nationalists call the I-16 'Rata'?

Short answer

According to accounts, the Francoist side nicknamed it "Rata" during the initial bombings because of the Soviet pilots' characteristic way of flying, staying low and diving on their targets at the last moment: it was said there that the I-16s came out of the sewers like rats.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

Why did the Nationalists call the I-16 'Rata'?

Polikarpov I-15. Истребитель Поликарпова И-15. Moscow Airshow MAKS 2011Peer.Gynt (CC BY SA), vía commons

"Rata" and "Mosca"

The Nationalists nicknamed that stubby fighter "Rata" (rat), while the Republicans affectionately called it "Mosca" (fly). The Republican nickname is attributed to an inscription in Cyrillic spelling out the name of Moscow (Москва) that appeared on the packing crates. The resemblance of that word to "mosca" in Spanish, both in pronunciation and in appearance, is the origin of the nickname.

Low flying and last-moment attacks

On the Francoist side it was nicknamed "Rata" during the initial bombings. According to accounts, the name came from the characteristic way the Soviet pilots flew, staying at low altitude and swooping on their targets at the last moment. On that side it was even said that the I-16s "came out of the sewers like rats".

The fighter in the Spanish war

Later in the war, construction of the aircraft was undertaken at the SAF-15 factory in Alicante. Of that production, very few aircraft entered service before the end of the conflict.