Single-seat attack aircraft Il-2 (BSh-2 No. 2).

Developer: OKB Ilyushin
Country: USSR
First flight: 1940

On November 23, 1940, a joint order of the NKAP and the Air Force No. 657/0293 was issued, according to which S.V. Ilyushin was obliged to develop and install two MP-6 guns on the BSh-2 within 2 months.

Due to the fact that the Air Force needed an armored attack aircraft immediately, in December 1940 a decision was made (order by A.I. Shakhurin No. 739 dated December 14, 1940) to launch into serial production the single-seat attack aircraft Il-2 (December 9, by order of the NKAP No. 704 all new combat aircraft, accepted for mass production, received names according to the names of their Chief Designers, including BSh-2 began to be called Il-2) at plant No. 18 according to the type that passed state tests, that is, the double BSh-2 No. 2, with the following changes:
1) make the plane a single-seater instead of a two-seater;
2) install the AM-35A engine instead of the AM-35;
3) install a rear armored wall 12 mm thick;
4) instead of two wing-mounted ShKAS machine guns, install in the wing two air cannons designed by Taubin-Baburin (OKB-16) of 23 mm MP-6 (PTB-23) caliber with a total ammunition load of 162 rounds...
At the same time, the director of the 18th plant, M.B. Shenkman and S.V. Ilyushin, pledged to ensure the start of serial production of the Il-2 with AM-35A from February 15, 1941, with the release of 10 vehicles by March 1, and a total of 1941 1200 attack aircraft. In addition, S.V. Ilyushin personally had to complete factory tests of the new vehicle by January 10, 1941. In this regard, S.V. Ilyushin with a group of leading designers from his design bureau arrived in Voronezh on December 20 to assist the factory design bureau.

On December 23, 1940, specialists from the Air Force Research Institute of Spacecraft, in their next report on the progress of work on the BSh-2, reported to the Defense Committee that: "...TsKB-57 AM-38 (BSh-2 No. 1) is undergoing factory tests, after which work will be carried out to install a mobile stabilizer and eliminate defects. ... TsKB-55 AM-35A (BSh-2 No. 2) is being prepared as a serial production standard. Work has begun on installing a wing with a pointed design, moving the engine, installing Taubin guns, and converting the aircraft into a single-seat version. The work is delayed due to the lack of Taubin guns and the AM-35A engine with a reduction of 0.732 at plant No. 39... "

By this time, Plant No. 24 had achieved some success in fine-tuning the AM-38 engine and a decision was made to install it on the single-seat BSh-2 No. 2. Already on December 29, the chief pilot of the Design Bureau, V.K. Kokkinaki, performed the first flight on the new machine.

Despite all the efforts of the design bureau and factory workers, it was still not possible to complete the entire complex of tests of the Il-2 AM-38 (BSh-2 No. 2) by the deadline.

However, by orders of the NKAP dated January 7 and February 14, 1941, the single-seat Il-2 AM-38 was put into serial production simultaneously at four aircraft factories Nos. 18, 35, 380 and 381 in a version with two MP-6 cannons with link feed (150 rounds for each gun), two ShKAS machine guns with a total ammunition capacity of 1,500 rounds and 8 RO-132 rocket guns.

At the same time, in order to ensure the interchangeability of IL-2 units, Voronezh aircraft plant No. 18 was designated as the “lead” in serial construction. That is, aircraft factories No. 35, 380 and 381 were obliged to build the Il-2 according to uniform drawings coming only from factory No. 18, and any changes in the design of the machine and in its production technology were allowed to be made (in full accordance with the order under NKAP No. 518 dated 10/02/1940) only with the permission of the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry. Failure to comply with this requirement was qualified as "a crime that harms the state and undermines the country's defense..."

On January 17, 1941, by order of the People's Commissar of the Aviation Industry No. 147, the directors of all serial factories were obliged to produce a single-seat Il-2 with two ShVAK cannons (200 rounds per barrel) and two ShKAS machine guns (1,500 rounds), and on January 20, the S.V. Ilyushin Design Bureau received TsAGI report on determining the recoil force of the MP-6 gun and soon - the guns themselves. However, the Chief Designer of the Il-2 was in no hurry to install Taubin guns on his attack aircraft.

Note that S.V. Ilyushin’s references to great strength The recoil of the MP-6 gun was unreasonable at the beginning of 1941. The fact is that at that time there was no sufficiently accurate method for determining the recoil force of guns on a machine (the first serious job in this direction appeared at the Air Force Research Institute only at the end of 1942), and it was completely impossible to measure it on an airplane. It was very difficult for the OKB to resolve the issue of placing and ensuring reliable operation of the MP-6 magazine gun under the wing of the Il-2 attack aircraft (the presence of the magazine forced the guns to be installed not in the wing consoles, but under them). In addition, S.V. Ilyushin, knowing how difficult the process of fine-tuning the MP-6 in mass production is, apparently already understood that the unreasonably short deadlines adopted by the People's Commissariat of Armaments for introducing a still “raw” gun into production (mainly in relation to the reliability of the automation) In the end, the MP-6 will be “buried”, and the latter will still be taken out of production. As a result, the IL-2 will have to be modified again, and this again is a waste of such precious time. Ilyushin did not dare to talk about this out loud, since the initiator of putting the MP-6 into large-scale production was none other than the People's Commissar of Armaments B.L. Vannikov. It was not S.V. Ilyushin’s plans to quarrel with the latter. Hence Ilyushin’s persistent desire to discuss the “increased recoil force” of the OKB-16 cannon as an argument to fight off it and not make the fate of his attack aircraft dependent on the fate of the Taubin cannon.

An indirect confirmation of this is that in March 1941, the Design Bureau, without any objections, installed on the Il-2 a 23-mm VYa-23 cannon designed by A.A. Volkov and S.Ya. Yartsev (TsKB-14 NKV), which, as shown experimental work carried out at the Research Institute of Air Forces of the Air Force in October-November 1943 had maximum value the recoil force on a ground machine is no less than 5500 kg, and in real conditions of installation on an aircraft, where the latter had the ability to recoil, from 3000 to 4000 kg... Meanwhile, “Ilya” with VYa-23 guns honestly served the entire Patriotic War war without any serious complaints from the flight personnel of the attack air units of the Red Army.

Be that as it may, after appropriate “clarifications from above,” the MP-6 guns (with a magazine for 81 rounds) were nevertheless installed on the experimental Il-2. In addition, the vehicle's armament was strengthened by installing 8 rocket guns for firing PC-132 rockets (the latter could be replaced by PC-82). The ammunition load of the two wing-mounted ShKAS machine guns remained the same - 750 rounds of ammunition for each machine gun. The bomb load also remained the same - 400 kg (overload 600 kg).

In addition, in comparison with the BS-2 No. 2 with AM-35, the following changes were made on the cannon Il-2 with AM-38:
-in order to improve forward and downward visibility from the pilot’s cockpit, the AM-38 engine was lowered down by 175 mm, with a corresponding change in the contours of the forward fuselage, and the pilot’s seat and canopy was raised by 50 mm;
- to improve the longitudinal stability and controllability of the aircraft on the Il-2, as well as on the TsKB-57, the engine was moved forward by 50 mm, the sweep along the leading edge of the wing consoles was increased by 5 degrees and the stabilizer area was increased by 3.1%, and redesigned aileron compensation;
-a new armored hull has been installed with reinforced armor, based on the results of ground fire tests - the thickness of the rear armored wall has been increased to 12 mm, the upper side walls of the pilot's cabin are made 8 mm thick instead of 6 mm, and the side walls covering the lower gas tank and the side vertical walls those protecting the oil tank are made 6 mm instead of 5 mm;
- for firing from small arms, cannon and missile weapons, a PBP-16 sight is installed, which also allows for bombing from low level flight;
-the control of bomb hatches has been changed - pneumatic fastening of the hatch lock has been added;
- holders for KAS-4 parachute rockets were installed, a KI-10i compass was installed
-installed a photo-machine gun;
-a more powerful petrol pump BNK-10 was installed;
-Individual engine exhaust pipes were installed;
-the air intake pipe is led into the wing tip;
-on the spot In the air gunner's cabin, an additional gas tank for 155 kg of fuel was installed, and therefore the total fuel supply on the aircraft increased to 470 kg.

The very first firing in the air from the MP-6 cannons showed the complete unsuitability of the cannon mount developed at the S.V. Ilyushin Design Bureau for the Il-2 - the cartridge clip coming out of the cannon, falling into the air flow during firing, became jammed, and the firing stopped. Only after installing fairings on the wing consoles, protecting the cartridge clips from the air flow, did the latter stop jamming when firing in the air. The large cannon fairings also had significant windage, which greatly worsened the aerodynamics and maneuverability of the vehicle. In addition, the ammunition load of 162 shells for both guns was considered insufficient. An urgent modification of the MP-6 gun for link feeding was required. In the meantime, well-developed, but less powerful 20-mm ShVAK air cannons were installed on the experimental Il-2, and with them, by February 22, 1941, the new attack aircraft successfully flew off the factory test program.

Unfortunately, the guns were installed in place of external machine guns, which cannot be considered correct. The fact is that the installation of guns is only 10 and 43 cm further from the axis of the aircraft’s center of gravity, in the vertical and horizontal planes, respectively, than this could be achieved by installing guns in place of the internal machine guns, approximately 1.5 times, as calculations show, it reduced their combat effectiveness when firing in the air. The decrease in the effectiveness of the guns was mainly due to an increased aiming error (more distant placement of the guns from the aiming line) and an increase in the dispersion of projectiles when firing in the air (wing vibration in this case affects the accuracy of fire more strongly, etc.). Apparently, only a lack of time can explain this, in general, illiterate technical decision made at the S.V. Ilyushin Design Bureau when improving the Il-2 - installing guns in place of external machine guns was much simpler and required minimal modifications in the design of the attack aircraft.

During the entire period of factory testing of the Il-2 with the AM-38, the chief pilot of the OKB V.K. Kokkinaki performed 43 flights and found that the flight data of the armored Il with ShBAK guns, compared to the TsKB-57, practically did not change and remained at a level acceptable for combat use. Thus, with a take-off weight of 5125 kg (payload weight 1245 kg), a maximum speed of 422 km/h was achieved in flight near the ground, and at an altitude of 2300 m - 446 km/h. At the same time, the maximum flight range near the ground with a normal load was 600 km at an average speed of 357 km/h, and the ascent time to a height of 5000 m was 10 minutes. The take-off length is 250 m, and the run length is 260 m at a landing speed of -140 km/h.

The increase in maximum flight speed at altitude was due to the greater power at this altitude developed by the AM-38 engine installed on the Il-2, compared to the AM-38 installed on the TsKB-57 (1575 hp, instead of 1500 hp), and the decrease in the flight range of an experienced attack aircraft at cruising speed was due to the greater flight weight of the aircraft and the increased specific fuel consumption of the new engine.

The attack aircraft's controllability and maneuverability improved somewhat, but still remained insufficient. There were also serious complaints about the work of the propeller-engine group, mainly related to the lack of development of the AM-38 engine (poor throttle response, poor carburetor adjustment, etc.).

By the way, the AM-38 engine at this very time, that is, in February 1941, was unable to pass 50-hour joint bench tests at plant No. 24.

On February 27, the Il-2 AM-38, after eliminating the defects, was officially transferred to the Air Force Research Institute of Spacecraft for state testing (leading engineer N.S. Kulikov and test pilot A.K. Dolgov). The latter began the very next day and continued until March 20, 1941.

The vehicle was equipped with: the radio station RSI-3 provided by the TGT; two ShVAK cannons with 420 rounds of ammunition; two ShKAS machine guns with 1,500 rounds of ammunition; four guides for PC-132 or PC-82. The bomb load of the vehicle was determined to be 400 kg (at overload - 600 kg).

State tests showed that with a flight weight of 5310 kg with internal bomb suspension (400 kg) without rockets, the maximum ground speed was 419 km/h. With the external suspension of two FAB-250 or four PC-82, the maximum speed of the attack aircraft decreased at the ground by 43 km/h and 36 km/h in both cases, and at an altitude of 2500 m - by 35 km/h and 27 km/h h respectively.

The vehicle's handling and maneuverability have improved significantly. The vertical speed increased to 10.3 m/s. In one combat turn, the attack aircraft gained 300 m of altitude. Takeoff and landing became simpler, and with the tail wheel locked, the aircraft behaved steadily during the run.

The pilots noted that changing the engine installation and raising the pilot's seat provided quite acceptable visibility and ease of aiming the aircraft at the target when shooting and bombing from a strafing flight. At the same time, it was indicated that a change in the aircraft’s alignment by 2% (29.5%, instead of 31.5%) did not improve the longitudinal stability of the aircraft. With all possible operational alignments, the armored Il, when flying with the stick thrown down, was statically unstable, although the lateral and directional stability were quite satisfactory.

The technical range at the ground, achieved in state tests at a maximum speed of 0.9, was only 508 km, which was 84 km less than that of the BSh-2 (618 km). The decrease in flight range was caused by increased fuel consumption of the AM-38 engine, compared to the AM-35, and flight weight (from 4725 kg to 5310 kg), so installing an additional 155 kg gas tank did not solve the problem of increasing the attack aircraft’s flight range.

