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Subject: Ilyushin IL-2 Sturmovik
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyushin_Il-2
The Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik was a ground-attack aircraft produced by the Soviet
Union in large numbers during the Second World War. With 36,183 units of the
Il-2 produced during the war, and in combination with its successor, the
Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330 were built, making it the single most produced
military aircraft design in aviation history, as well as one of the most
produced piloted aircraft in history along with the American postwar civilian
Cessna 172 and the Soviet Union's own then-contemporary Polikarpov Po-2
Kukuruznik multipurpose biplane.
To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the
soldiers on the ground, it was the "Hunchback", the "Flying Tank" or the "Flying
Infantryman". Its postwar NATO reporting name was "Bark". The Il-2 aircraft
played a crucial role on the Eastern Front. Joseph Stalin paid the Il-2 a great
tribute in his own inimitable manner: when a particular production factory fell
behind on its deliveries, Stalin sent an angrily worded cable to the factory
manager, stating "They are as essential to the Red Army as air and bread." "I
demand more machines. This is my final warning!"
In early 1941, the Il-2 was ordered into production at four factories, and was
eventually produced in vast quantities, becoming the single most widely produced
military aircraft in aviation history, but by the time Nazi Germany invaded the
Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, only State Aviation Factory 18 at Voronezh and
Factory 381 at Leningrad had commenced production, with 249 having been built by
the time of the German attack.
Role
Ground-attack aircraft
Manufacturer
Ilyushin Design Bureau
First flight
2 October 1939
Introduction
1941
Retired
1954 (Yugoslavia and Bulgaria)
Primary users
Soviet Air Force
Poland, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia
Produced
Number built
36,183
Variants
Ilyushin Il-10
The first use in action of the Il-2 was with the 4th ShAP (Ground Attack
Regiment) over the Berezina River days after the invasion began. The aircraft
was so new that the pilots had no training in flight characteristics or tactics,
and the ground crew no training in servicing or re-arming. The training received
only enabled the pilots to take-off and land; none of the pilots had fired the
armament, let alone learned tactics. There were 249 Il-2s available on 22 June
1941. In the first three days, 4th ShAP had lost 10 Il-2s to enemy action, a
further 19 were lost to other causes, and 20 pilots were killed. By 10 July, 4th
ShAP was down to 10 aircraft from a strength of 65.
Tactics improved as Soviet aircrews became used to the Il-2's strengths. Instead
of a low horizontal straight approach at 50 metres altitude, the target was
usually kept to the pilot's left and a turn and shallow dive of 30 degrees was
used, using an echeloned assault by four to twelve aircraft at a time. Although
the Il-2's RS-82 and RS-132 rockets could destroy armored vehicles with a single
hit, they were so inaccurate that experienced Il-2 pilots mainly used the
cannon. Another potent weapon of the Il-2s was the PTAB shaped charge bomblets
(protivotankovaya aviabomba, "anti-tank aviation bomb"). They were designated
PTAB-2.5-1.5, as they had the size of a 2.5 kg (5.5 lb) bomb, but weighed only
1.5 kg (3.3 lb) due to the empty space in the shaped charge. Up to 192 were
carried in four external dispensers (cluster bombs) or up to 220 in the inner
wing panels' internal ventral weapon bays. The HEAT charge could easily
penetrate the relatively thin upper armor of all heavy German tanks. PTABs were
first used on a large scale in the Battle of Kursk.
The Il-2 was thereafter widely deployed on the Eastern Front. The aircraft could
fly in low light conditions and carried weapons able to defeat the thick armor
of the Panther and Tiger I tanks.
The true capabilities of the Il-2 are difficult to determine from existing
documentary evidence. W. Liss in Aircraft profile 88: Ilyushin Il-2 mentions an
engagement during the Battle of Kursk on 7 July 1943, in which 70 tanks from the
German 9th Panzer Division were claimed to be destroyed by Ilyushin Il-2s in
just 20 minutes. In another report of the action on the same day, a Soviet staff
publication states that:
Ground forces highly valued the work of aviation on the battlefield. In a number
of instances enemy attacks were thwarted thanks to our air operations. Thus on 7
July enemy tank attacks were disrupted in the Kashara region (13th Army). Here
our assault aircraft delivered three powerful attacks in groups of 20-30, which
resulted in the destruction and disabling of 34 tanks. The enemy was forced to
halt further attacks and to withdraw the remnants of his force north of Kashara.
Thanks to the heavy armor protection, the Il-2 could take a great deal of
punishment and proved difficult for both ground and aircraft fire to shoot down.
One Il-2 in particular was reported to have returned safely to base despite
receiving more than 600 direct hits and having all its control surfaces
completely shredded as well as numerous holes in its main armor and other
structural damage.
Specifications (Il-2M3)
General characteristics
Crew: Two, pilot and rear gunner
Length: 11.6 m (38 ft 1 in)
Wingspan: 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in)
Height: 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
Empty weight: 4,360 kg (9,612 lb)
Loaded weight: 6,160 kg (13,580 lb)
Max. takeoff weight: 6,380 kg (14,065 lb)
Performance
Maximum speed: 414 km/h (257 mph)
Range: 720 km (450 mi)
Service ceiling: 5,500 m (18,045 ft)
Rate of climb: 10.4 m/s (2,050 ft/min)
Power/mass: 0.21 kW/kg (0.13 hp/lb)
Armament
rounds
*
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