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Russian World War II
Bomber Aircraft |
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Ilyushin Il-4 |
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The Ilyushin Il-4 was a Soviet World War
II bomber aircraft, widely used by the Soviet
Air Force (VVS, Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily)
although not well known. Its NATO code-name was
Bob.
The Il-4 started life as a quickly produced
bomber prototype called the TsKB-26. Parts of
the fuselage and cockpit were taken from the
TsKB-12 (Polikarpov I-16) fighter, married to
new wings made of welded steel U-beams and
tubes. Only a few were built before attention
turned to the updated TsKB-30, which included a
new fuselage using the same construction
methods. Welding the beams required three welds
per joint, so the plane took a huge amount of
time to build. Nevertheless the design had
excellent range and was quite sturdy. It was put
into production in 1936 as the DB-3, 1,528 being
completed by 1939.
DB-3 was followed by the updated DB-3M,
which looked similar with the exception of a
much larger and more rounded nose. However the
plane was actually quite different internally.
Using lessons learned from the Li-2 (Douglas
DC-3) the entire plane was re-built using T
shaped formers instead of the tubes and U-beams.
This led to a tremendous reduction in the time
needed to build the plane, and the DB-3M was
hurriedly put into production.
A change of engine from the 950 horsepower (708
kW) M-87B to the 1,100 hp (820 kW) M-88 resulted
in the DB-3F, which were eventually
renamed in 1942 as the Il-4. Some series
had wooden outer wings and front fuselage to
conserve metals, and throughout the production
engines and fuel tanks were upgraded for more
performance while keeping the same range.
However the most notable change was the addition
of larger defensive guns in the turret, using
the 12.7 mm UBT in place of the earlier 7.62 mm
weapons. In addition it was found that the
gunners were attacked first, so blocks of armor
were placed around the gunner positions.
All this extra weight wasn't offset by the newer
engines however, and the Il-4 proved to be
slower than the earlier versions at only 404
km/h. An attempt to improve performance was made
as the Il-6, adding large diesel engines and
heavier armament. The engine proved unreliable
and production was never started. The Il-4
remained in production until 1944, when just
over 5,200 had been built.
Although the Il-4 was only a medium bomber, it
had the range to be used on strategic missions.
The VVS wasn't terribly interested in this role,
but nevertheless the Il-4 was used on several
highly publicized raids against Berlin. Most
would be used on much shorter range missions,
often adding another 1,000 kg of bombs under the
wings, in addition to the internal 2,500 kg.
Finland
bought four captured DB-3Fs from German stocks.
These were given the Finnish Air Force serials
DF-22 to DF-25 and flown from Bryansk, Russia to
Finland (one aircraft, DF-22, was destroyed en
route and crashed near Syeschtschinskaya
airfield). The aircraft were later flown by No.
48 Sqn during 1943 (DF-23, DF-24 and DF-25), No.
46 Sqn during 1944 (DF-23 and DF-24) and No. 45
Sqn for a short time in 1945 (DF-23), until the
last remaining serviceable aircraft went into
depot, February 23 1945.
General characteristics
-
Crew:
Four (pilot, navigator,
gunner/wireless-operator, rear gunner)
-
Length:
14.80 m (48 ft 6.75 in)
-
Wingspan:
21.44 m (70 ft 4.5 in)
-
Height:
4.10 m (13 ft 5.5 in)
-
Wing area:
66.7 m² (718 ft²)
-
Empty weight:
5,800 kg (12,787 lb)
-
Max takeoff weight:
11,300 kg (24,912 lb)
-
Powerplant:
2× Tumansky M-88B
![[Tumansky_M-88_14cyl_Radial]](images/aircraft/russian/Engines/Tumansky_M-85_14cyl_Radial-thumb.JPG) radial engines, 820 kW
(1,100 hp) each
Performance
-
Maximum speed:
430 km/h (232 knots, 267 mph)
-
Range:
3,800 km (2,052 nm, 2,361 miles)
-
Service ceiling
9,700 m (31,825 ft)
Armament
-
2 × 7.62 mm ShKAS
![[ShKAS_7.62mm_MG]](images/aircraft/russian/Weapons/ShKAS_7.62mm_MG-thumb.JPG) machine guns
-
1 × 12.7 mm Berezin UB
![[Berezin_UB_12.7mm_MG]](images/aircraft/russian/Weapons/Berezin_UB_12.7mm_MG-thumb.JPG) machine gun
-
Up to 2,500 kg (5,500 lb) of bombs or mines.
