Ilyushin Il-2

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Il-2
Soviet Air Force Il-2M
Type	Ground attack aircraft
Manufacturer	Ilyushin
Maiden flight	20 December 1939
Primary user	Soviet Air Force
Number built	36,163

The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik (Russian: Ил-2 Штурмовик) was a ground attack aircraft in the Second World War, and was produced by the Soviet Union in huge numbers; 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 second most produced aircraft in history behind the Polikarpov Po-2. 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." To the enemy, it was "Der Schwarze Tod" – the Black Death.

Contents 1 Design and development 2 Operational history 3 Aircrew 3.1 Famous Il-2 Pilots 3.2 Il-2 Rear gunners: a deliberate sacrifice? 4 Production 5 Variants 6 Operators 7 Specifications (Il-2M3) 8 Notes and references 9 External links 10 Related content

[edit] 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. 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. 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. 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. However, BSh-2 was eventually rejected in favor of a lighter single-seat design, the TsKB-57, which first flew 12 October 1940. 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 aircraft entered production in 1941 as Il-2, and 249 had been built by the time Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941.

[edit] Operational history

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. Flying day and night, they could defeat the thick armour of the Panther and Tiger I tanks, and occasionally shot down Bf 109s when the German pilots got careless while attacking them. Josef Stalin paid the Il-2 a great tribute in his own inimitable manner: when a factory building them fell behind on its deliveries, Stalin sent the following cable to the factory manager: "The Red Army needs the Il-2 as it needs air or bread. I demand more. This is my last warning."^{[citation needed]}

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 10 aircraft from a strength of 65.^[1]

Tactics changed as the Soviet aircrew got 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 utilised, using an echeloned assault by four to twelve aircraft at a time. Although the Il-2's RS-82 rockets could destroy armoured vehicles with a single hit, they were so inaccurate that experienced Il-2 pilots mainly utilised their cannon armament.^[2]

Thereafter the Il-2 was widely deployed on the Eastern Front. The aircraft was capable of flying in low light conditions and carried weaponry capable of defeating the thick armour of the Panther and Tiger I tanks. They were also proven capable of defeating enemy aircraft, claiming an occasional Bf 109. ^[3]

The true abilities of 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-2 in just 20 minutes.^[4] In another report of the action on the same day, a Soviet staff publication states that

Ground forces highly valued the work of aviation on the battlefield. In a number of instances enemy attacks were thwarted thanks to our air operations. Thus on 7 July enemy tank attacks were disrupted in the Kashara region (13th Army). Here our assault aircraft delivered three powerful attacks in groups of 20-30, which resulted in the destruction and disabling of 34 tanks. The enemy was forced to halt further attacks and to withdraw the remnants of his force north of Kashara.^[5]

Thanks to the heavy armour 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 favoured aiming down into the cockpit and wing roots in diving attacks on the slow, low-flying Il-2 formations ^[6]. 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 the 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-calibre ammunition. There are reports of the armored windscreen surviving direct hits from 20 mm rounds. Because of this ability to absorb damage Luftwaffe pilots referred to the Il-2 as the Betonflugzeug (Concrete aircraft). 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^{[citation needed]}. 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 nicknames Schwarzer Tod (Black Death) and Eiserner Gustav (Iron Gustav). The Finnish nickname Maatalouskone ("The Agricultural Machine" or "crop duster") derived from the habitual low attack pattern, "crop dusting," of the Il-2 ^[7]

While Il-2 proved to be a deadly air-to-ground weapon, heavy losses resulted from 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 were 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 Shvetsov ASh-82 engine was proposed in 1942 to remedy projected shortages in Mikulin inline engines. However, ASh-82 was also used in the new Lavochkin La-5 fighter which effectively secured all available engines to the Lavochkin bureau. 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. Soviet anti-aircraft artillery frequently mistook it for German aircraft, often with lethal consequences.

After the war, the Il-2 could be found in service with several Eastern European countries, with most of the Il-2/10 planes eventually scrapped with the advent of military jets. Only a handful of Il-2 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 WWII tank battle.

[edit] Aircrew

[edit] 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. 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. Pilots Begeldinov, Mylnikov, Alekseenko, and Gardeev received two gold stars of the Hero of the Soviet Union.

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 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.

Typical of Soviet Second World War aircraft, many Il-2 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. Remarkably, Stalin actually received the letter and 237th ShAP received a new Il-2m3 with the inscription "From Lenochka for father" on the side.

[edit] Il-2 Rear gunners: a deliberate sacrifice?

In his book Inside the Soviet Army, Viktor Suvorov alleges that the lack of protection for Il-2 rear gunners was part of a deliberate policy. Suvorov claims that from 1942 on, all Soviet airfields had attached penal companies of air gunners. 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 that the 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. Otherwise attacking Luftwaffe pilots would realise the air gunner was dead and concentrate on that aircraft. 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. It must be noted, however, that in recent years documents from the Soviet archives have come to light indicating that the Soviet Air Force did in fact use "Penal squadrons" in some situations^[8] but, although they may have been considered expendable, there is no evidence that even they would have been deliberately sacrificed.

With respect to armor protection, most Il-2s produced after 1944 and the follow-on Il-10 had armor for the rear gunner. The initial omission may well have been result of the rear gunner being a design afterthought for a single-seat aircraft that was implemented during the crisis years of the war, rather than a deliberate act.

[edit] Production

The Il-2 was produced in vast quantities, becoming one of the most widely produced military aircraft in history.

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. 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 Ilyushin:

You have let down our country and our red army. You have not manufactured IL-2s until now. The IL-2 aircraft are necessary for our red army now, like air, like bread. Shenkman produces one IL-2 a day and Tretiakov 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. I warn you for the last time. Stalin.

According to one reference, "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."^[9]

[edit] Variants

• TsKB-55 - two-seat prototype
• BSh-2 - VVS designation for TsKB-55 prototype.
• TsKB-57 - single-seat prototype
• Il-2 - Single-seat production model, AM-38 engine
• Il-2M - Two-seat production model, 20 mm ShVAK cannons replaced with 23 mm VYa cannons, uprated AM-38F engine
• Il-2M3 or 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 U-Il-2
• Il-2I - armoured fighter. Prototype only

[edit] Operators

•  Bulgaria
•  People's Republic of China
•  Czech Republic
•  Hungary
•  DPR Korea
•  Poland
•  Soviet Union
•  Yugoslavia

[edit] Specifications (Il-2M3)

General characteristics

• Crew: Two, pilot and rear gunner
• Length: 11.6 m (38 ft 1 in)
• Wingspan: 14.6 m (47 ft 11 in)
• Height: 4.2 m (13 ft 9 in)
• 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: 10.4 m/s (2050 ft/min)
• Wing loading: 160 kg/m² (31.3 lb/ft²)
• Power/mass: 0.21 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

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] External links

• Original Il-2 Field Manual (in Russian)
• The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik
• Photo gallery of Ilyushin Il-2m3

[edit] Related content

Related development

Ilyushin Il-10

Comparable aircraft

Junkers Ju 87 - Henschel Hs 129 -

 

 

See also

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