The State Commission in its final act dated April 16, 1941 on testing the single-seat Il-2 noted that: “...the Il-2 aircraft with AM-38, in comparison with the BS-2, despite its greater weight, has become faster and more maneuverable, especially at extremely low altitudes... In terms of armament and flight performance data, it fully meets the requirements for a field aircraft battle..."

In conclusion, the State Commission obligated the 39th Aircraft Plant, together with Plant No. 24, to improve the propeller engine group in relation to the oil and gasoline systems, and Plant No. 24 - to speed up work on fine-tuning the AM-38 engine in terms of increasing its service life, improving throttle response and reducing unit costs fuel, after which the engine must be presented to special flight tests at the Air Force Research Institute.

Simultaneously with the organization of large-scale production of the Il-2, by order of A.I. Shakhurin No. 748 dated December 17, 1940 (in pursuance of the Government Decree of December 15, 1940), five production bases were created for the production of armored hulls for the new attack aircraft: plant named after . Ordzhonikidze (Podolsk), Izhora plant (Leningrad), plant No. 264 (Stalingrad), crushing and grinding equipment plant (Vyksa), Kommunar plant (Zaporozhye) .

By the time the IL-2 was launched into mass production, that is, by February 15, 1941, only the Podolsk plant was able to launch the production of armored hulls for the new attack aircraft, having produced 5 hulls by that day. At the same time, the factory workers expected to reach the milestone of 1 armored hull per day by February 22, and 4 hulls per day by March 22.

Since the deployment of production of the Il-2 aircraft at the NKAP aircraft factories took place simultaneously with state tests, the development process in the series was unsatisfactory. The best results were achieved by the Voronezh 18th aircraft plant named after. K.E.Voroshilova. At the end of February 1941, the assembly of the first production Il-2 attack aircraft began in the plant's workshops, and on March 1, the lead aircraft arrived at the plant's flight test station. By mid-March, the second production Il was built.

It's interesting to note that for debugging purposes technological process installations on the aircraft in the absence of armored hulls at the plant, local craftsmen made an exact copy of the Il-2 armored hull from boiler iron and then assembled the first mock-up attack aircraft.

On the morning of March 10 (ten days before the end of state tests of the experimental Il-2), the lead production Il, under the control of the head of the plant's LIS, Mr. K.K. Rykov, went on its first test flight - two circles over the airfield with the landing gear extended. A few hours later, K.K. Rykov completed another flight, this time with the landing gear retracted.

The first production Il-2 was armed with two modified 23-mm MP-6 cannons, and the second Il-2 was armed with two VYA-23 cannons. Both types of guns were belt-fed and carried 150 rounds of ammunition for each gun. The third production vehicle was equipped with two ShVAK cannons, the fourth - two 23-mm Salishchev-Galkin SG-23 (TsKB-14 NKV) cannons, and starting with the fifth vehicle - only ShVAK cannons (210 rounds per barrel).

In addition, all production Ilahs retained two ShKAS machine guns (1,500 rounds) and increased missile armament - 8 RO-132 (or RO-82). The bomb load in the series remained the same - 400 kg (at overload - 600 kg).

In comparison with the experimental aircraft that passed state and factory tests, the production Il-2s were equipped with a canopy canopy made of transparent K-4 type armor (instead of plexiglass) with a thickness of 64 mm, and on the moving part of the canopy - plexiglass and metal sidewalls. At the same time, the side front windows of the moving part moved, which made it possible to open the canopy lock from the outside. Transparent armor was also installed behind the pilot's head, since the canopy of the production Ilovs began to be closed by a short transparent fairing, instead of an opaque one. The total weight of the armored parts was 780 kg.

In this form, practically without any special changes, the single-seat IL-2 was produced until the end of its mass production.

The changes were mainly related to the elimination of some design defects of the attack aircraft, improvement of its individual components and assemblies, improvement of on-board equipment, strengthening of armor and weapons, as well as changes related to the adaptation of the technological process to local production conditions, etc.

From June 5 to June 21, 1941, state control tests of the serial Il-2 (plant No. 182402) with ShVAK cannons built by plant No. 18 (leading engineer N.S. Kulikov, leading test pilot A.K. Dolgov, 23 flights were completed with a total flight time of 16 hours). Compared to the experimental IL-2, the speed of the production IL-2 at the ground and at an altitude of 2500 m with a flight weight of 5336 kg became slightly higher - 423 km/h and 451 km/h, respectively, and the take-off and run lengths decreased to 410 mi 360 m respectively. The ascent time to a height of 5000 m increased to 10.6 minutes.

For most production vehicles that were not specially prepared for state control tests, the flight data was somewhat reduced. Take-off weight reached 5750-5873 kg, maximum ground speeds did not exceed 372-382 km/h, and at an estimated altitude of 2500 m - 391-412 km/h. best case scenario the speed at the ground could reach 419 km/h.

In addition, the flight characteristics of the Il-2 largely depended on the external suspension of bombs and rockets, but on the whole they were quite sufficient for combat use of the attack aircraft.

Starting from March 21, 1941, comparative flight tests of the first production Il-2s armed with 23-mm VYa-23 and MP-6 air cannons, which had a belt feed, were carried out in Noginsk at the Research and Production Institute of the Air Force KA.

Due to serious design flaws in both the guns themselves and their gun mounts on the attack aircraft, flight tests were delayed until May 1941. Both guns passed the flight tests satisfactorily, without showing any particular advantages over each other. The basic data of the guns were also almost the same. The State Commission discussed only the increased recoil when firing from the MP-6 cannon. An attempt was even made to determine the recoil forces of both guns, but it was unsuccessful. The flyby pilots had no complaints about the increased recoil force of any of the guns when firing in the air.

Having carefully weighed all the pros and cons, the State Commission recommended the VYa-23 cannon for introduction into service with the Air Force as a more modern and progressive one. The fact is that by this time the reputation of the Taubin cannon was already pretty tarnished. The development of the MP-6 into serial production by NKV factories was difficult; the reliability (for example, in the anti-rebound automatic mechanism) and the quality of serial guns were unsuitable. During the entire period of serial production, not a single MP-6 gun was accepted for military acceptance... On this occasion, at the beginning of May, at a meeting with the Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, G.M. Malenkov, the issue of serious modification of all previously released MP guns was sharply discussed -6 regarding their reliability and manufacturability. As a result, the MP-6 was withdrawn from serial production, and by order of A.I. Shakhurin No. 462 dated May 21, 1941, the Head of the 10th Main Directorate of the NKAP B.N. Tarasovich pledged from November 1941 to ensure the production of all Il-2s with two VYA-23 cannons with 150 rounds of ammunition per gun: August - 25, September - 50, October - 100 vehicles and from November - all aircraft.

All work on installing 23-mm Salishchev-Galkin SG-23 air cannons (TsKB-14 NKV) on the serial Il-2 was also stopped, due to the unsatisfactory results of field tests of the latter on the LaGG-3 aircraft, shown in the NIP AV Air Force during the 23rd 04/26/1941

The very first flights of attack air regiment pilots for combat use revealed a number of serious defects and shortcomings of the new Il-2 attack aircraft, sharply reducing, if not nullifying, its combat value as a battlefield aircraft.

ShVAK guns, when firing in the air, gave continuous delays due to the inadequacy of the pneumatic system for reloading the guns, breaks of the rims and transverse ruptures of the cartridges in the chamber. And until the regimental gunsmiths got to the bottom of the reasons for the failures, the ShVAKs were “fiddling around with dead weight.” When the sliders in the reloading mechanism were filed down and the cartridges were generously lubricated, the operation of the guns returned to normal. Finally, all the defects of the weapons were eliminated much later.

In addition, the Il-2 of the first series did not have armor protection on top of the pilot’s head, engine and rear gas tank, since when creating the aircraft it was assumed that enemy fighters would not be able to effectively attack the attack aircraft from above, due to the protection of the first by their fighters. However, the war made its own adjustments - due The attack aircraft did not receive fighter cover, as a result of which they suffered losses from Luftwaffe fighters.

The fuel supply on the aircraft was considered insufficient and did not provide the required range of action, especially against targets in the enemy’s tactical depth - motorized infantry and tank columns and airfields.

The first series of IL-2s were filled with gasoline through one neck, which did not allow using all the capabilities of the BZ-38 gas tanker. Full refueling of the aircraft took about 25 minutes. Such a long refueling time turned out to be completely unacceptable due to the lack of fuel tankers in the air regiments and sharply reduced the combat readiness of the latter, especially during repeated combat sorties.

Intensive operation of the Il-2 from field airfields, which were rather poorly prepared in engineering terms and with uneven ground, revealed the insufficient strength of the folding struts of the attack aircraft's landing gear, which led to frequent aircraft breakdowns and sometimes to disasters.

On the IL-2 of the first series, only one electric release device (ESBR-3p) was installed, which allowed both the release of aerial bombs and the launch of rockets. However, in combat conditions, during an attack on a target, the pilot, as a rule, did not have enough time to switch the electric release from one type of weapon to another. Therefore, combat pilots, using the ESBR-3p, launched the PC, and dropped the bombs in one gulp using an emergency bomb release device, which, naturally, sharply reduced the effectiveness of the bombing. Of course, aerial bombs could also be dropped using the ESBR-3p, but only on the second approach, and this contradicted the tactics of the combat use of the Il-2 during this period.

The poor quality of gluing of the front armored glass and its splashing with oil flowing from the propeller hub and the toe of the engine crankshaft led to the fact that the Il-2 pilots could not shoot and bomb accurately.

A significant drawback that significantly reduced the combat effectiveness of air units armed with Il-2 attack aircraft was the lack of gummatic rubber on the wheels of the aircraft landing gear. The rubber inner tubes of the Il-2 landing gear wheels, as a result of pinching between the pads, withstood only 30-40 landings on field airfields, after which they became unusable. In addition, there were very frequent cases of rubber tires and inner tubes of the Ila chassis being shot through while attack aircraft were performing combat missions. The pilot, not knowing which wheel of the landing gear deflated in the chamber, could not confidently counter the sharp turn of the car on landing. As a result, the car broke down. Sometimes the landing ended in disaster. In addition, the lack of a supply of rubber tires and wheel tubes for the Il-2 landing gear in warehouses and units led to unacceptable downtime in wartime for fully combat-ready aircraft.

The undivided dominance of enemy fighters in the air, the absence of a rear firing point on the Il-2 aircraft, as well as poor organization of cover by their own fighters, combined with insufficient tactical and flight training of the pilots and poor group coordination, led to significant losses of vehicles and flight personnel.

As for the effectiveness of defeating German armored vehicles with cannon weapons, it quickly became clear that attacks by German light (Pz.II AusfF, Pz.38(t)AusfC) and medium (Pz.iv Ausf D, Pz.III Ausf G and StuG III Ausf E - assault gun) of tanks by Il-2 attack aircraft, armed with ShVAK cannons, along the column are completely ineffective due to the fact that the frontal armor of German tanks had a thickness of 25-50 mm and the ShVAK cannon shell did not penetrate.

Field tests of the ShVAK cannon when firing at captured German tanks, carried out in June-July 1942 at the NIP AV Air Force KA in accordance with the order of the commander of the KA Air Force No. 46 dated 05.27.1942 showed that the BZ-20 shell of the ShVAK cannon can penetrate armor made of chromium-molybdenum steel with a high (up to 0.41%) carbon content, thickness up to 15 mm (tanks Pz.II Ausf F, Pz.38(t) Ausf C, armored personnel carrier Sd Kfz 250) at meeting angles close to normal from a distance of no more 250-300 m. If you deviate from these conditions, firing from the ShVAK cannon became ineffective. Thus, when the angle of contact of the projectile with the armor increased above 40°, continuous ricochets were obtained even in areas of armor 6-8 mm thick. For example, out of 19 hits received when firing from this gun at the Sd Kfz 250 (approach height 400 m, glide angle 30 degrees, firing range 400 m), there were 6 through holes in the side (armor thickness 8 mm), 4 in engine hood roof (armor thickness 6 mm), 3 ricochets and 6 hits to the chassis. As a rule, hits to the chassis did not cause significant damage to armored vehicles.

When firing at light tanks (approach height 100 m, gliding angle 5-10°, opening fire distance 400 m), out of 15 hits, 3 hits were on the side (armor thickness 15 mm) with one core stuck, one rebound and one armor penetration , which indicates the maximum capabilities of the BZ-20 projectile, 7 hits in the chassis, and the remaining 5 projectiles hit the roof of the tank turrets (2 projectiles in the turret of the Pz.38(t) Ausf C tank and 3 projectiles in the Pz.II Ausf F, armor thickness 10 mm), gave a ricochet. In addition, it must be taken into account that most of the side of these tanks, in its lower part, is covered by rollers, wheels, caterpillars and other parts of the chassis, so the pure side armor (15 mm thick) is a small area.

When firing at the German medium tank Pz.III Ausf G under the same conditions, in all 24 hits, not a single armor penetration was obtained.

The conclusions from the tests indicated that firing from an Il-2 aircraft from ShVAK cannons at German light and medium tanks was completely ineffective: “It is ineffective to use Il-2 aircraft armed with ShVAK cannons against tanks, but it is better to use them 5-10 km in the rear against infantry and the fuel supplying the tanks.”