Alternatively one 940 kg (2,072 lb) 45-36-AN
or 45-36-AV torpedo. Very rarely two
BETAB-750DS 305mm rockets.
|
Petlyakov Pe-2 (Peshka) |
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The Petlyakov Pe-2 (Cyrillic: Петляков
Пе-2), nicknamed Peshka (Пешка
- "Pawn") was a Soviet dive bomber aircraft used
during World War II. It was fast and
maneuverable yet durable, and was manufactured
in large numbers. Several Communist nations flew
the type after the war, when it became known by
the NATO reporting name Buck. The
Finnish Air Force serial code was PE- and
unofficial nickname Pekka-Eemeli.
The Pe-2 was designed in a sharashka after
Vladimir Petlyakov had been arrested and
imprisoned in 1937 for allegedly deliberately
delaying design work on the Tupolev ANT-42
bomber. In the sharashka, Petlyakov was put in
charge of a team to develop a high-altitude
fighter escort for the ANT-42 under the
designation VI-100. The first of two
prototypes flew on December 22, 1939 and was a
very sophisticated aircraft for its time,
featuring a pressurised cabin, all-metal
construction, superchargers and many
electrically-actuated systems. The prototypes
proved so pleasing that production was ordered
almost immediately. It is said that Petlyakov
and his team could see the VI-100 prototype from
their prison as it was put through its paces for
the crowds watching the annual May Day parade in
1940.
Just as production was ready to begin, the air
force ordered a re-design of the aircraft. The
value of tactical bombing had just been
displayed by the Luftwaffe in the Blitzkrieg,
and the need for such an aircraft suddenly
became much more important than the need for a
high-altitude escort fighter. Petlyakov's team
was given 45 days to redesign their aircraft as
a dive bomber. The cabin pressurization and
superchargers were deleted, and dive brakes and
a position for a bombardier were added, among a
number of aerodynamic refinements. A fuselage
bomb-bay was added, along with smaller bays in
each engine nacelle. Initially designated
PB-100, Stalin was impressed enough with
Petlyakov to free him, and his name was
permitted to be used in the aircraft's
designation. The first aircraft flew on December
15, 1940, rushed through production without a
prototype under severe threats from Stalin if a
Pe-2 did not fly by the end of the year.
Deliveries to combat units began the following
Spring.
While the Pe-2 generally featured favorable
flying characteristics when airborne, it took a
good amount of force to pull the elevators up to
get the plane rotated off the runway during
takeoff. Russian night bombing missions often
flew with female pilots and some of the women
pilots were not strong enough to get the
airplane airborne by themselves. When such a
situation occurred, the procedure was to have
one of the crew get behind the pilot's seat and
wrap her arms around the control wheel and help
the pilot force the wheel back. Once the
aircraft was airborne, the crew returned to her
duties and the pilot continued to fly the plane
without assistance.
The aircraft did not really show its true
potential until the end of the year, after the
Soviet Air Force had a chance to regroup after
the German onslaught during the Winter. The Pe-2
quickly proved itself to be a highly capable
aircraft, able to elude the Luftwaffe's
interceptors and allowing their crews to develop
great accuracy with their bombing. Throughout
1942 the design was steadily refined and
improved, in direct consultation with pilots who
were actually flying them in combat. Western
sources use mark Pe-2FT for production
series after 83 (where FT stands for
Frontovoe Trebovanie (Frontline Request)),
although Soviet documents do not use this
identification. Final versions Pe-2K
(transitional version of Pe-2I) and Pe-2I were
produced in small numbers, due to unwillingness
of Soviet industry to decelerate production
numbers.
