Il-2
Soviet Air Force Il-2M
Type	Ground attack aircraft
Manufacturer	Ilyushin
Maiden flight	20 December 1939
Introduced	1941
Retired	1954 (Yugoslavia & Bulgaria)
Primary user	Soviet Air Force
Produced	1941-1945[1]
Number built	36,183[2]
Variants	Ilyushin Il-10

The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik (Russian: Ил-2 Штурмовик) was a ground attack aircraft in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in huge numbers. The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы ( Voenno-Vozdushnye Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces An aerospace manufacturer is a company or individual involved in the various aspects of designing building testing selling and maintaining Aircraft, Aircraft parts Ilyushin (Илью́шин or Ilyushin Design Bureau is a Russian Design bureau and Aircraft Manufacturer (design office prefix The maiden flight of an Aircraft is the first occasion on which an aircraft leaves the ground of its own accord Events 69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1939: Events January January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1941: Events Jackie Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1954: Events January January 10 - BOAC Flight 781, a De The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы ( Voenno-Vozdushnye This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1941: Events Jackie Cochran became the first woman to fly a bomber across the This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1945: Events January January 1 - the Luftwaffe begins targeting WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Ilyushin (Илью́шин or Ilyushin Design Bureau is a Russian Design bureau and Aircraft Manufacturer (design office prefix Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Ground-attack aircraft are military aircraft designed to attack targets on the ground and are often deployed as Close air support for and in proximity to their own ground forces World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 In combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 36,163 were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in all of aviation history as well as the third most produced aircraft in history behind the Cessna 172 and the Polikarpov Po-2. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout It was the leading aircraft for tank kills with its accuracy in diving bombing.

To Shturmovik pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was the "Hunchback," the "Flying Tank" or, the greatest of compliments, the "Flying Infantryman. " The Il-2 aircraft played a crucial role on the Eastern Front, and in Soviet opinion it was the most decisive aircraft in the history of modern land warfare. The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign Joseph Stalin paid the Il-2 a great tribute in his own inimitable manner: when a particular production factory fell behind on its deliveries, Stalin sent the following cable to the factory manager: "They are as essential to the Red Army as air and bread. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party " ^[3]

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Production 3 Operational history 4 Aircrew 4.1 Famous Il-2 Pilots 4.2 Il-2 Rear gunners: a deliberate sacrifice? 5 Variants 6 Operators 6.1  Bulgaria 6.2  Czechoslovakia 6.3  Poland 6.4  Soviet Union 6.5  Yugoslavia 7 Specifications (Il-2M3) 8 See also 9 References 9.1 Notes 9.2 Bibliography 10 External links

Design and development

The idea for a Soviet armored ground-attack aircraft dates to the early 1930s when Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich designed TSh-1 and TSh-2 armored biplanes. The 1930s were described as an abrupt shift to more radical and conservative lifestyles as countries were struggling to find a solution to the Great Depression. Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich, in Russian: Дмитрий Павлович Григорович (born in Kiev, Russian Empire, 25 January ( However, Soviet engines at the time lacked the power needed to provide the heavy aircraft with good performance. Il-2 was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team at the Central Design Bureau in 1938. Sergey Vladimirovich Ilyushin (Серге́й Владимирович Илью́шин &ndash February 9, 1977 Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. TsKB-55 was a two-seat aircraft with an armoured shell weighing 700 kg (1,540 lb), protecting crew, engine, radiators, and the fuel tank. A crew comprises a body or a class of people who work at a common activity generally in a structured or hierarchical organization An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input Radiators and convectors are types of Heat exchangers designed to transfer Thermal energy from one medium to another for the purpose of cooling A fuel tank is safe container for flammable liquids and typically part of an Engine system in which the Fuel is stored and propelled (fuel pump or released (pressurized Standing empty, the Ilyushin weighed more than 4,500 kg (almost 10,000 lb), making the armoured shell about 15% of the aircraft's gross weight. The prototype, which first flew on 30 December 1939, won the government competition against Sukhoi Su-6 and received VVS designation BSh-2. Events 1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield. 1816 - The Treaty of St This is a list of Aviation -related events from 1939: Events January January 12 - the RAF Auxiliary Air Force Reserve WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout However, BSh-2 was eventually rejected in favor of a lighter single-seat design, the TsKB-57, which first flew 12 October 1940. Events 539 BC - The army of Cyrus the Great of Persia takes Babylon. Year 1940 ( MCMXL) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full 1940 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The original Mikulin AM-35 1,370 hp (1,022 kW) engine proved too weak and was replaced by the 1,680 hp (1,254 kW) Mikulin AM-38 before the aircraft entered production. The Mikulin AM-35 was a 1930s Soviet aircraft piston engine Derived from the AM-34FRN, AM-35 entered production in 1940 and was used on MiG-1 The Mikulin AM-38 was a 1940s Soviet Aircraft Piston engine. Representing further development of the Mikulin AM-34 design

