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History
It was originally designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team at the Central Design Bureau in 1938, as 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, named the BSh-2, first flew on December 30, 1939. However, this was
rejected in favor of a lighter single-seat design, the TsKB-57, which first flew October 12, 1940.
This version was officially designated Il-2, and started large-scale production in early 1941, with the first
deliveries coming in May, just in time for the German invasion. The Il-2 proved itself to be a deadly weapon
against German transport and armour, but was itself vulnerable to fighter attack, and so in February 1942 the
two-seat design was revived.
The two-seat version was called IL-2M, and differed by having a rear gunner's position under a lengthened canopy.
These modified versions started appearing in September 1942, and eventually existing single-seaters were modified also.
Later changes included an upgrade from 20-mm to 23-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 ends. Performance and handling were much improved, and this became the most common version of the Il-2.
A radial-engine-powered major variant of the Il-2 was developed in 1942 to remedy projected shortages
in Mikulin inline engines, but newer series produced after the La-5 fighter aircraft proved invaluable in air combat,
securing all available radial engines to the Lavochkin bureau. The Sukhoi Su-2, the competing ground attack plane
design equipped with a radial engine, was produced in small quantities, but had to be removed from service after
Soviet Anti-Aircraft Artillery consistently mistook it for a German aircraft, with often lethal consequences.
The Il-2 aircraft played an important role on the Eastern Front (WWII), and in the opinion of the Soviet Union 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 often shot down Bf 109s.
The main weaknesses of Il-2 were the rear cabin and the oil cooler located under its belly. The tail gunner's seat
was a later addition to the series-produced Il-2 design and adequate rear canopy armour could not be provided,
as the mobile 12.7 millimeter heavy machine gun fired through a large open orifice. The Il-2's fuselage armor was
strong enough to repel .50 hits from almost any angle, but enemy fighter planes attacking from behind often killed
the tail gunner. The Soviet Air Force lost an average of four gunner/radio operators for every downed Il-2 pilot
and airframe.
Because of the armour protection an Il-2 could take many bullet strikes without crashing. It could require precise
hits for an attacking pilot to shoot down an Il-2. Some pilots favoured shooting down into the cockpit and wing
roots in diving attacks on the slow, low-flying Il-2 formations. An alternative tactic was to attack while climbing
from behind, out of view of the rear gunner, and aim for the Il-2's large, non-retractable oil cooler. Due its low
operating height the Il-2 could not glide far and usually crashed on loss of engine power. These vulnerabilities were
corrected in an improved version, the Il-10, which was used during the closing months of WWII and the Korean War.
A major threat to ground attack airplanes, especially the Il-2 was the firepower of German AA artillery.
The 88 mm Flak crews were equipped with a specialized ballistic data table, that almost guaranteed a hit, if
the Il-2 formation turned back for a second strafing pass. However, satisfactory hits against ground targets
often couldn't be made during a single Il-2 attack pass. The Soviet leadership insisted that all weapons must be
released in anger, forcing crews to turn around and strafe again, resulting in recurring, unnecessary losses among
exposed Il-2 attack formations.
After the war the Il-2 could be found in service with several Eastern European countries for some years, but
most of the Il-2/10 planes were soon chopped up on central order after the advent of military jet era. 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.
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.
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