The appearance at the front in August 1941 of Il-2 attack aircraft with VYa-23 cannons of 23 mm caliber, although it increased the overall combat effectiveness of attack air units, was not as much as we would have liked - the effectiveness of the modified Ilov against Wehrmacht armored vehicles remained low.

Field tests have shown that when firing from VYa-23 cannons with an armor-piercing incendiary projectile BZ-23 from an Il-2 aircraft at glide angles of up to 30° (approach altitude 100-600 m), it is possible to defeat light German tanks of the Pz.II Ausf F and Pz.38(t) Ausf C when a shell hits the side and rear of the tank from a distance of 300-400 m, since the armor thickness in these places is 15 mm. Hitting the roof of the turrets of these tanks (armor thickness 10 mm) from the same distances is also possible, but at dive angles of more than 40°.

Of the 53 hits on these tanks received during 15 sorties, only in 16 cases was there a through penetration (30% of the number of shells that hit the tanks) of the armor, in 10 cases were dents in the armor and ricochets, the rest of the hits were in chassis. The BZ-23's hits to the chassis of the tank did not cause any damage to it. Moreover, all 16 through holes in the armor of tanks occurred during attacks at a planning angle of 5-10° (approach height 100 m, opening fire distance 300-400 m).

Damage to the armor of the Pz.38(t) Ausf E tank with reinforced armor (front of the hull and turret - up to 50 mm, and the side of the hull above the chassis and the side of the turret - up to 30 mm) under the same attack conditions was only possible by destroying the chassis of the tank , where armor 15 mm thick was installed. However, hitting the clean armor of this part of the tank was unlikely, since big square closed with rollers, wheels and tracks.

The frontal armor of all German light tanks, which has a thickness of 25-50 mm, did not penetrate when fired from a VYa-23 cannon with a BZ-23 projectile during an air attack from an Il-2.

As for the medium German tanks of the Pz.lV Ausf D, Pz.III Ausf G and StuG III Ausf E types with side armor thickness of 30 mm, frontal armor - 50 mm, over-engine armor - 15-18 mm and turret roofs - 10-17 mm, which were in service with the Wehrmacht at that time, their armor was not hit from any direction of attack when fired from an Il-2 aircraft by BZ-23 shells from the VYA-23 cannon.

Of the 62 hits on German medium tanks (Pz.III Ausf G and StuG III Ausf E) received during range firing from the air, there was only one through penetration (in armor 10 mm thick), one core jam, 27 hits in the chassis, did not cause significant damage to the tank, the remaining shell hits caused either dents or ricochets.

Analysis of the results of range firing shows that sustained destruction of medium German tanks could be ensured (the roof of the Pz.III Ausf G turret and the over-engine part of the Pz.IV Ausf D tank with an armor thickness of 10 mm) only from a dive at angles of more than 40° from ranges of 300- 400 m. However, piloting the Il-2 attack aircraft in these modes was very difficult, and the likelihood of hitting vulnerable parts of the tanks, due to their small area, was still small.

In other words, the Il-2 attack aircraft, armed with VYa-23 cannons, could only defeat light German tanks, and even then when attacking the latter from behind or from the side at gliding angles of up to 30°. An attack by an Il-2 aircraft on any German tank from the front, both from gliding and from strafing flight, was completely ineffective, and medium German tanks were also ineffective when attacking from behind.

According to test pilots of the NIP AV VVS KA, the most convenient and effective shooting from an Il-2 aircraft from VYa-23 cannons at German tanks, in terms of orientation, maneuvering, time spent on a combat course, shooting accuracy, etc., was firing from gliding at an angle of 25-30° with a gliding entry height of 500-700 m and an entry speed of 240-220 km/h (exit height - 200-150 m). The gliding speed of the single-seat IL-2 at these angles increased slightly - by only 9-11 m/s, which allowed maneuvering for aiming along the sight and track. The total time to attack the target (eliminating lateral slip when turning towards the target, aiming and firing from cannons) in this case was quite sufficient and ranged from 6 to 9 seconds, which allowed the pilot to make two or three aimed bursts with the expectation that it would take to eliminate the lateral It takes about 1.5-2 seconds for an attack aircraft to glide when turning towards the target; aiming and correcting aiming between bursts also requires 1.5-2 seconds, and the length of the burst does not exceed 1 second (firing from VYa cannons takes more than 1-2 seconds led to a significant disruption of aiming and a sharp increase in the dispersion of projectiles, that is, a decrease in firing accuracy), the starting range of aiming at the tank was 600-800 m, and the minimum opening distance of fire was about 300-400 m.

In accordance with the results of aerial firing from an Il-2 aircraft at German tanks, specialists from the NIP AV VVS KA determined the optimal, in their opinion, methods of attacking tank and mechanized columns. The best results were obtained when attacking a column from behind along or from the side at a gliding angle of 30° from heights of 500-700 m, the starting range of aiming was about 800 m, and the firing range was up to 200-300 m, aiming was carried out at a separate tank or vehicle from the column. The attack was to be carried out in several passes. Moreover, in the first approach, the blow was delivered to the head of the column, first by firing from RS-mi (launch distance - 600-700 m), and then by firing from cannons. In subsequent attacks, air bombs were dropped and fire was fired from machine guns and cannons.

The NIP AV pilots recommended attacking a long unarmored target with an Il-2 aircraft from a strafing flight, firing at the target first from a PC from a distance of 600-700 m, and then from machine guns and cannons from a distance of 400-600 m. Bombing in this case had to be carried out at subsequent approaches, dropping bombs in a series from heights of 100-200 m, using an instantaneous fuse.

Moreover, when attacking such a target with a group of 4-6 Il-2 aircraft, in order to more effectively hit the target, it was proposed that one part of the aircraft attack the target from a strafing flight, firing at it from PC and small arms and dropping bombs with an AV-1 fuse in series (slowing down the fuses 22 sec), and the other part of the attack aircraft, following the first with a short interval, attack from gliding from altitudes of 500-700 m, firing rockets from cannons and machine guns and carrying out bombing at the exit from gliding (instant fuse).

An attack by Il-2 aircraft on infantry and vehicle concentrations is best carried out from a strafing flight and from gliding at an angle of 5-10° from altitudes of 100-200 m, followed by a bombing approach upon recovery from a dive.

On a short target, both armored and unarmored, as well as on point targets (individual tank, vehicle, etc.), an attack with Il-2 aircraft had to be carried out only from a dive at angles of 25-30° from altitudes of 500-700 m .

Calculations based on the results of field tests and analysis of battles show that a pilot with good flight and shooting training, carrying out a salvo launch of 4 PC-82s on an Il-2 from a range of 300 m at a planning angle of 30°, could well hit a medium a German tank of the Pz.III Ausf J type with a probability of 0.08, and with a salvo of 8 PC-82s - with a probability of about 0.25. Performing single or paired PC-82 launches from a range of 600-700 m, as recommended by NIP AB, could ensure that the probability of hitting a tank in the same conditions was only 6-7 times less.

The use of two types of attack aircraft weapons in one run did not allow the second type of weapon to be used with maximum efficiency, since the aiming accuracy in this case was significantly reduced. Indeed, when firing, for example, RSami from a dive at an angle of 30° (height 600 m), the aiming point must be moved forward from the target by 10 m, while when firing from ShKAS machine guns - by 35 m, from VYa cannons - by 13 m, and from ShVAK cannons - at 40 m. That is, to use these types of weapons simultaneously, it is necessary to aim simultaneously at different points, which is practically impossible.

Introducing corrections to aiming after firing from the first type of weapon was, in principle, possible, but for accurate shooting from the second type of weapon, excellent shooting training of the pilot was required. Estimates based on the results of field tests of the influence of the level of pilot training on shooting accuracy show that the effectiveness of shooting from the second type of weapon decreased by approximately 20-70% (depending on the type of weapon).

An analysis of the combat capabilities of the Il-2 onboard weapons shows that it would be more correct to attack a short target (armored or unarmored) in at least three approaches, gliding at angles of 25-30° from altitudes of 500-700 m, using only one type in each approach weapons. For example, in the first approach, a PC is launched in a salvo of 4 shells from a distance of 300-400 m, then, in the second approach, aerial bombs are dropped at the exit from planning, and starting from the third approach, the target is fired upon with cannon and machine-gun fire from distances no more 300-400 m. An attack on a long target could well be carried out from a strafing flight, as recommended by NIP AB specialists, but necessarily with the separate use of each type of Il-2 weapon at a range of PC salvo launch and the start of machine gun and cannon fire of no more than 400 m .

Thus, the main means of destroying enemy armored vehicles during this period were aerial bombs. Wherein best results were achieved using high-explosive bombs of the FAB-100 type.

Indeed, when a FAB-100 exploded at a distance of 1-5 m from the tank, the fragments pierced the armor of medium German tanks such as Pz.IVAusfD, Pz.III Ausf G and StuG III Ausf E up to 30 mm thick and, in addition, the rivets were destroyed from the blast wave and tank welds. Fragmentation bombs of the A0-25c and A0-25m types, as well as high-explosive bombs of the FAB-50 and FAB-50m type, ensured the destruction of only light German tanks of the Pz.38(t) Ausf C and Pz.II Ausf F types, penetrating the thick side armor with fragments 15-20 mm with a rupture in close proximity (0.5-1 m) or with a direct hit.

However, the advantage of 100-kg high-explosive air bombs was realized only if they were dropped from heights of at least 300-500 m with instantaneous fuses of the APUV type, which contradicted the tactics of the combat use of the Il-2 during this period. The use of the FAB-100 from a strafing flight was possible only with the use of a delayed-action fuse, which greatly reduced the effectiveness of hitting moving targets (motorized infantry, tanks, vehicles, etc.), since during the deceleration time of the fuse (22 sec) the latter managed to drive away a considerable distance from the bomb landing site. In addition, when they hit the ground, the bombs ricocheted and exploded far from the target.

The very first days of combat use of the Il-2 also revealed a serious miscalculation in equipping the aircraft with a bombing sight. It turned out that in relation to the existing tactics of the IL-2, it was impossible to use the PBP-1b sight mounted on the attack aircraft for bombing in horizontal flight (or when gliding up to 5 degrees) at altitudes of more than 25 m (due to the limitation of the field of view by the engine hood), and at lower altitudes, its use was made difficult by the conditions of piloting the aircraft (in this case, all the pilot’s attention was focused mainly on observing the ground). Therefore, the pilots of the attack air regiments were forced to release air bombs according to the time delay, which was tantamount to almost aimless bombing. In addition, the PBP-1b, installed in the pilot's cockpit in front of the armored visor, greatly interfered with the view of the front hemisphere, and the pilot himself often hit his head on the sight while moving, which often led to serious injuries, and during forced landings - even to death. The pilots came up with a decoding of the name of this sight: PBP-1b - a device that hits the pilot painfully once.

For these reasons, on most Il-2 aircraft in combat units, at the insistence of the flight personnel, the PBP-1b sight was removed, and firing from small arms and cannon weapons was carried out along machine-gun or cannon tracks (first the machine-gun track was given and only then gun fire was opened).

In order to increase the effectiveness of Il-2 bomb strikes from horizontal flight, in July 1941, the research and development center of the Air Force KA carried out calculations of aiming angles and made special markings on the armored visor and hood of the Il-2 aircraft, increasing the accuracy of aiming when bombing from horizontal flight from altitudes of 50, 100, 200 and 300m.

Already on August 6, 1941, all tests were completed and on August 24, the Head of the Air Force Main Directorate approved instructions for bombing from horizontal flight using such marks.

However, these aiming marks could not fully satisfy the requirements of the combat situation, since, on the one hand, they were still not convenient enough to use, and on the other hand, they did not provide the required bombing accuracy.

The results of bombing from an Il-2 in range conditions from horizontal flight using marks on the pilot's armored visor and engine hood with a single drop of aerial bombs and a series of 4 FAB-50 bombs at a flight speed of 330-360 km/h showed that the probability of a hit one aerial bomb in a strip of 20x100 m from a height of 50 m was on average 0.035 and 0.08 for single and serial bombing, respectively. When the bombing altitude increased to 200 m, the probability of one bomb hitting the same strip decreased to 0.023 and 0.043, respectively.

In real combat conditions, the accuracy of bombing using this method was much worse, since targets on the battlefield (tanks, firing points, etc.) were dispersed over a large area, were, as a rule, well camouflaged and, as a result, difficult to detect from the air .

Based on a study of the combat experience of the first period of the war, the Operations Directorate of the General Staff of the Air Force KA, in tentative calculations of the combat capabilities of the Il-2 attack aircraft when operating against tanks in battle formations on the battlefield, indicated that to defeat one light tank of the Pz.II or Pz.38 type ( t) it is necessary to send a squad of 4-5 Il-2 aircraft, and to destroy one medium tank of the Pz.IV, Pz.III or StuG III type, 12-15 Ilyushins were required...

Since August 1941, in order to increase the effectiveness of Il-2 bomb assault strikes, attack air units began to practice the withdrawal of a strike group of attack aircraft by a leader (usually a Su-2, Pe-2 or fighter), flying ahead significantly higher than the group he was directing. Having discovered a target, the leader marked it with a dive or dropped bombs (sometimes AZh-2 ampoules with the KS fire mixture), by the explosions of which the attack aircraft were guided. At the signal from the leader, the IL-2 made a “slide” and, having gained altitude, dropped aerial bombs and fired at the target from the PC, and then opened fire from small arms and cannon weapons. In addition to directing a group of attack aircraft to the target, the leaders also diverted the enemy’s attention from the strike group, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the latter’s actions.