Production

The Il-2 was produced in vast quantities, becoming one of the most widely produced military aircraft in history. The aircraft entered production in 1941 as the Il-2, and 249 had been built by the time Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941. Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Events 217 BC - Battle of Raphia: Ptolemy IV of Egypt defeats Antiochus III the Great of the Seleucid kingdom. Year 1941 ( MCMXLI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (the link will display 1941 calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Production early in the Great Patriotic War was slow, due to the aircraft factories near Moscow and other major cities in western Russia being relocated east of the Ural mountains after the German invasion. The term Great Patriotic War (Великая Отечественная война Velikaya Otechestvennaya Vojna) is used in Russia and some other Ilyushin and his engineers had time to reconsider production methods, and two months after the move, Il-2s were again being produced. The tempo was not to Premier Stalin's liking, however, and he issued the following telegram to Shenkman and Tretyakov:

You have let down our country and our Red Army. Joseph Stalin ( ნამდვილი გვარი ჯუღაშვილი|Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; March 5 1953 was General Secretary of the Communist Party You have the nerve not to manufacture IL-2s until now. Our Red Army now needs IL-2 aircraft like the air it breathes, like the bread it eats. Shenkman produces one IL-2 a day and Tretyakov builds one or two MiG-3s daily. It is a mockery of our country and the Red Army. I ask you not to try the government's patience, and demand that you manufacture more ILs. This is my final warning.

—Stalin^[3]

As a result, "the production of Shturmoviks rapidly gained speed. Stalin's notion of the Il-2 being 'like bread' to the Red Army took hold in Ilyushin's aircraft plants and the army soon had their Shturmoviks available in quantity. "^[4]

Operational history

The first use in action of the Il-2 was with the 4th ShAP (Ground Attack Regiment) over the Berezina River days after the invasion began. So new were the aircraft that the pilots had no training in flight characteristics or tactics, and the ground crew no training in servicing or re-arming. Unsurprisingly, by 10 July, 4th ShAP was down to ten aircraft from a strength of 65. ^[5]

Tactics changed as Soviet aircrew became used to the Il-2's strengths. Instead of a low horizontal straight approach at 50 metres altitude, the target was usually kept to the pilot's left and a turn and shallow dive of 30 degrees was utilized, using an echeloned assault by four to twelve aircraft at a time. Although the Il-2's RS-82 rockets could destroy armored vehicles with a single hit, they were so inaccurate that experienced Il-2 pilots mainly utilized their cannon armament. ^[6] Another powerful weapon of the Il-2 was PTAB-2,5-1,5 HEAT bomblets (ProtivoTankovaya AviaBomba, Anti-Tank Aviation Bomb - the number means that it was the size of a 2. 5 kg bomb, but weighed only 1. 5 kg due to the empty space in the shaped charge). Up to 192 were carried in four external dispensers or up to 220 in the internal weapon bays. The HEAT charge easily penetrated the relatively thin upper armor of heavy German tanks. PTABs were first used in large scale in the battle of Kursk.