General characteristics
-
Crew:
Three - pilot, gunner, bombardier
-
Length:
12.66 m (41 ft 6 in)
-
Wingspan:
17.16 m (56 ft 3 in)
-
Height:
3.5 m (11 ft 6 in)
-
Wing area:
40.5 m² (436 ft²)
-
Empty weight:
5,875 kg (12,952 lb)
-
Loaded weight:
7,563 kg (16,639 lb)
-
Max takeoff weight:
8,495 kg (18,728 lb)
-
Powerplant:
2× Klimov M-105PF liquid-cooled
![[Klimov_M-105PF_V-12]](images/aircraft/russian/Engines/Klimov_M-105PF_V-12-thumb.JPG) V-12, 903 kW
(1,210 hp) each
Performance
-
Maximum speed:
580 km/h (360 mph)
-
Range:
1,160 km (721 miles)
-
Service ceiling
8,800 m (28,870 ft)
-
Rate of climb:
7.2 m/s (1,410 ft/min)
-
Wing loading:
186 kg/m² (38 lb/ft²)
-
Power/mass:
250 W/kg (0.15 hp/lb)
Armament
-
Guns:
-
2x 7.62 mm fixed ShKAS
machine guns in
the nose, one replaced by a 12.7
mm Berezin UB on later versions.
-
2x rearward firing 7.62 mm ShKAS.
-
From the middle of 1942 defensive
armament included 1 Berezin UB machine
gun in the upper bombardier's turret, 1
Berezin UB
in gunner's ventral hatch and
1 ShKAS which could be fired by a gunner
from port, starboard or upper mountings[3]
-
Some planes were also equipped with
DAG-10 launcher, firing AG-2 parachute
timed grenades.
-
Bombs:
1,600 kg (3,520 lb) of bombs
|
Petlyakov
Pe-8 |
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The Petlyakov Pe-8, also known as TB-7
was a Soviet heavy bomber aircraft of World War
II, the only four-engined bomber the USSR built
during the war.
Development of Pe-8 was initiated in the
Tupolev's OKB as ANT-42 in July 1934. The
maiden flight of the first prototype was in
December 1936 by M.M.Gromov. The aircraft
actually has five engines - an auxiliary
M-100 ATsN-2 was fitted inside the airframe.
This drove a supercharger to supply pressurised
air to the main engines.
Only 93 or 96 (including two prototypes) were
built from 1936-1944 - older sources claim a
number of 81 including prototypes, with
production stopping in 1940; this seems to
indicate that indeed only replacement aircraft
were built after 1940. Some had Charomski
M-30B/ACh-30B or M-40/ACh-40 diesel engines and
the later aircraft were fitted 1,380 kW (1,850
hp) Shvetsov ASh-82 radials due to low
availability of the AM-35A. Neither variant was
as successful as the original, the diesel
engines giving poorer performance and the radial
delivering better performance but often being
unreliable. It is a testimony to the soundness
of the design however, that the examples which
survived WWII were retained in service until the
late 1950s despite the availability of the Tu-4.
Altogether, the Pe-8, despite suffering from low
priority of the strategic bombing role in the
USSR military doctrine of its time and problems
with the engines, compares well with other four-engined
bombers designed in the late 1930s.
From a technical standpoint, the Pe-8 is
remarkable because it had defensive machine-gun
positions installed in the rear of the inboard
engine nacelles. These were deleted when the
nacelles were reconstructed for accommodation of
the radial engines.
The USSR had no plans for strategic bombardment,
and only a few Pe-8 attacks on Germany were
flown, the first in early August, 1941 (only
weeks after the German attack on the USSR had
started), when aircraft of the 81 DBAD (Long
Range Bomber Division) bombed Berlin. Most Pe-8
attacks on Berlin were 'nuisance' bombings
involving only a handful of aircraft (e.g. 14 in
the first raid). It was used in the strategic
bomber role to attack targets in German-held
Eastern Europe and as a tactical bomber to
support ground forces in the battles of
Stalingrad and Kursk. The Pe-8 at first equipped
a single bomber regiment, the 432 BAP (ON)
(432nd Special Bomber Regiment) and its reserve
unit, the 433rd; they were later reorganized
into the 746 and 890 BAP (bomber regiment).