Modification: IL-2
Wingspan, m: 14.60
Length, m: 11.60
Height, m: 4.17
Wing area, m2: 38.50
Weight, kg
- empty plane: 3990
-normal takeoff: 5310
Engine type: 1 x PD Mikulin AM-38
-power, hp: 1 x 1575
Maximum speed, km/h
-near the ground: 433
-at altitude: 450
Practical range, km: 638
Rate of climb, m/min: 625
Practical ceiling, m: 7800
Crew: 1
Armament: 2 x 23 mm VYA-23 cannons or 2 x 20 mm ShVAK cannons; 2 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns; 8 RS-132 (or RS-82)
Bomb load: 400 kg (overload - 600 kg).

Il-2 attack aircraft being tested at the Air Force Research Institute.

Pre-production IL-2. Front view.

Il-2 attack aircraft with 23 mm VYa-23 and RS cannons.

Il-2 attack aircraft of the first series.

Il-2 attack aircraft of the first series.

Il-2 attack aircraft of the first series in the parking lot.

IL-2 taxis to the start. Winter 1941

Sturmovik Il-2 in flight.

Winter version of the Il-2 attack aircraft with ShVAK and RS-82 cannons.

Winter version of the Il-2 attack aircraft with ShVAK and RS-82 cannons.

Damaged Il-2 872 ShAP (pilot unknown). August 1941

IL-2 of the first series after a combat flight.

Preparing the Il-2 AM-38 of the first series produced at plant No. 18 for a combat mission.

Refueling the Il-2 attack aircraft with oil.

Refueling the Il-2 attack aircraft with fuel.

Starting the engine on an IL-2 using an autostarter.

The designers called the aircraft they developed a “flying tank.” Luftwaffe fighter pilots nicknamed the Il-2 "concrete plane" (German: Betonflugzeug). According to some Russian authors, Wehrmacht soldiers called it “plague” (German: Schwarzer Tod, literally: “black death”).

IL-2 took part in battles in all theaters of military operations of the Great Patriotic War, as well as in the Soviet-Japanese War. In February 1941, serial production began (order of A.I. Shakhurin No. 739 dated December 14, 1940).

The first production IL-2s were manufactured in February 1941 in Voronezh at plant No. 18 (in November 1941 the plant was evacuated to Kuibyshev). The Il-2 was mass-produced at aircraft plants No. 18 Voronezh, No. 1 and No. 18 in Kuibyshev, and at aircraft plant No. 30 in Moscow. Of the total number of IL-2s (36,183 units), 74% were produced in Kuibyshev (26,888 units). For some time during 1941-1942, the aircraft was produced by plant No. 381 in Leningrad and Nizhny Tagil.

The aircraft is the most produced combat aircraft in the world.

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Design

Glider

Single-engine aircraft of mixed design. The main feature is the inclusion of armor in the power circuit of the aircraft airframe. Hull armor replaced the frame and skin of the entire nose and middle fuselage. The load-bearing armored body, riveted from homogeneous steel armor AB-1 (AB-2), covered the engine, cockpit, radiators and some units (on the prototype, the armored body also protected the gunner side). The transparent frontal armor of the cockpit visor was 64 mm thick and could withstand a 7.62 mm armor-piercing bullet from zero distance.

The plane was originally designed as a two-seater. There is a widespread misconception that Ilyushin was forced to convert the attack aircraft into a single-seat one at the direction of the country's military leadership. As is known, the lack of defensive weapons on the Il-2 was associated with unjustifiably large losses of these aircraft in the first year of the Great Patriotic War.

In fact, the aircraft was ordered as a two-seater, and its single-seat version was the initiative of Ilyushin himself, since during tests the BSh-2 showed unsatisfactory flight qualities - its speed, climb rate and range were below the requirements stated by the Air Force. At the same time, other Soviet designers were also working on an armored attack aircraft. [ ] In order to save his attack aircraft in competition with other design bureaus, Ilyushin proactively created its single-seat version. [ ] The gunner side was removed, which significantly reduced the volume of the armored hull; In place of the shooter, an additional fuel tank and additional rear weight centering armor were installed, which also caused criticism - it worsened handling. The saved weight allowed the attack aircraft to meet the speed requirements for it, and the additional tank increased the flight range.

Faced with heavy losses of the Il-2, which did not have defensive weapons in the rear hemisphere, the Air Force demanded that Ilyushin again make the aircraft a two-seater, which was implemented by the end of 1942. However, it was no longer possible to change the armored hull, so the gunner side was located outside the armored hull and was protected only by a 6-mm armor plate on the tail side. At the same time, the pilot’s protection from the rear hemisphere was carried out by transverse armor of the “HD” brand, 12 mm thick (+6 mm armor-back), which was part of the armor-hull scheme.

In 1942, a modification of the armored hull appeared in the drawings, covering the gunner side. To maintain alignment, the wing consoles had a swept-back shape, and the center section was moved back so that the front spar was under the edge of the cockpit canopy. However, there was a strict decree not to slow down the production rate of attack aircraft, which, of course, would have resulted from the introduction of a new modification into the series. As a result, only the later modification of the aircraft, the Il-10, the production of which began in 1944, received an armored hull protecting both crew members.

Engine

Armament

• Two guns in the wing consoles (initially - 20 mm ShVAK, in the main series - 23 mm VYA, in the anti-tank version - mm), a sample with mm guns was tested.
• Two ShKAS machine guns (wing-mounted)
• Air bombs, PTAB containers
• Missiles RS-82 or RS-132
• As a defensive weapon, the two-seat versions were equipped with a 12.7 mm UBT machine gun.

Modifications

It was produced in single-seat (pilot) and double-seat versions (pilot and air gunner). Various technological and design changes were constantly made, for example, at the end of 1941, a wooden structure of the rear fuselage, with external metal stringers, was introduced. The armor and weapons changed.

• IL-2 (single)- a serial modification of the attack aircraft, not equipped with a cabin for the rear gunner. Due to the large combat losses of the single-seat version, some aviation units made successful attempts to convert the single-seat Il-2 into a two-seat one. In some cases, they even limited themselves to simulating the rear cannon, installing a dummy aimed at the tail in the cockpit slot, which from a distance effectively scared off German fighter pilots from approaching such an attack aircraft “in the tail” by its very appearance.
• Il-2 (double)- serial modification, equipped with a gunner's cabin with a canopy and ShKAS or UBT machine guns mounted on a semi-turret installation. Began to be widely used in the later periods of the war (the second photo at the beginning of the article shows a flight of such Il-2(D) aircraft)
• Il-2 AM-38F- an attack aircraft with an uprated AM-38f engine, which, compared to the AM-38, had greater take-off power (by 100 hp). The first single-seat production Il-2 (production number 182412) with an experimental AM-38f engine was delivered to take flight data under the program of acceptance tests of production aircraft with the addition of testing the operation of the VMGvLIS of the 18th aircraft plant on July 31, 1942.
  Since January 1943, AM-38f engines began to be installed on all production Il-2 attack aircraft, both single and double, at all aircraft factories that produced these aircraft. By January 1943, the 24th Aircraft Engine Plant managed to produce 377 AM-38f engines.
  Since January 1943, the two-seat Il-2 with the AM-38f engine went into large-scale production, and from February 1, all the main Ilov manufacturers - the 1st, 18th and 30th aircraft factories - completely switched to its production.
• IL-2 KSS (wing with "arrow")- serial modification of the Il-2 AM-38F with the same AM-38F engine, but boosted to 1720 hp. pp., with some aerodynamic and design improvements.
  Instead of a metal tank, fiber protected gas tanks were installed, in which most of the small holes were repaired after some time with a special protector compound that tends to thicken over time. outdoors. During testing, the tanks remained sealed even with 17 holes from 7.92 and 13 millimeter bullets fired from German weapons.
  In order to improve the stability of the Il-2 in flight and control, shock-absorbing springs and a counterbalancer were installed in the elevator control system, developed at the LII NKAP by M. L. Mil (later the Chief Designer of helicopters) on the Il-2 AM-38f aircraft.
  The counterbalancer balanced the inertial forces arising from the weight compensation of the elevator during curved flight. The shock-absorbing spring was intended to increase the stock of longitudinal dynamic stability of an attack aircraft when flying with the control stick thrown - the tension of the shock-absorbing spring created a constantly acting force that returned the elevator to its original position when the aircraft's flight mode changed under the influence of external forces.
  To improve the alignment of the Il-2 aircraft, the ends of the wing consoles are moved back, which returns the alignment of the aircraft to the alignment of the single-seat Il-2 aircraft, that is, to 28.0%. Instead of a wooden wing, a metal wing was installed, which increased survivability and improved the repair and operational qualities of the IL-2. By the end of 1944, factories No. 18, 1 and 30 sent 7377 modified Il-2 attack aircraft with metal wings of a pointed design to the Air Force KA 7377 units, while aircraft factory No. 1 produced Il-2 with a wooden wing.
• Il-2 M-82- an experimental version of the attack aircraft, equipped with an air-cooled M-82 engine with a take-off power of 1675 hp. With. This development began after the capture of Smolensk by the Germans on July 16, 1941, which led to the threat of the capture of Moscow and the forced evacuation of the plant that produced A. Mikulin AM-38 engines beyond the Urals. There is a risk of a shortage of these engines. However, since May 1942, production of the M-82 engine with a power of 1676 hp began in Perm. This engine was available in quantities sufficient to encourage the Ilyushin Design Bureau to develop a variant of the Il-2 under new engine. The M-82 engine was installed slightly lower and without armor (since it was air-cooled) and, therefore, was more vulnerable to enemy fire. At the same time, the position of an air gunner with a UBT machine gun was armored. The aircraft had a new propeller with a conical spinner and fuel tanks increased to 724 liters. In terms of its characteristics, the IL-4 was slightly inferior to the original IL-2, but by that time it became clear that there would be no interruptions with the AM-38 engines. A single-seat Il-2 M-82IR was also built, which successfully passed factory tests by mid-August 1942 (the test report was approved on August 18, 1942), but the attack aircraft was not transferred to state tests and subsequently all work on installing the air-cooled engine was discontinued. The Il-4 designation was transferred to the DB-3F long-range bomber.
• Il-2 ShFK-37- an experimental single-seat version of the attack aircraft with the AM-38 engine, armed, in addition to two wing-mounted ShKAS machine guns, with two 37-mm aircraft cannons designed by OKB-15 B.G. Shpitalny ShFK-37 (Shpitalny, fuselage-wing, 37 mm caliber). 9 attack aircraft took part in the combat operations of the 688th ShAP of the 228th ShchAD of the 16th VA from December 27, 1942 to January 23, 1943 near Stalingrad during the destruction of the German encircled group in the zone of the 65th Army of Lieutenant General P. I. Batov . Combat operations were carried out from agricultural field airfields. “Proletary”, then the village of Kachalinskaya. Didn't go into the series.
• IL-2 NS-37- a serial modification of the two-seat Il-2 AM-38F, on which, in order to increase the anti-tank properties of attack aircraft, two 37 mm 11P-37 OKB-16 cannons were installed with an ammunition load of 50 rounds per gun, without rockets, with a bomb load of 100 kg per gun in the normal version and 200 kg in the overload version.
• IL-2 NS-45- a prototype of the Il-2 AM-38f aircraft with two NS-45 wing cannons. Field tests of the Il-2 with the NS-45 showed unsatisfactory efficiency in firing them in the air at small targets. Mainly due to the strong recoil of the guns when firing - the maximum recoil force of an aircraft gun on a ground-based machine reached 7000 kg. Didn't go into the series.
• IL-2T- according to the published testimony of a former aircraft mechanic of the 23rd OSHAP Black Sea Fleet, one of the squadrons of the regiment had a flight of Il-2T aircraft that flew combat missions in 1944. The modification was an Il-2M3, in which, to save weight, the VYa-23 cannons were dismantled and 3 machine guns remained from small arms: 2 wing ones and a rear gunner’s machine gun. Thanks to this, the vehicle was capable of lifting the smallest Soviet torpedo, the 45-36AN. However, no documents have yet been discovered confirming the existence of this modification, although there are numerous aircraft models and the modification is used in video games.

Combat use

Tactics

"Death Cabin"

In the very first days of the war, it became clear that single-seat attack aircraft suffered unreasonably large losses from enemy fighters. At the request of the pilots in all attack regiments, the engineering and technical staff, with the participation of the pilots themselves, began to find ways to protect the aircraft from attack by fighters. A hole was cut in the upper part of the fuselage to accommodate a gunner and mount at least a primitive machine gun installation with minimal ammunition. The first air gunners were mechanics and weapons masters. The workload on the armed forces increased sharply - they had to fly on missions and, upon returning, have time to prepare weapons for flight. They flew with great desire, although among themselves they called the temporary structure of the gunner’s position a “death cabin.”