Thereafter the Il-2 was widely deployed on the Eastern Front. The Eastern Front of World War II (die Ostfront 1941-1945, der Rußlandfeldzug 1941-1945 (Russian campaign or der Ostfeldzug 1941-1945 (Eastern Campaign The aircraft was capable of flying in low light conditions and carried weaponry capable of defeating the thick armor of the Panther and Tiger I tanks. The Panther ( was a Tank fielded by Germany in World War II that served from mid-1943 to the end of the European war in 1945 Tiger I ( is the common name of a German heavy Tank of World War II. They were also proved capable of defending themselves against enemy aircraft, claiming an occasional Messerschmitt Bf 109. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout ^[7]

The true abilities of the Il-2 are difficult to determine from existing documentary evidence. W. Liss in Aircraft profile 88: Ilyushin Il-2 mentions an engagement during the Battle of Kursk on 7 July 1943, in which 70 tanks from the German 9th Panzer Division were destroyed by Ilyushin Il-2s in just 20 minutes. The Battle of Kursk (Курская битва refers to a series of German and Soviet operations on the Eastern Front of World War II Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Year 1943 ( MCMXLIII) was a Common year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1943 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The German 9th Panzer Division ( Neunte Panzerdivision) came into existence after 4th Light Division was reorganized in January 1940. ^[8] In another report of the action on the same day, a Soviet staff publication states that:

Ground forces highly valued the work of aviation on the battlefield. In a number of instances enemy attacks were thwarted thanks to our air operations. Thus on 7 July enemy tank attacks were disrupted in the Kashara region (13th Army). Events 1456 - A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death Kashara is a town in western Russia and capital of the Kashara Region of Kursk Oblast. Here our assault aircraft delivered three powerful attacks in groups of 20-30, which resulted in the destruction and disabling of 34 tanks. The enemy was forced to halt further attacks and to withdraw the remnants of his force north of Kashara.

—Glantz and Orenstein 1999, p. 260.

Thanks to the heavy armor protection, an Il-2 could take a great deal of punishment and proved a difficult target for both ground and aircraft fire to down. Some pilots favored aiming down into the cockpit and wing roots in diving attacks on the slow, low-flying Il-2 formations ^[9]. Several Luftwaffe aces claimed to attack while climbing from behind, out of view of the rear gunner, and aim for the Il-2's non-retractable oil cooler. The veracity of this has been disputed by some Il-2 pilots in postwar interviews since Il-2s typically flew very close to the ground (cruise altitudes below 50 m (160 ft) were common) and the radiator protruded a mere 4 in (10 cm) from the aircraft. A major threat to Il-2 was German ground fire. In postwar interviews, Il-2 pilots reported 20 mm and 37 mm artillery as the primary threat. While the fabled 88 mm gun was formidable, low-flying Il-2s presented a fast-moving target for the 88's relatively low rate of fire and while occasional hits were scored, Soviet pilots apparently did not treat the "88" with the same respect that high-flying Allied bomber crews did.

The armored tub ranging from 5 to 12 mm (0. 2 to 0. 5 in) in thickness and, enveloping the engine and the cockpit, could deflect all small arms fire and glancing blows from larger-caliber ammunition. There are reports of the armored windscreen surviving direct hits from 20 mm rounds. Unfortunately, the rear gunners did not have the benefit of all-around armor protection and suffered about four times more casualties than the pilots. Added casualties resulted from the Soviet policy of not returning home with unused ammunition which typically resulted in repeated passes on the target. Soviet troops often requested additional passes even after the aircraft were out of ammunition to exploit the intimidating effect Il-2s had on German ground troops who had given it the nickname Schlächter (Slaughterer), perhaps a play on the term Schlachtflugzeug ("ground attack aircraft"). Famous nicknames such as "The Flying Tank" and "Der Schwarze Tod" (the "Black Death") were created by soldiers. Luftwaffe pilots called it Eiserner Gustav (Iron Gustav)^[10] or the Zementbomber (Concrete bomber)^[11]. The Finnish nickname Maatalouskone ("The Agricultural Machine" or "crop duster") derived from the habitual low attack pattern, "crop dusting," of the Il-2. Otto Kittel, the fourth top fighter ace (268) was named "the Annihilator of Sturmoviks. Otto Kittel ( February 21, 1917 - February 14, 1945) was a highly-decorated World War II German pilot, the fourth highest "