The Pe-8's most important claim to fame is
flying Soviet foreign minister Molotov and his
delegation from Moscow to London and Washington
DC and back for talks on the opening of a second
front against Nazi Germany (May 19th-Jun 13th,
1942), on the return trip crossing
German-controlled airspace without incident.
General characteristics
-
Crew:
Eleven
-
Length:
23.59 m (77 ft 5 in)
-
Wingspan:
39.10 m (128 ft 3 in)
-
Height:
6.20 m (20 ft 4 in)
-
Wing area:
188.7 m² (2,030 ft²)
-
Empty weight:
19,986 kg (43,969 lb)
-
Loaded weight:
27,000 kg (59,400 lb)
-
Max takeoff weight:
35,000 kg (77,000 lb)
-
Powerplant:
4× Mikulin AM-35A
![[Mikulin_AM-35A_V12]](images/aircraft/russian/Engines/Mikulin_AM-35A_V12-thumb.JPG) liquid-cooled V-12 and
then Shvetsov designed air-cooled M-82FN and
sometimes diesel M-30 and M-40, 1,000 kW
AM-35A 1380 kW M-82FN (1,350 hp AM-35A 1850
hp M-82FN) each
Performance
-
Maximum speed:
443 km/h (276 mph)
-
Range:
3,600 km (2,245 mi)
-
Service ceiling
9,300 m (30,504 ft)
-
Rate of climb:
5.9 m/s (1,154 ft/min)
-
Wing loading:
143 kg/m² (29 lb/ft²)
-
Power/mass:
140 W/kg (0.2 hp/lb)
Armament
-
2x 20 mm ShVAK
![[ShVak_20mm_Cannon]](images/aircraft/russian/Weapons/ShVak_20mm_Cannon-thumb.JPG) cannons (dorsal and tail
turret)
-
2x 12.7 mm UBT
machine guns (engine
nacelles)
-
1-2x 7.62 mm ShKAS
machine guns (nose
turret)
-
Up to 4,000 kg (8,800 lb) of bombs
-
Could carry one 5,000 kg (11,000 lb)
bomb
|
Tupolev
ANT-40 (SB) |
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The Tupolev ANT-40, also
known by its service name
Tupolev SB (Russian:
Скоростной бомбардировщик
- Skorostnoi Bombardirovschik
- "high speed bomber"), and
development co-name TsAGI-40,
was a high speed twin-engined
three-seat monoplane bomber,
first flown in 1934.
The design was very advanced,
but lacked refinement, much to
the dismay of crews and
maintenance personnel - and of
Stalin, who pointed out that
"there are no trivialities in
aviation".
Numerically the most important
bomber in the world in the late
1930s, the SB was the first
modern stressed-skin aircraft
produced in quantity in the
Soviet Union and probably the
most formidable bomber of the
mid-1930s. Many versions saw
extensive action in Spain, the
Republic of China, Mongolia,
Finland and at the beginning of
the War against Germany in 1941.
It was also used in various
duties in civil variants, as
trainers and in many secondary
roles.
Successful in the Spanish Civil
War because it outpaced most
fighters, the aircraft was
obsolete by 1941. By June, 1941,
94% of bombers in the Red Army
air force (VVS RKKA) were SBs.
In 1933 the Soviet Air Force
ministry (UVVS) issued an
outline requirement for a
high-speed bomber. Work on this
proposal at TsAGI began in
January 1934. The SB was
designed and developed in the
Tupolev KB ("Design Bureau") by
a team led by A. A.
Arkhangelski. Two versions were
planned - with Wright Cyclone
engines, and with the
Hispano-Suiza 12Y. The skills
gained in the design of the MI-3
and DI-8 aircraft were widely
used. The first two prototypes
were designed as ANT-40.1 and
ANT-40.2.
ANT-40.2 was considered a
production prototype, and its
performance was impressive. The
production aircraft designation
was SB, and the first SB rolled
off the production line before
the end of 1935, and before
ANT-40.2 had completed its
flight test programme. The
aircraft entered full production
in 1936, and was produced in two
plants until 1941.