Efficiency

The least effective means of destroying enemy armored vehicles in initial period wars were aerial bombs. On June 25, 780 sorties made it possible to destroy only 30 tanks, 16 guns and 60 vehicles with manpower. During field tests, “three pilots of the 245th Shap, who had combat experience, were able to achieve only 9 hits on the tank with a total ammunition consumption of 300 rounds.” ShVAK guns and 1290 rounds of ammunition for ShKAS machine guns. At the same time, the best results were achieved using high-explosive bombs of the FAB-100 type. However, FAB-100 fragments penetrated the 30-mm side and rear armor of German medium tanks only at a distance of 5 m and closer. And when they hit the ground, the bombs ricocheted and exploded far from the target [ ] . In addition, with low bombing accuracy, the use of the FAB-100 was ineffective. When struck from a strafing flight by a group of 4-6 aircraft, the first part of the aircraft was forced to use the FAB-100 with the fuses slowed down by 22 seconds (so that the explosion did not damage the aircraft flying behind them), so that the targets during this time managed to move a considerable distance from the crash site bombs.

The most effective anti-tank weapons in the initial period of the war were capsules with white phosphorus, which were dropped en masse on tank columns. However, phosphorus turned out to be very “capricious” in terms of humidity, temperature and wind, as a result of which it was used very limitedly. In 1943, during the battles on the Kursk Bulge, PTAB (anti-tank bombs) with a cumulative warhead appeared in the Il-2 arsenal, which were loaded into containers of 48 pieces. Dropping them at a speed of 340-360 km/h from a height of 200 m gave a spread of about 1 bomb per 15 m² and a continuous destruction zone of ~30x100 m. In the first days, the effectiveness was amazing (up to 6-8 tanks from the 1st approach) . However, within a week, a change in the formation of German tanks on the march sharply reduced the effectiveness of these ammunition, and since the consumption of full ammunition to defeat 1-2 tanks (with a successful approach) was no longer considered appropriate, preference was given to air guns. Despite the fact that 12.37 million PTAB-2.5-1.5 were manufactured during the war, they are not mentioned directly by German sources, although their potential high efficiency is confirmed by the urgency with which the above-mentioned decision to change the formations of German tanks on the march. The total losses of German tanks, according to Russian official data, amounted to 32.5 thousand units. , and most of them were destroyed by IPTAP and Red Army tanks. This indirectly indicates the limited effectiveness of using this IL-2 ammunition.

The combat use of the Il-2 was hampered by the lack of appropriate instructions and instructions in the initial period of the war:

I don’t know how it happened, but not only in the units, but in the very command and control of the 8th Air Army there was no necessary documents on the combat use of IL-2. And if so, then the pilots acted according to their own understanding, often not in the most rational way.

Firing from a ShVAK cannon while targeting a separate tank from a column during testing at the Air Force Armament Research Institute ensured that in three flights with a total consumption of 553 rounds, 20 hits were made in the tank column (3.6%), of which only 6 hits were made on the aiming point tank (1 .0%), the rest - to other tanks from the column. When firing from the VYA-23 cannon with a total consumption of 435 shells in 6 sorties, the pilots of the 245th ShAP received 46 hits in the tank column (10.6%), of which 16 hits in the aiming point tank (3.7%). However, enemy opposition in real combat reduced the chances of hitting the target. In addition, VYa armor-piercing shells did not penetrate the armor of German medium tanks from any direction of attack. Moreover, even the relatively powerful 23-mm Il-2 fragmentation shells contained only 10 g explosive, that is, even unarmored targets could only be hit by a direct hit.

The protection of the shooter was also a serious and unresolved problem. In the first years of the war, attack aircraft (and their pilots were not even trained in the basics air combat), often deprived of fighter cover, when meeting with enemy fighters they tried to break away at low level flight. This technique led to massive losses, and the pilots demanded the placement of a gunner. Such modernization was often carried out directly in the units, the place for the shooter was cut out behind the armored hull and its protection was completely absent. Since 1942, a two-seat factory version appeared, but due to problems with alignment, the shooter was protected by 6 mm armor plate (for comparison, the rear wall of the armored hull is 12 mm) only on the tail side. The consequence of insufficient protection was a high mortality rate among shooters: during military tests, for every 8 shooters hit, only 1 pilot was out of action. On average statistical estimates, when attacked by a fighter, the probability of hitting the shooter was 2-2.5 times higher than the aircraft he was protecting, although from anti-aircraft fire this ratio was 1:1. It should be noted that Ilov’s losses from fighters throughout the war were lower than losses from anti-aircraft artillery, and since 1943, attack aircraft sorties were carried out only with fighter cover. This reduced the importance of the gunner in the crew, and since 1944, experienced pilots often flew without gunners. Nevertheless, the next Il-10 attack aircraft was initially built as a two-seater, just like Ilyushin’s jet projects (Il-40, Il-102).

History of combat use

Taking into account high risk the use of the Il-2, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded for 10 combat missions. According to other sources, until 1943, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded for 30 combat missions, and after 1943 this qualification was increased to 80.

According to official statistics from the Red Army Air Force Headquarters, out of approximately 1,500 Il-2s sent to units before December 31, 1941, 1,100 were lost. However, the Il-2 had fairly good armor and a significant portion of the total losses were not combat losses: accidents due to maneuvers at too low an altitude in bad weather conditions.

In total, during the years 1941-1945, the USSR lost 23.6 thousand attack aircraft, of which 12.4 thousand were combat losses. A total of 7,837 attack pilots were lost. 356 air regiments were trained. 140 air regiments were formed once, 103 air regiments 2 times, 61 air regiments 3 times, 31 air regiments 4 times and 21 air regiments 5 times. By May 10, 1945, the air armies of the fronts included 3,075 Il-2 and Il-2U attack aircraft, 214 Il-2KR and 146 Il-10. In addition, the Navy Air Force had 197 Il-2s. If at the beginning of the war there were less than 0.2% of IL-2s, then by the fall of 1942 their share increased to 31% and subsequently remained at the level of 29-32% of the total number of combat aircraft of front-line aviation. The overall survival rate of the Il-2 during the war was about 53 sorties per one irretrievable loss. Throughout the war, the survival rate in attack aircraft was lower than in bomber and fighter aircraft, despite the fact that the Il-2 was superior in protection to all soviet planes. The reason for this is the tactics of use. Most of the time, the Ilas hung above the front line at low altitudes, attracting the fire of all enemy anti-aircraft artillery. According to an analysis of the combat work of the assault units of the 3rd air army in the Vitebsk, Polotsk, Dvina, Bauska and Siauliai operations, general level Il-2 combat losses, characterized by irretrievable losses, amounted to 2.8% of the total number of sorties. At the same time, combat damage was recorded in 50% of sorties. There have been cases when an aircraft independently returned from a combat mission, having more than 500 holes in the wing and fuselage. After refurbishment carried out by field army workshops, the aircraft returned to service. On May 10, 1945, 3289 Il-2 and 146 Il-10 were in service [ ] .

The problem with the IL-2 was not only the high level of losses, but also the incorrect tactics of its use, which is why the effectiveness of attack aircraft in the early years was very low.

Typically, IL-2s were sent to attack the front line of enemy defenses. But the frontline soldiers were always on the alert and always knew where to hide in case of unexpected shelling or an air raid. Hit in such conditions manpower the enemy was only possible with a direct hit. It is no coincidence that according to statistics, IL-2s destroyed only 1% of targets (although at least 5% were expected from them).

Again, the tactics of action “lined up in a circle and diving in turn” made it possible for the enemy to hide from the attack, and high level the loss of flight personnel prevented them from accumulating and passing on new tactics to newcomers. Only in 1944 did a number of attack aircraft units switch to the “all at once” tactic, when an Il-2 group, unexpectedly appearing over enemy positions, simultaneously dropped all bombs and missiles on it.

Even more effective were the assaults on columns on the march, accumulations of vehicles, crossings, artillery positions, etc. (but for this it was not necessary to persistently aim the IL-2 at the leading edge).

In particular, during Operation Bagration, Il-2s were primarily aimed at suppressing artillery positions, and the effectiveness of their use was quite high.

Il-2 also took an active part in the fight against the enemy as part of the air forces of the Baltic, Black Sea and Northern fleets. Along with traditional “work” against ground targets and targets (enemy airfields, troop and anti-aircraft artillery positions, ports and coastal fortifications, etc.), attack aircraft also effectively attacked surface targets using top-mast bombing. For example, during the battles in the Arctic, the 46th ShAP of the Northern Fleet Air Force had more than 100 sunk enemy ships.

Reviews from veterans

The plane was good and necessary for this war. Yes, it did not save crews very much, but as a weapon it was an excellent machine... Yes, it could not dive, but due to its work at low altitude it was very effective. We took 400 kg of bombs, rarely 600 - it didn’t take off. True, the attack aircraft did not have a real bomber sight, but it seems to me that they did not need one. What is it for? There's no time to aim! The same applies to RS - they flew, they scared. The most accurate weapons of a stormtrooper are cannons. Very good 23 mm VYa cannons. We also had to fly with 37-mm NS-37 cannons. When you shoot from them, the plane stops - very strong recoil. No pleasure, but a powerful weapon, of course.

...Il-2 was resistant to damage, but the iron. You can’t make a hill on it, it takes ten minutes to climb a thousand meters with bombs... He could dive at 45-60 degrees.

Shtangeev, Nikolai Ivanovich - pilot:

The car, of course, is not maneuverable, but very durable. The plane remained stable in flight, even with serious damage. The visibility from the cabin was excellent, and the cabin itself was spacious.

Usov, Valentin Vladimirovich - mechanic, air gunner:

I think that at that time it was the only aircraft that successfully combined firepower, good maneuverability and armor protection... Of course, the armor did not hold up a 20-mm projectile, but it took a lot of hits to ricochet... In addition, the armored hull did not Fully retractable wheels made it possible to sit the car on your stomach. In this case, naturally, the oil radiator was demolished, but such damage could be corrected in the field. The only drawback that I can highlight is the low operability.

Veteran attack aircraft Yu. M. Khukhrikov:

In service

USSR USSR

Bulgaria Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force received 120 combat Il-2s and 10 training Il-2Us in 1945. The aircraft were used until 1954.

Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovak Air Force received 33 combat Il-2s and 2 training Il-2Us. The aircraft were used until 1949.

Poland Poland

• Polish Air Force received 250 Il-2 attack aircraft between 1944 and 1946. All aircraft were withdrawn from service in 1949.

Mongolia Mongolia

• Mongolian Air Force received 78 Il-2 attack aircraft in 1945. All aircraft were withdrawn from service in 1954.

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia

• Yugoslav Air Force received 213 aircraft of various modifications and operated them until 1954.

Performance characteristics

The characteristics below correspond to the modification Il-2M3:

Specifications

• Crew: 2 people
• Length : 11.6 m
• Wingspan: 14.6 m
• Height : 4.2 m
• Wing area: 38.5 m²
• Empty weight: 4360 kg
• Curb weight: 6160 kg
• Maximum take-off weight: 6380 kg
• Armor weight: 990 kg
• Engines:: 1× liquid-cooled V-shaped 12-cylinder AM-38F
• Traction: 1× 1720 l. With. (1285 kW)

Flight characteristics

• Maximum speed: 414 km/h
  • at an altitude of 1220 m: 404 km/h
  • near the ground: 386 km/h
• Range of flight: 720 km
• Run length: 335 m (with 400 kg bombs)
• Rate of climb: 10.4 m/s
• Practical ceiling: 5500 m
160 kg/m²
• Thrust-to-weight ratio: 0.21 kW/kg

Armament

• Cannon and machine gun:
  • 2× 23 mm VYa-23 cannons, 150 rounds per barrel
  • 2× 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, 750 rounds per barrel
  • 1× 12.7 mm UBT defensive machine gun in the rear cockpit, 150 rounds
• up to 600 kg bombs
• 4× RS-82 or RS-132

Comparative table of performance characteristics of various modifications

Data source: Shavrov, 1988

, kg/m²

TTX Il-2 of various modifications
	IL-2 (TsKB-55P)	IL-2	IL-2 (1942)	IL-2 KSS (IL-2M3)	IL-2 (1944)	IL-2 NS-37
Specifications
Crew	1 (pilot)		2 (pilot and gunner)
Length, m	11,6
Wingspan, m	14,6
Height, m	4,17
Wing area, m²	38,5
Empty mass, kg	3990	4261	4525	4360	4525	4625
Curb weight, kg	5310	5788	6060	6160	6360	6160
Payload weight, kg	1320	1527	1535	1800	1835	1535
Fuel weight, kg	470	535
Engine	1×AM-38			1×AM-38F
Power, l. With.	1×1665			1×1720	1×1760	1×1720
Flight characteristics
Maximum speed on high, km/h/m	433 / 0 450 / 2460	396 / 0 426 / 2500	370 / 0 411 / 1200	403 / 0 414 / 1000	390 / 0 410 / 1500	391 / 0 405 / 1200
Landing speed, km/h	140		145		145	136
Practical range, km	638	740	685	720	765	685
Practical ceiling, m	7800	6200	6000	5500	6000
Rate of climb, m/s	10,4	n/a	6,95	10,4	8,3	7,58
Climb time, m/min	1000 / 1,6 5000 / 9,2	1000 / 2,2 3000 / 7,4 5000 / 14,7	1000 / 2,4 3000 / 7,8 5000 / 17,8	5000 / 20,0	5000 / 15,0	1000 / 2,2 3000 / 7,0 5000 / 15,5
Run length, m	450	420	400	n/a	395	370
Run length, m	400		500	n/a	535	138	150	157	160	165	160
Thrust-to-weight ratio, W/kg	230	210	204
Armament
Cannon and machine gun	2×20 mm SHVAK 210 each 2×7.62 mm ShKAS 750 p.	2×23 mm VYa 150 stitches each 2×7.62 mm ShKAS 750 p.	2×23 mm VYa 150 stitches each 2×7.62 mm ShKAS 750 p. 1×12.7 UBT			2 × 37 mm NS 50 stitches each 2×7.62 mm ShKAS 750 p. 1×12.7 UBT
Rocket	8 × RS-82 or RS-132		4 × RS-82 or RS-132			No
Bomb	400-600 kg bombs					100-200 kg bombs

Production

Factories	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
No. 1 (Kuibyshev)	5	2991	4257	3719	957
No. 18 (Kuibyshev)	1510	3942	4702	4014	931
No. 30 (Moscow)	-	1053	2234	3377	2201
No. 381 (Leningrad)	27	243	-	-	-

IL-2 in art

• A particularly important task is a feature film dedicated to the creators of the IL-2 (designers, workers and testers). The prototype for the plot of the film was Aviation Plant No. 18, which was evacuated from Voronezh to Kuibyshev and there, in the shortest possible time, launched serial production of Il-2 attack aircraft.
• An IL-2 named “Experienced” became one of the main characters in the full-length cartoon “Ot screw” (), dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Russian aviation.

