What country produced the largest bomber of WWI?

Russia produced the largest bomber of World War I, the Sikorsky Ilya Muromets. Designed by Igor Sikorsky, it was built by the Russo-Baltic Wagon Factory for the Russian Empire and entered military service in 1914.

The Ilya Muromets was revolutionary because it was a four-engine aircraft with a spacious enclosed fuselage, unusual range, and room for crew, equipment, and defensive weapons. It evolved from Sikorsky’s earlier Russky Vityaz, widely regarded as the first four-engine aircraft.

Russian military versions carried bombs and served with the Imperial Russian Air Service, conducting long-range raids and reconnaissance missions. More than 80 aircraft were produced in several versions during the war. Its size and heavy-bomber role made it a landmark in military aviation, years before the much larger bomber fleets of World War II.

A common mix-up is Germany’s Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, which was also one of World War I’s biggest bombers and was produced in greater numbers. However, the Ilya Muromets is the standard answer to this trivia question because it was the pioneering Russian heavy bomber associated with the war’s earliest large-scale strategic bombing.