While the Il-2 proved to be a deadly air-to-ground weapon, heavy losses resulted from its vulnerability to fighter attack, consequently, in February 1942, the two-seat design was revived. The IL-2M with a rear gunner under the stretched canopy entered service in September 1942 with surviving single-seaters eventually modified to this standard. Later changes included an upgrade from 20-mm to 23-mm to 37-mm cannons, aerodynamic improvements, use of wooden outer wing panels instead of metal and increased fuel capacity. In 1943, the IL-2 Type 3 or Il-2m3 came out with redesigned wings that were swept back 15 degrees on the outer panels. Performance and handling were much improved and this became the most common version of the Il-2. A radial-engine-powered variant of the Il-2 with the Shvetsov ASh-82 engine was proposed in 1942 to remedy projected shortages in Mikulin inline engines. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout However, the ASh-82 was also used in the new Lavochkin La-5 fighter which effectively secured all available engines to the Lavochkin bureau. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The radial engine Sukhoi Su-2 ground attack aircraft was produced in small quantities, but was generally considered unsuitable due to inadequate performance and lack of defensive armament. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Soviet anti-aircraft artillery frequently mistook it for German aircraft, often with lethal consequences. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces

After the war, the Il-2 could be found in service with several Eastern European countries, with most of the Il-2/10 aircraft eventually scrapped with the advent of military jets. Only a handful of Il-2s survive to this day, including museum rebuilds of crashed airframes. In recent years, several Il-2 wrecks have been located and recovered from Lake Balaton, a large, shallow lake in Hungary, which is located near the historic site of a large World War II tank battle, see Operation Frühlingserwachen. Lake Balaton, located in Hungary, is the largest lake in Central Europe, and one of the foremost regional tourist destinations Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic Operation Spring Awakening ( Unternehmen Frühlingserwachen) ( 6 March 1945 &ndash 16 March 1945) was the last major German offensive

Aircrew

Famous Il-2 Pilots

Among the pilots who gained fame flying the Il-2, was Senior Lieutenant Anna Yegorova, a female pilot who flew 260 missions. Lt Anna Timofyeyevna Yegorova (born September 23, 1916) was a Soviet pilot during the Second World War, who was awarded the Lt Anna Timofyeyevna Yegorova (born September 23, 1916) was a Soviet pilot during the Second World War, who was awarded the She was decorated three times, the last "posthumously", as she was presumed dead after being shot down. In fact, she managed to survive imprisonment in a German concentration camp. Jr Lt Ivan Grigorevich Drachenko, another Il-2 pilot, was reputedly one of only four men who were both decorated as Heroes of the Soviet Union and also won all three of the Orders of Glory. The title Hero of the Soviet Union ( Russian: Герой Советского Союза Geroy Sovyetskovo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Established on 8 November 1943, the Order of Glory ( Orden Slavy - Орден Славы) was an Order (decoration of the Soviet Union. Pilots Begeldinov, Mylnikov, Alekseenko and Gareev received two gold stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union, the last of them received both stars in one day.

Hero of the Soviet Union T. Kuznetsov survived the crash of his Il-2 in 1942 when shot down returning from a reconnaissance mission. Kuznetsov was able to escape from the wreck and hid nearby. To his surprise, a German Bf 109 landed near the crash site and the pilot began to scrounge around the wrecked Il-2 for souvenirs. Thinking quickly, Kuznetsov ran to the German fighter and used it to fly home, barely avoiding being shot down by Soviet fighters in the process. ^[8]

Typical of Soviet Second World War aircraft, many Il-2s were "gifts" presented to specific pilots and partially paid for by organizations like hometowns, factories or comrades of another fallen pilot. The most famous of these was an aircraft purchased with the savings of a seven-year-old daughter of the fallen commander of the 237th ShAP. Learning of her father's death, the girl sent 100 rubles directly to Stalin asking him to use the money for an Il-2 to avenge her father. The ruble or rouble (рубль see below for other Soviet languages) was the currency of the Soviet Union. Remarkably, Stalin actually received the letter and 237th ShAP received a new Il-2m3 with the inscription "From Lenochka for father" on the side.

Il-2 Rear gunners: a deliberate sacrifice?