IL-2 in philately

If you are looking for the aircraft that played a defining role in the Soviet Air Force during World War II, then it is undoubtedly the Il-2 “flying tank”. This armored attack aircraft destroyed tanks and manpower of the Nazi Wehrmacht from the first days of Operation Barbarossa until the fall of Berlin.

Despite the fact that the Il-2 fleet suffered horrific losses from enemy fighters and anti-aircraft artillery, Soviet industry delivered tens of thousands of these rugged combat vehicles to the front during the war years, making the Il-2 the most produced military aircraft in history.
The Soviet Air Force was mainly focused on providing support to ground forces fighting on the ground, as well as German Luftwaffe. The latter revolutionized mechanized warfare with the use of Junkers Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers, which provided fairly accurate air support to high-speed mechanized columns. But after the initial shock caused by Stuka attacks early in the war, the slow and lightly armed dive bomber was found to be extremely vulnerable to enemy fighters and anti-aircraft weapons. Soviet aeronautical engineer Sergei Ilyushin proposed an aircraft similar to the Stuka, but with one feature: he intended to install armor on his attack aircraft.
If you simply screw armored plates onto an airplane, it will fly like a brick. Ilyushin proposed another solution. Steel armor was supposed to become the strength element of the attack aircraft's design, replacing the frame and skin of the entire nose and middle part of the monocoque fuselage, although its rear part and wings were still made of wood. Several prototypes were made, and eventually the single-seat Il-2 went into mass production, weighing almost 4.5 tons, while the Junkers weighed 3.2 tons. The maximum bomb load for both vehicles was approximately the same, amounting to about 500 kilograms. But the IL-2 was a little faster, with a speed of 400 kilometers per hour. It was better armed, having two 20 mm cannons and two machine guns in the wings. Armor ranging from five to 12 millimeters thick protected the cabin, fuel tanks, AM38 engine and radiators. Even the cockpit canopy was from armored glass six centimeters thick! The attack aircraft's chassis was extremely durable, allowing it to be landed on uneven front-line airfields.
When the Wehrmacht began its crushing invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, there were very few Il-2s in front-line units. In particular, they were armed with the 4th Assault Aviation Regiment. In their desperate attempts to hold back the advance of the German mechanized columns, the Il-2 pilots discovered that the attack aircraft's armor made it virtually invulnerable to frontal machine gun fire, and even had a chance of surviving a hit from a 20mm cannon shell.
But the Il-2s suffered huge losses, as the faster German fighters flew at them in flocks and hit them with fire in the unprotected rear. German pilots called the Il-2 a “concrete bomber.” Perhaps he received this nickname because of his strength and bulkiness. During periods of intense hostilities, there was one attack aircraft shot down for every ten combat missions. In 1943, this figure was improved to one aircraft per 26 sorties.
In the disastrous first month of hostilities, the Soviet Air Force lost more than four thousand aircraft of all types. So, in the 4th regiment, out of 65 attack aircraft, only 10 remained. In addition, the Il-2 production plants had to be evacuated to the east beyond the Ural Mountains, which is why supplies were interrupted for two months. But when German tanks began to approach Moscow in the fall of 1941, Stalin found the time and personally wrote his famous telegram to the directors of the Il-2 production plants:
You have failed our country, our Red Army. You still don’t deign to produce IL-2. Our Red Army now needs Il-2 aircraft like air, like bread. Shenkman gives one IL-2 a day, Tretyakov MiG-3 one, two. This is a mockery of the country, of the Red Army. We need MiG-3, Il-2. If the 1B plant thinks of cutting itself off from the country by producing one IL-2 per day, it is cruelly mistaken and will suffer punishment for it. I ask you not to make the government lose patience. I'm warning you for the last time.


This telegram became a powerful incentive. During the war, more than 36 thousand Il-2 attack aircraft were built, and it took honorable second place in the world in terms of the number of aircraft produced in history. (The first place is occupied by the Cessna 172 civil aircraft, which was widely used in its time.) Stalin influenced the construction of the Il-2 from the other side. Having received a letter from a Soviet pilot begging him to include a rear gunner in the crew to protect against German fighters, he ordered Ilyushin to make two-seat Il-2s.
The Il-2M, which entered service, had an extended cockpit to accommodate a gunner with a heavy 12.7 mm UBT machine gun to protect the rear hemisphere. The cannons in the wing consoles were also modernized, and the main version began to use 23-mm VYa. (It was difficult to find a suitable gun for an attack aircraft. The designer of one of the unsuccessful prototypes, Yakov Taubin, was shot for “designing unfinished weapons.”) The rear gunner turned out to be very useful, because he shot down pesky German fighters. But the shooters were not protected by armor and died four times more often than the pilots. In addition, the additional crew member and weapons reduced the speed and upset the balance of the aircraft, shifting the center of gravity back.
However, the situation in the skies on the Eastern Front was so desperate that the Il-2 often performed fighter missions. The attack aircraft could not keep up with the German fighter planes, but it proved a lethal means of destroying the slower German bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and transports. Several aces appeared in attack aviation, flying the Il-2.
In fact, many IL-2 pilots have become legends. Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Stepanyan from Armenia personally sank 13 enemy ships, shot down 27 enemy aircraft, blew up five bridges and destroyed almost 700 vehicles on the ground. Shot down in the skies over Latvia in December 1944, he flew his burning plane towards an enemy ship.
The peasant daughter Anna Timofeeva-Egorova became the squadron commander of the 805th Attack Aviation Regiment and flew 243 combat missions on her attack aircraft. In August 1944, her plane was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire, the woman was thrown from the cockpit, but she survived, landing with a partially deployed parachute. Anna survived German captivity, severe injuries without medical care, and interrogations by Soviet counterintelligence, who suspected her of collaborating with the Nazis.
Attack aircraft strikes played a vital role in the winter of 1942-43, depriving the 6th Army locked in Stalingrad of supplies. German army. At the airfield in Salsk, Il-2s destroyed 72 German aircraft, and shot down many transport workers in the air. But the stormtroopers' greatest moment of glory was the epic Battle of Kursk, which is popularly remembered as the greatest tank battle in history.
The IL-2 was equipped with a variety of anti-tank weapons. It could carry RS-82 or RS-132 missiles (of the appropriate caliber) on board. But despite the excellent armor-piercing characteristics, they turned out to be inaccurate, and they were of little use. PTAB anti-tank cumulative aerial bombs placed in containers under the wings were better, since they did not require greater accuracy. Approximately 200 of these bombs weighing 1.4 kilograms could be used for carpet bombing, since they covered an area of ​​about 70x15 meters. Some Il-2s were equipped with two powerful 37-mm anti-tank automatic cannons with 50 rounds of ammunition. But they were not very accurate due to strong recoil, and their production was discontinued with only 3,500 guns produced.



The Battle of Kursk began with one of the greatest air battles of the Second World War, when alerted German fighters barely managed to weaken the colossal pre-emptive air strike of Soviet fighters and bombers. 500 aircraft took part in this aerial meat grinder. The Germans lost several dozen, and the Soviets about a hundred vehicles. But the initial failure did not stop Soviet command, which brought additional attack aircraft forces into the battle. In the battle of Kursk, Il-2 pilots began to perform a “carousel of death” over the battlefield, covering each other’s tails from enemy fighters. Periodically, attack aircraft one by one left the general formation to strike ground targets, and then returned to the circle.
Over the course of several weeks of fierce fighting, Il-2s and Stukas feverishly destroyed enemy tanks. Presumably, German aviation, consisting of the new Stuka Ju-87G and Hs attack aircraft. 129 with anti-tank guns independently stopped the advance of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps on July 8, knocking out 50 tanks. The day before, Soviet attack aircraft destroyed 70 tanks from the 9th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, stopping its advance.
Then more extraordinary statements were made. Soviet attack pilots reported the destruction of 270 tanks of the 3rd Panzer Division and 240 tanks of the 17th Panzer Division. Interestingly, at the beginning of the battle these formations had only 90 and 68 combat-ready tanks, respectively.
In fact, numerous evidence indicates that during the Second World War, pilots of all countries seriously exaggerated the number of tanks destroyed by aircraft. Operational analysis conducted by special teams on the ground generally indicated that aircraft accounted for less than 10% of tank losses. The rockets, bombs and heavy cannons carried on board the attack aircraft were too inaccurate, and most of them only penetrated the top armor of the tank, requiring a steep angle of attack.
Nevertheless, attack aircraft of the Il-2 type still disrupted tank offensives, destroyed manpower and artillery in trenches and positions, and strafed unprotected trucks and lightly armored vehicles. According to some estimates, for every German tank destroyed, from five to 10 Il-2s were destroyed (and aircraft in general are much more expensive than tanks!), but attack aircraft demonstrated their high effectiveness in the fight against unarmored targets, which were abundant on the battlefield.
By 1943, the Air Force began to adopt the Il-2M3 variant, which eliminated many of the shortcomings of its predecessor aircraft. The rear gunner finally received armor protection 13 millimeters thick, and the ends of the wing consoles were moved back 15 degrees to change the center of gravity. This significantly improved the control of the attack aircraft. The uprated AM-38f engine increased the speed of the attack aircraft, compensating for the increase in weight. Admittedly, the maximum bomb load of the Il-2 remained insignificant compared to the fighter-bombers that were beginning to enter service at the time. But attack aircraft were still universally loved because they could fly “low and slow,” taking a much harder hit than the fragile fighters.
Thousands of attack aircraft provided air support to the Red Army until the end of the war. They bombed last defenders Berlin during the difficult four-day battle on the Seelow Heights. By that time, the Il-2 was joined by its more advanced relative, the all-metal Il-10. Externally, the two aircraft were similar, but the Il-10 had better aerodynamic characteristics, was more controllable, and had powerful AM-42 engines, which increased its speed to 550 kilometers per hour. In total, six thousand Il-10s were built before 1954, but only 150 vehicles took part in battles before Germany’s surrender.
Soviet archives indicate that a total of 11,000 Il-2s were lost during World War II, although some sources claim losses were twice that number. However, attack aircraft continued to serve in the Air Force into the 1950s, and many were transferred to countries such as Mongolia, Yugoslavia and Poland. NATO even gave them the code names Bark and Вeast (“Barking” and “Beast”), respectively.

Downed IL-2



The IL-2 ended its war, but the IL-10 continued to fight. North Korea received 93 Il-10s, which became part of its 57th attack aviation regiment. They played important role in the destruction of South Korean troops in the first weeks of the Korean War in 1950; but then American aviation entered the war, which shot down or destroyed more than 70 Il-10s on the ground, after which they no longer participated in battles on the front line. The IL-10 was also part of the Chinese Air Force until 1972. In January 1955, these planes sank a Taiwanese landing craft in the Battle of Yiqiang Island, later attacked the garrison on Kinmen Island, and in 1958 bombed villages in Tibet.
After World War II Soviet aircraft designers focused their attention and efforts on creating light, high-speed fighter-bombers to support ground forces. The real successor to the legendary attack aircraft appeared only in the late 1970s, and it became the armored front-line attack aircraft Su-25, which even today takes part in combat operations in different countries of the world. Even the pilots of the American A-10 Warthog pay tribute to the design principles of this attack aircraft.
The task of an attack aircraft is to strike ground troops at low altitude and low speed. For this reason, their crews are exposed to great danger, and no amount of armor can fully protect them. But despite the horrific losses, Russian attack aircraft pilots provided urgently needed air support to the Red Army and helped it survive and then reverse the fascist offensive.
Sebastian Roblin has a Master's degree in Conflict Resolution from Georgetown University. He served as a university instructor with the Peace Corps in China. Roblin regularly contributes articles on security issues and military history to the War is Boring website.



IL-10, heavy attack aircraft.

IL-10, heavy attack aircraft.
Translation of the article. "The National Interest" by Sebastien Roblin

IL-2(according to NATO codification: Bark) - a Soviet attack aircraft during the Great Patriotic War, created at OKB-240 under the leadership of Sergei Vladimirovich Ilyushin. The most massive combat aircraft in history, more than 36 thousand were produced.

In the Red Army, the plane received the nickname “humpbacked” (for characteristic shape fuselage). The designers called the aircraft they developed a “flying tank.” German pilots called it dumb due to its survivability and lack of maneuverability. Betonflugzeug- “concrete plane” and German. Zementbomber- “cement bomber”. The aircraft had a bad reputation among the Wehrmacht ground forces and earned several honorary nicknames, such as “butcher” (German. Schlächter), "meat grinder" ( Fleischwolf), "iron Gustav" ( Eiserner Gustav), also in Soviet literature There are allegations that some Wehrmacht soldiers called it “plague” (German. Schwarzer Tod, literally: “black death”).

IL-2 took part in battles in all theaters of military operations of the Great Patriotic War, as well as in the Soviet-Japanese War. In February 1941, serial production began (order of A.I. Shakhurin No. 739 dated December 14, 1940).

The first production IL-2s were manufactured in Voronezh at plant No. 18 (in November 1941 the plant was evacuated to Kuibyshev). Il-2 was mass-produced at aircraft factories No. 1 and No. 18 in the city of Kuibyshev, and at aircraft factory No. 30 in Moscow. Of the total number of IL-2s (36,183 units), 74% were produced in Kuibyshev (26,888 units). For some time during 1941-1942, the aircraft was produced by plant No. 381 in Leningrad and Nizhny Tagil.

The prototype - BS-2 (factory name TsKB-55) made its first flight on October 2, 1939 (test pilot V.K. Kokkinaki).

Glider

In fact, the plane was ordered as a two-seater, and its single-seat version was the initiative of Ilyushin himself, since during tests the BSh-2 showed unsatisfactory flight qualities - its speed, climb rate and range were below the requirements stated by the Air Force. At the same time, other Soviet designers were also working on an armored attack aircraft. To save his attack aircraft in competition with other design bureaus, Ilyushin proactively created its single-seat version. The gunner was removed, which significantly reduced the volume of the armored hull; In place of the shooter, an additional fuel tank and additional rear weight centering armor were installed, which also caused criticism - it worsened handling. The saved weight allowed the attack aircraft to meet the speed requirements for it, and the additional tank increased the flight range.

There is a common misconception that the aircraft was originally designed as a two-seat aircraft, but at the direction of the country's military leadership, Ilyushin was forced to convert the attack aircraft into a single-seat aircraft. As is known, the lack of defensive weapons on the Il-2 was associated with unjustifiably large losses of these aircraft in the first year of the Great Patriotic War. Single-engine low-wing aircraft of mixed design. The main feature is the inclusion of armor in the power circuit of the aircraft airframe. Hull armor replaced the frame and skin of the entire nose and middle fuselage. The supporting armored hull, riveted from homogeneous steel armor AB-1 (AB-2), covered the engine, cockpit, radiators and some units (on the prototype, the armored hull was also protected by the gunner). The transparent frontal armor of the cockpit visor was 64 mm thick and could withstand a 7.62 mm armor-piercing bullet from zero distance.

Faced with heavy losses of the Il-2, which did not have defensive weapons, the Air Force demanded that Ilyushin again make the aircraft a two-seater, which was implemented by the end of 1942. However, it was no longer possible to change the armored hull, so the gunner was located outside the armored hull and was protected only by a 6-mm armor plate on the tail side. At the same time, the pilot’s protection from the rear hemisphere was carried out by transverse armor of the “HD” brand, 12 mm thick (+6 mm armored back), which was part of the armored hull design.

Only the later modification of the aircraft, the Il-10, whose production began in 1944, received an armored hull that protects both crew members. Note. In 1942, a modification of the armored hull appeared in the drawings, covering the side gunner. To maintain alignment, the wing consoles had a swept-back shape, and the center section was moved back so that the front spar was under the edge of the cockpit canopy. However, there was a strict decree not to slow down the production rate of attack aircraft, which, of course, would have resulted from the introduction of a new modification into the series.

Engine

AM-38 - piston, 12-cylinder with 60° V-shaped camber of liquid cooling cylinders, power in various versions from 1620 to 1720 hp. pp., developed at the Mikulin Design Bureau.

Armament

• Modifications 2 guns in the wing consoles (initially - 20 mm ShVAK, in the main series - 23 mm VYa, in the anti-tank version - 37 mm), a sample with 45 mm guns was tested.
• 2 ShKAS machine guns (wing-mounted)
• Air bombs, PTAB containers
• RS-82 or RS-132 rockets
• As a defensive weapon, the two-seat versions were equipped with a 12.7 mm UBT machine gun.

Modifications

It was produced in single-seat (pilot) and double-seat versions (pilot and air gunner). Various technological and design changes were constantly made, for example, at the end of 1941, a wooden structure of the rear fuselage, with external metal stringers, was introduced. The armor and weapons changed.

• IL-2 (single)- a serial modification of the attack aircraft, not equipped with a cabin for the rear gunner. Due to the large combat losses of the single-seat version, some aviation units made successful attempts to convert the single-seat Il-2 into a two-seat one. In a number of cases, they even limited themselves to simulating the rear cannon, installing a dummy aimed at the tail in the cockpit slot, which, from a distance, effectively scared off German fighter pilots from approaching such an attack aircraft “in the tail”, simply by its appearance.
• Il-2 (double)- serial modification, equipped with a gunner’s cabin with a canopy and ShKAS or UBT machine guns mounted on a semi-turret. Began to be widely used in the later periods of the war (the second photo at the beginning of the article shows a flight of such Il-2(D) aircraft)

Il-2 AM-38F- an attack aircraft with an uprated AM-38f engine, which, compared to the AM-38, had greater take-off power (by 100 hp). The first single-seat production Il-2 (production number 182412) with an experimental AM-38f engine was delivered to take flight data under the program of acceptance tests of production aircraft with the addition of testing the operation of the VMGvLIS of the 18th aircraft plant on July 31, 1942. Since January 1943, AM-38f engines began to be installed on all production Il-2 attack aircraft, both single and double, at all aircraft factories that produced these aircraft. By January 1943, the 24th Aircraft Engine Plant managed to produce 377 AM-38f engines. Since January 1943, the two-seat Il-2 with the AM-38f engine went into large-scale production, and from February 1, all the main Ilov manufacturers - the 1st, 18th and 30th aircraft factories - completely switched to its production.

IL-2 KSS (wing with "arrow")- serial modification of the Il-2 AM-38F with the same AM-38F engine, but boosted to 1720 hp. pp., with some aerodynamic and design improvements. Instead of a metal tank, fiber protected gas tanks were installed, in which most of the small holes were repaired after some time with a special protector compound that tends to thicken in the open air. During testing, the tanks remained sealed even with 17 holes from 7.92 and 13 mm bullets fired from German weapons. In order to improve the stability of the Il-2 in flight and control, shock-absorbing springs and a counterbalancer were installed in the elevator control system, developed at the LII NKAP by M. L. Mil (later the Chief Designer of helicopters) on the Il-2 AM-38f aircraft. The counterbalancer balanced the inertial forces arising from the weight compensation of the elevator during curved flight. The shock-absorbing spring was intended to increase the stock of longitudinal dynamic stability of an attack aircraft when flying with the control stick thrown - the tension of the shock-absorbing spring created a constantly acting force that returned the elevator to its original position when the aircraft's flight mode changed under the influence of external forces. To improve the alignment of the Il-2 aircraft, the ends of the wing consoles are moved back, which returns the alignment of the aircraft to the alignment of the single-seat Il-2 aircraft, that is, to 28.0%. Instead of a wooden wing, a metal wing was installed, which increased survivability and improved the repair and operational qualities of the IL-2. By the end of 1944, factories No. 18, 1 and 30 sent 7377 modified Il-2 attack aircraft with metal wings of a pointed design to the Air Force KA 7377 units, while aircraft factory No. 1 produced Il-2 with a wooden wing.

• Il-2 M-82(Il-4)- an experimental version of the attack aircraft, equipped with an air-cooled M-82 engine with a take-off power of 1675 hp. This development was started after the capture of Smolensk by the Germans on July 16, 1941, which led to the threat of the capture of Moscow and the forced evacuation of the plant that produced A. Mikulin AM-38 engines to the Urals. There is a risk of a shortage of these engines. However, since May 1942, production of the M-82 engine with a power of 1676 hp began in Perm. This engine was available in quantities sufficient to prompt the Ilyushin Design Bureau to develop a variant of the Il-2 for the new engine. The M-82 engine was installed slightly lower and without armor (since it was air-cooled) and, therefore, was more vulnerable to enemy fire. At the same time, the position of an air gunner with a UBT machine gun was armored. The aircraft had a new propeller with a conical spinner and fuel tanks increased to 724 liters. In terms of its characteristics, the IL-4 was slightly inferior to the original IL-2, but by that time it became clear that there would be no interruptions with the AM-38 engines. A single-seat Il-2 M-82IR was also built, which successfully passed factory tests by mid-August 1942 (the test report was approved on August 18, 1942), but the attack aircraft was not transferred to state tests and subsequently all work on installing the air-cooled engine was discontinued. The Il-4 designation was transferred to the DB-3F long-range bomber.
• Il-2 ShFK-37- an experimental single-seat version of the attack aircraft with the AM-38 engine, armed, in addition to two wing-mounted ShKAS machine guns, with two 37-mm aircraft cannons designed by OKB-15 B.G. Shpitalny ShFK-37 (Shpitalny, fuselage-wing, 37 mm caliber). 9 attack aircraft took part in the combat operations of the 688th ShAP of the 228th ShchAD of the 16th VA from December 27, 1942 to January 23, 1943 near Stalingrad during the destruction of the German encircled group in the zone of the 65th Army of Lieutenant General P. I. Batov . Combat operations were carried out from agricultural field airfields. “Proletary”, then the village of Kachalinskaya. Didn't go into the series.
• IL-2 NS-37- a serial modification of the two-seat Il-2 AM-38F, on which, in order to increase the anti-tank properties of attack aircraft, two 37 mm 11P-37 OKB-16 cannons were installed with an ammunition load of 50 rounds per gun, without rockets, with a bomb load of 100 kg in normal conditions version and 200 kg in overload.
• IL-2 NS-45- a prototype of the Il-2 AM-38f aircraft with two NS-45 wing cannons. Field tests of the Il-2 with the NS-45 showed unsatisfactory effectiveness of firing them in the air at small targets. Mainly due to the strong recoil of the guns when firing - the maximum recoil force of an aircraft gun on a ground-based machine reached 7000 kg. Didn't go into the series.
• IL-2T- according to unconfirmed data, the modification could carry a torpedo, for which it was necessary to sacrifice guns. From small arms only 3 machine guns remained: 2 wing ones and a rear gunner's machine gun. However, no documents have yet been discovered confirming the existence of this modification, although there are numerous aircraft models and the modification is used in video games.

Flight performance

Video

The Il-2 aircraft (attack aircraft) is a combat vehicle from the Great Patriotic War, which is very famous for its combat exploits in destroying the enemy. The designer of this machine is Sergei Ilyushin, who has been developing this model since 1938. This model of aircraft was often called a flying tank because it had excellent armor that was too much for the enemy.

Description of the Il-2 aircraft (attack aircraft)

The IL-2 was the most famous combat unit of the skies during the Great Patriotic War, both among our and enemy troops. At that time, no army in the world had even a pathetic semblance of such an attack aircraft. It was specialized for low-altitude flights and at the same time had an invulnerable armored shell. Its main task was to destroy enemy personnel and tanks.

In our country, in the early 30s, active development of an attack aircraft with an armored fuselage began. The predecessors of the Il-2 aircraft were heavy armored attack aircraft, which are known under the brand names TSh-1,2 and 3. The main task of the designers was to produce armor that would not disrupt the aerodynamic properties of the aircraft.

The first TS models had bent pieces of armor that were poorly streamlined, and, as a result, this led to a deterioration in the aircraft's flying properties, and at the same time they had a lot of weight. Also, the first models of this attack aircraft used low-power engines, which led to low speed and high acceleration when taking off from the ground. The solution to this problem was the installation of more powerful engines and the use of a new type of armor, which was biconvex. These modifications made it possible at the end of the thirties to produce a real and high-quality attack aircraft under the name Il-2.

The predecessor of the first Il-2 was the armored attack aircraft BSh-2, which had two seats in the cockpit for a pilot and a machine gunner. The Bsh-2 was also developed by the Ilyushin design bureau in 1938, this aircraft was equipped with sheet armor. This type of armor was also used in the Il-2 aircraft. It should be noted that the first Ilov models were made with wooden hull parts, these were the fuselage wing consoles and the tail wing.

Design features of the Il-2 attack aircraft

The landing gear in this attack aircraft was folded back, and then retracted into the wing housing, after which it was covered with fairings for better aerodynamics. As for the weapons, the designers approached them quite thoughtfully. The onboard weapons were installed in the inner part of the wing, and guide devices for missiles were installed under the wing of the attack aircraft. Due to the armor and the installed AM-35 engine, the Il-2 developed a low speed, only up to 400 km/h, and the landing speed was 140 km/h.