In his book Inside the Soviet Army, Viktor Suvorov alleges the lack of protection for Il-2 rear gunners was part of a deliberate policy. Serbia (Србија Srbija) officially the Republic of Serbia (Република Србија Republika Srbija) is a Landlocked Country Inside The Soviet Army (ISBN 0-241-10889-6 Hamish Hamilton 1982 also published in the United States Prentice Hall ISBN 0-02-615500-1 a book by Viktor Suvorov Viktor Suvorov (Ви́ктор Суво́ров is the Pen name for Vladimir Bogdanovich Rezun: Влади́мир Богда́нович Резу́н (born Suvorov claims from 1942 on, all Soviet airfields had attached penal companies of air gunners. Penal Battalions, penal companies, etc are military units consisting of convicted persons for which Military service was either the Such companies were made up of prisoners who were considered to be "enemies of socialism" or "enemies of the people. " The air gunners were not provided with either armour protection, or allegedly, parachutes and were reliant entirely on their machine guns to ensure their own survival. The death rate among the air gunners was exceptionally high and Suvorov alleges Marshal of the Air Forces A. E. Golovanov came up with a special device to keep the guns pointing up after the gunners were killed, or attacking Luftwaffe pilots would realise the air gunner was dead and concentrate on that aircraft. Alexander Yevgeniyevich Golovanov (1904-1975 was a Soviet pilot ( German 'luftvafe is a generic German term for an Air force. According to Suvorov, prisoners who survived could theoretically clear their sentences after nine missions. The prisoners, however, were always transferred to mine clearing or other units for "medical reasons" before this could happen.

Many Il-2 pilots and rear gunners do not remember seeing or hearing about any prisoner crews, and German propaganda may have broadcast this claim as well. In recent years documents from the Soviet archives have come to light indicating the Soviet Air Force did in fact use "penal squadrons" in some situations,^[12] but although they may have been considered expendable, there is no evidence that they would have been deliberately sacrificed.

With respect to armor protection, the rear gunner had it from the start (excluding field modification of single-seater Il-2s, where a hole was cut in the fuselage panelling behind the cockpit for a gunner, sitting on a canvas sling inside with an improvised turret for a Degtyarev MG - so desperate was the need for rear protection). But this 6 mm plate protected the gunner only from behind and was not effective against rounds more powerful than rifle-caliber MG. ^[13].

Variants

TsKB-55

Two-seat prototype

BSh-2

VVS designation for TsKB-55 prototype.

TsKB-57

Single-seat prototype.

Il-2I

Armoured fighter, prototype only.

Il-2

Single-seat production model powered by AM-38 engine.

Il-2M

Two-seat production model, 20 mm ShVAK cannons replaced with 23 mm VYa cannons, powered by uprated AM-38F engine. The ShVAK (ШВАК Шпитальный-Владимиров Авиационный Крупнокалиберный Shpitalnyi-Vladimirov Aviatsionnyi Krupnokalibernyi, "Shpitalny-Vladimirov Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 (Волков-Ярцев ВЯ-23 is a 23 mm Autocannon used on Soviet aircraft during World War II.

Il-2M3 (Il-2 Type 3)

Swept outer wings, further uprated AM-38F.

Il-2 Type 3M

37 mm Nudelman-Suranov NS-37 cannons instead of 23 mm VYa cannons.

Il-2T

Torpedo bomber version for the Soviet Navy armed with a single 533 mm (21 in) torpedo, largest sunk ship was about 6,000 t of displacement.

Il-2U

Training version, also known as UIl-2.

Operators

 Bulgaria

• Bulgarian Air Force received 120 Il-2 and 10 training Il-2U in 1945. The state of Bulgaria (България transliterated bg-Latn ''Balgaria'' The country preserves the traditions (in ethnic name language and alphabet of the First Bulgarian Bulgarian Air Force (Военновъздушни сили ВВС is a branch of the Bulgarian Army, the other two being the Bulgarian Navy and Bulgarian Type was operated between 1945 and 1954^[14].

 Czechoslovakia

• Czechoslovakian Air Force received 33 Il-2 and 2 training Il-2U aircraft. Czechoslovakia may also refer to what is now the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czech Air Force, ICAO code CEF is the Air force branch of the Armed Forces of the Czech Republic. This type was operated between 1944 and 1949^[15].