When testing the BSh-2 aircraft, the designers decided that the new attack aircraft should be produced in a single-seat version to reduce the weight of the aircraft. After this, a single-seat attack aircraft was built, which showed excellent flight and combat characteristics. This was the very first Il-2 - an attack aircraft with an armored fuselage. In 1941 this model The aircraft went into mass production at many factories.

The IL-2 showed its quality and reliability in the first years of the war, but there were also shortcomings. The biggest flaw was the lack of a machine gunner who could repel attacks from enemy aircraft from the tail. This deficiency led to large losses. Interesting fact is that the title of Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to pilots after ten successful combat missions, and not after 100, as usual.

Innovations in the design of IL-2 (attack aircraft)

In the first months of 1942, the Ilyushin design bureau held a conference to which testers and pilots who were directly related to the new attack aircraft were invited. This conference was held to exchange experiences, as well as to find out how the aircraft behaves in combat. When communicating with the pilots, it became clear that the main problem and disadvantage of the aircraft was the lack of a second seat in the car for the machine gunner. The designers also paid attention to increasing engine power and increasing the cannon caliber.

After this conference, the designers returned to the initial two-seat attack aircraft model. The machine gunner was also provided with a movable heavy machine gun, which would help protect the aircraft from enemies from the rear and allow for an increased range of firepower. Since 1942, the IL-2 began to be produced with a more powerful engine of 1720 horsepower. This made it possible to increase the aircraft's speed to 420 km/h, and also significantly reduced the take-off acceleration length, and all this with a mass of more than 6 tons in full combat configuration.

As for the four 20-mm machine guns, the designers also replaced them with large-caliber guns. This attack aircraft was also equipped with cumulative anti-tank bombs. But with all the innovations and modernizations, the wing consoles were still made of wood, and only since 1943 their design and the material used were replaced by more efficient ones.

Due to the addition of a machine gunner's seat, the design of the entire armored hull had to be changed, and the fuselage of the aircraft's tail was also changed. After all the adjustments, the mass of the attack aircraft’s armored hull reached 990 kg. All components of the armored hull were tested by shooting. IL-2 was also used for naval battles to destroy ships, and on land he easily destroyed enemy tanks and vehicle convoys. This attack aircraft was used at the front and in support of our troops in the near rear.

Due to its powerful armor and excellent weapons, this model of attack aircraft was called a flying tank. During the entire existence of the aircraft, factories of the Soviet Union produced over 36 thousand armored attack aircraft. This great amount combat vehicles can only compete for leadership with the legendary T-34 tank.

Combat use of the legendary attack aircraft

According to official data of the Red Army, until 1941, 1.5 thousand aircraft were sent to the front, Il-2 of which 1.1 thousand were lost, but most of the losses were not related to combat missions. Many combat units were lost due to unsuccessful maneuvers at low altitudes or due to unsatisfactory weather conditions.

During the entire Great Patriotic War, our army lost more than 23 thousand attack aircraft and over 7.8 thousand pilots. It should be noted that 12 thousand aircraft were not lost in combat conditions. As for Ilov, statistics say that every 53rd flight was the last for the attack aircraft. Regarding survivability, it should be noted that among all types of combat aircraft, attack aircraft died most often, despite the fact that they had excellent armor and powerful weapons.

The reason for the heavy losses of the Ilovs was the combat tactics, since they flew at low altitude and attracted all the enemy artillery fire. According to the assault units, the number of Ilovs who did not return was 3%. But one should also take into account the fact that after combat missions, half of all returning aircraft were damaged by enemy weapons. Sometimes returning attack aircraft had several hundred holes in the fuselage and wings, but after field repairs such a machine could easily return to battle. At the end of the Great Patriotic War, the army of the Soviet Union had 3289 units of Il-2 aircraft in service.

Combat tactics of the Il-2 attack aircraft

The main advantage in combat of such an attack aircraft was that it operated at altitudes of up to 1 km, and it carried out its main combat activities at an altitude of 20-50 meters. Due to the low flight altitude, Il was not afraid of enemy artillery, and the plane was easily protected from infantry by its armor. In turn, the attack aircraft could effectively destroy enemy tanks and manpower. When working at low altitudes, it was also a plus high speed aircraft at 400 km/h, which other attack aircraft that could only accelerate to three hundred kilometers per hour could not afford.

After destroying ground targets, the Il-2 could easily move on to attack enemy air targets, which, although they had great speed, did not have the same armor and weapons as the Soviet attack aircraft. An interesting fact is the cunning of our pilots, who used the external similarity of the Il to a German bomber. Our pilots could attach themselves to German planes, which did not suspect anything, and calmly destroy them.

Il-2 design

IL-2 is a single-engine low-wing aircraft, characterized by a mixed design. Its peculiarity is that the power structure of the airframe includes armor. It replaced the skin of the middle and forward parts of the fuselage and the frame. The load-bearing armored hull consists of homogeneous steel armor; it covered the cockpit, engine, some units and radiators (the armored hull on the prototype protected the gunner). The thickness of the transparent armor of the cockpit visor is 64 mm. It is capable of withstanding a 7.62 mm armor-piercing bullet from zero distance.

There is a misconception that the Il-2 was originally a two-seater, but by order of the military leadership, Ilyushin had to convert the attack aircraft into a single-seat one. Due to the lack of defensive weapons on the aircraft, there were heavy losses at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War.

In fact, the plane was originally ordered as a two-seater, but at Ilyushin’s initiative it was converted into a single-seater. The reason for this was unsatisfactory flight performance (rate of climb, speed and range), as it did not meet the requirements presented by the Air Force. At the same time, other designers were working on the armored Il-2. In order to save his brainchild in conditions of fierce competition, Ilyushin developed a single-seat version. He managed to achieve a reduction in the volume of the armored hull by removing the gunner. In its place was an additional fuel tank, and also a rear weight centering reservation was installed, which could not but cause criticism, since it greatly worsened the car’s handling.

Thanks to its economic mass, the attack aircraft fully satisfied the speed requirements, and by installing an additional tank, it was possible to achieve the required flight range.

Faced with serious losses of the Il-2 without defensive weapons, the air force demanded that Ilyushin turn the plane back into a two-seater, which, in fact, was implemented at the end of 1942. But it was no longer possible to change the armored hull, so the gunner had to be moved outside the armored hull. Its protection is a six-millimeter armor plate located on the tail side. Pilot protection from the rear hemisphere was provided thanks to the HD transverse armor, which had a thickness of 12 mm (plus 6 mm armored back).

It is worth noting that only the later modification of the aircraft, namely the Il-10, which began mass production in 1944, received an armored hull that protected both crew members.

IL-2 armament

· Two guns in the wing consoles (in the main version - 23 mm VYa, initially - 20 mm ShVAK, in the anti-tank series - 37 mm), 45 mm guns were studied

· Two ShKAS machine guns located on the wings of the aircraft

· PTAB containers, aerial bombs

· Missiles RS-132 and RS-82

· On the two-seat versions, the UTB 12.7 mm machine gun was used as a defensive weapon.

Modifications of IL-2

It was produced in both single and double versions. Various design and technological changes were made regularly. For example, at the end of 1941, a wooden tail structure with metal stringers was used. Weapons and armor changed.

· IL-2 (single-seat) is a serial modification of the attack aircraft, which does not have a cockpit for the rear gunner. In some units, due to large combat losses, attempts were made to convert a single-seat aircraft into a two-seat one. In many cases, imitations of the rear gun were created - a dummy mounted in a slot in the cockpit.

· Il-2 (double) was a serial modification, which was equipped with UBT and ShKAS machine guns, as well as a gunner’s cabin with a canopy. It was massively exploited in the later periods of the war.

· Il-2 AM-38F is a serial attack aircraft with a souped-up engine, characterized by high take-off power.

· Il-2 KSS is a serial modification of the Il-2 AM-38F aircraft with exactly the same engine, but uprated, with some design and aerodynamic improvements. Instead of a metal tank, fiber protected gas tanks were used, where after some time most of the small holes were covered with a projector compound, which could thicken in the open air. To improve control and stability, a counterbalancer and shock-absorbing springs were installed in the aircraft.

· IL-4 (IL-2 M-82) - an experimental version of the attack aircraft, which had an M-82 engine with good take-off power, namely 1675 hp.

· Il-2 ShFK-37 - a single-seat version of the attack aircraft, armed with two 37 mm aircraft cannons, designed by OKB-15, with an AM-38 engine.

· IL-2 NS-37 was a modification of IL-2 AM-38F. The aircraft was equipped with 37 mm cannons, without rockets, to improve its anti-tank properties.

· Il-2 NS-45 – a modification of the Il-2 AM-38f aircraft, which has two NS-45 cannons.

· IL-2T – according to unofficial data, the modification was capable of carrying a torpedo, as a result of which the guns had to be sacrificed. Among the small arms there are three machine guns left: the rear gunner and two wing ones. But documents that would confirm the existence of this modification have not been discovered to this day, although there are numerous aircraft models (in addition, this modification is often used in video games).

The Il-2 aircraft, along with the T-34 tank and Katyusha, became one of the symbols of the Great Patriotic War and victory in it. And for what reason did this happen? Why IL-2? Let's try to figure it out. First of all, the Il-2 aircraft turned out to be an extremely effective combat unit, namely an attack aircraft. The attack aircraft also has another name - a direct support aircraft, which explains its combat mission.

That is, if tactical bombers (for example Pe-2) target objects different meanings and remoteness from the front, strategic aviation (for example Pe-8) - an attack on the country’s strategic targets in the depths of its territory, then the Il-2 must participate in attacks on ground troops, support them, literally “iron” the enemy’s battle formations during the battle, before the battle and after it. In fact, this is flying artillery. The requirements for aircraft of this class are quite unique. The main ones are: high firepower, the possibility of targeted destruction of ground targets and increased aircraft survivability. The IL-2 had all these qualities, which is why it became a legend, which, when it appeared over the battlefield, caused a sharp rise morale among the Red Army soldiers and panic horror from German soldiers.

IL-2. Photo.

Now, in order. It should be noted that the Il-2 was actually the first aircraft that was designed specifically as an attack aircraft; before that, in all countries of the world, this role was performed by fighters, on which tons of weapons and armor plates were hung. At the time of the start of work on the Il-2, the Red Army had a military doctrine similar to the German one - quickly attack, destroy and capture. For such a doctrine, Il-2 class aircraft, along with fighters, were most in demand. Therefore, they took the development of a new aircraft more than seriously and even developed a new aircraft gun specifically for the Il-2 - VYA-23.

It was this, being installed in the amount of two units, that largely determined the combat effectiveness of the Ila, since it was an accurate and powerful weapon, suitable for destroying everything up to medium tanks and boats. In addition, they were armed with a pair of ShKAS machine guns, with a phenomenal rate of fire for that time of 1800 rounds/minute, which simply mowed down enemy personnel. In addition, the Il was armed with another relatively “fresh” invention - missiles, in quantities from 4 to 16 pieces, which were called RS-82 or RS-132 (a missile with a caliber in millimeters). This weapon was less accurate than guns, but more accurate than bombs, so it took an intermediate place between them.

Well, there was also the possibility of suspending bombs with a caliber of up to 250 kg, which further increased the combat effectiveness of this aircraft. Accordingly, the IL-2 had a very impressive and diverse, and therefore very effective arsenal, which fully ensured the targeted destruction of individual targets.

Now about survivability. Aircraft survivability is a parameter that determines the aircraft’s resistance to hits. Simply put, the amount of enemy lead that an aircraft is capable of ingesting and continuing to fly. For a stormtrooper this is important parameter, because it flies low over the battlefield, at low speeds and traditionally shoots at it everything that can shoot. IL-2 was the first aircraft in the world that had a load-bearing armored hull that protected the pilot and the engine; before it, armor plates were simply hung on the aircraft in some places.

IL-2. Video.

This design significantly saves weight compared to simply hanging steel, which means it allows you to increase the amount of armor without compromising the flight characteristics of the aircraft. The IL-2 had armor that could only be hit by armor-piercing shells with a caliber of 20mm and above. But one should not assume that it was impossible to shoot it down with machine-gun fire, because the wings and tail of the vehicle had no armor and were made of wood. But nevertheless, the survivability of the Il-2 was very high, and increased even more thanks to its high flight characteristics, in terms of which it was not much inferior to the German Bf-109E.

It is not for nothing that in German ground units the Il-2 received such nicknames as “butcher” or “flying tank”; these nicknames were well deserved.

IL-2 Sturmovik main characteristics:

• Modification of IL-2
• Wingspan, m 14.60
• Length, m 11.60
• Height, m ​​4.17
• Wing area, m2 38.50

Weight, kg

• empty plane 4525
• normal takeoff 6060

Engine's type:

• 1 PD Mikulin AM-38

Power, hp

• nominal 1 x 1575
• vzleny 1 x 1665

Maximum speed, km/h

• near the ground 370
• at altitude 411

Practical range, km 685

• Rate of climb, m/min 417
• Practical ceiling, m 6000

• Crew, people 2

Armament of IL-2 Sturmovik:

• two 20-mm ShVAK cannons (210 rounds per barrel)
• two 7.62-mm ShKAS machine guns (750 rounds per machine gun)
• one 12.7 mm drill collar for rear firing (280 rounds)
• 8 RO-82 and 400 kg of bombs (overload 600 kg).