 Poland

• Air Force of the Polish Army (after 1947 Polish Air Force) received about 230 Il-2 aircraft between 1944 and 1946. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The Air Force of the Polish Army (Lotnictwo Wojska Polskiego unofficially known as the People's Polish Air Force is the name of the Soviet-controlled Polish Air Force Polish Air Force ( Siły Powietrzne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej Siły Powietrzne RP - Air Forces of the Polish Republic is the Air force branch of the Polish All were retired in 1949^[15].

 Soviet Union

Soviet Air Force

Soviet Naval Aviation

 Yugoslavia

• SFR Yugoslav Air Force received 213 aircraft all versions and used it until 1954^[14]. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation VVS, transliterated from Russian: ВВС, Военно-воздушные силы ( Voenno-Vozdushnye Soviet Naval Aviation ( Авиация военно-морского флота in Russian, or Aviatsiya Voenno-Morskogo Flota, literally "aviation The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian: The Ratno vazduhoplovstvo i protiv vazdušna odbrana - RV i PVO SFRJ - SFR Yugoslav Air Force, sometimes simply called Jugoslovensko ratno vazduhoplovstvo Used by:
• 29th Assault Aviation Division
  • 421st Assault Aviation Regt - Skoplje
  • 554th Assault Aviation Regt - Niš
• 37th Assault Aviation Division
  • 422nd Assault Aviation Regt - Zagreb-Pleso
  • 423rd Assault Aviation Regt - Ljubljana

Specifications (Il-2M3)

General characteristics

• Crew: Two, pilot and rear gunner
• Length: 11. Skopje (Скопје; Shkup or Shkupi is the Capital and largest city in the Republic of Macedonia, with more than a quarter of the population Zagreb (ˈzɑːgrɛb is the Capital and the largest city of Croatia. Ljubljana ( is the largest and Capital city of Slovenia. It is located in the center of the country and is a mid-sized city of some 270000 inhabitants 6 m (38 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 14. The wingspan (or just span) of an airplane or a Bird, is the distance from the left wingtip to the right wingtip 6 m (47 ft 11 in)
• Height: 4. 2 m (13 ft 9 in)
• Wing area: 38. 5 m² (414 ft²)
• Empty weight: 4,360 kg (9,610 lb)
• Loaded weight: 6,160 kg (13,580 lb)
• Powerplant: 1× Mikulin AM-38F liquid-cooled V-12, 1,285 kW (1,720 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 414 km/h (257 mph)
• Range: 720 km (450 mi)
• Service ceiling 5,500 m (18,000 ft)
• Rate of climb: 10. The Mikulin AM-38 was a 1940s Soviet Aircraft Piston engine. Representing further development of the Mikulin AM-34 design In Aviation, V-speeds or Velocity-speeds are standard terms used to define Airspeeds important or useful to the operation of Aircraft, such The maximal total range is the distance an Aircraft can fly between Takeoff and Landing, as limited by fuel capacity in powered aircraft or cross-country In Aeronautics, a ceiling is the maximum Density altitude an aircraft can reach under a set of conditions In Aerodynamics, the rate of climb RoC is the speed at which an Aircraft increases its Altitude. 4 m/s (2050 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 160 kg/m² (31. In Aerodynamics, wing loading is the loaded weight of the aircraft divided by the area of the wing 3 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0. Power-to-weight ratio (specific power is a calculation commonly applied to Engines and other mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another 21 kW/kg (0. 13 hp/lb)

Armament

• 2x fixed forward-firing 23 mm VYa-23 cannons, 150 rounds/gun
• 2x fixed forward-firing 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, 750 rounds/gun
• 1x manually aimed 12.7 mm Berezin UBT machine gun the in rear cockpit, 150 rounds
• Up to 600 kg (1,320 lb) of bombs and/or 4x RS-82 or RS-132 rockets

See also

• Il-2 Sturmovik flight simulator by Maddox Games (2001)
  

Related development Ilyushin Il-10
Comparable aircraft Junkers Ju 87 - Henschel Hs 129 -

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

• Original Il-2 Field Manual (in Russian)
• The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik
• Photo gallery of Ilyushin Il-2m3
• 25 shots of Il-2 memorial (Novorossyisk, Russia)
• Interview with Il-2 pilot Yuri Khukhrikov

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