Despite the fact that the
assembly lines were plagued with
a constant string of
modifications, some 400 SBs were
delivered by the end of 1936 - a
number of these being diverted
to Spain - and 24 VVS squadrons
were in the process of working
up with the new bomber. Giving
excellent performance in the
Spanish Civil War, it acquired
the popular name "Katyushka".
In 1937 negotiations were
successfully concluded between
the Soviet and Czechoslovak
governments. The version of the
SB to be supplied to, and
subsequently license-built in,
Czechoslovakia was fundamentally
the SB-2M-100A and, as the
Avia B-71, was to be fitted
with the Avia-built
Hispano-Suiza 12-Ydrs engine. A
single 7.92mm ZB-30 machine gun
supplanted the twin ShKAS
machine guns in the nose and
similar weapons were provided
for the dorsal and ventral
stations.
Sixty aircraft were to be flown
to Czechoslovakia by mid-1938.
The planned licensed production
program took a decidedly
leisurely course, despite the
increasingly dangerous political
situation. By 15 March 1939,
when the German Wehrmacht
occupied Bohemia and Moravia,
not one Czech-built aircraft had
been delivered.
The SB was an all-metal
monoplane powered by two Klimov
M-100 12-cylinder water-cooled
engines (license production
version of Hispano-Suiza 12-Yrds
engine) which drove fixed-pitch
two-bladed metal propellers. The
engines were provided with
honeycomb-type frontal radiators
enclosed by vertical
thermostat-controlled cooling
shutters. At an early production
stage, the M-100 engine gave
place to an improved M-100A
engine, driving
ground-adjustable three-pitch
propellers, with speed being
boosted to 423 km/h (264 mph) at
4,000 meters (13,100 ft).
General characteristics
-
Crew:
three
-
Length:
12.57 m (41 ft 3 in)
-
Wingspan:
20.33 m (66 ft 8 in)
-
Height:
3.48 m (11 ft 5 in)
-
Wing area:
56.0 m² (602 ft²)
-
Empty weight:
4,768 kg (10,512 lb)
-
Loaded weight:
7,880 kg (17,370 lb)
-
Powerplant:
2× Klimov M-103
![[Klimov_M-103_V12]](images/aircraft/russian/Engines/Klimov_M-103_V12-thumb.JPG) , 716 kW (960
hp) each
Performance
-
Maximum speed:
450 km/h (280 mph)
-
Range:
2,300 km (1,430 miles)
-
Service ceiling
7,800 m (25,600 ft)
-
Rate of climb:
570 m/min (1,870 ft/min)
-
Wing loading:
141 kg/m² (29 lb/ft²)
-
Power/mass:
0.18 kW/kg (0.11 hp/lb)
Armament
-
Guns:
6 × 7.62 mm ShKAS machine
guns
-
Bombs:
600 kg (1,320 lb) of bombs
|
Tupolev Tb-3 |
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The Tupolev TB-3
(Russian:
Тяжёлый Бомбардировщик, Tyazholy Bombardirovschik, Heavy Bomber, civilian designation
ANT-6) was a heavy bomber
aircraft which was deployed by
the Soviet Air Force in the
1930s and during World War II.
It was the world's first
cantilever wing four-engine
heavy bomber. Despite
obsolescence and being
officially withdrawn from
service in 1939, TB-3 performed
bomber and transport duties
through much of WWII. The TB-3
also saw combat as a Zveno
project fighter mothership and
as a light tank transport.
In 1925, Soviet Air Force
approached TsAGI with a
requisition for a heavy bomber
with total engine output of
2,000 PS (1,970 hp) and either
wheeled or float landing gear.
Tupolev OKB started design work
in 1926 with the government
operational requirements
finalized in 1929. Tupolev TB-1
was taken as the basis for the
design and the aircraft was
initially powered by Curtiss
V-1570 "Conqueror" engines
generating 600 PS (590 hp) each,
with the intent of switching to
Mikulin M-17s (modified BMW VIs)
in production. The mock-up was
approved on 21 March 1930 and
the first prototype was
completed on 31 October 1930.
The aircraft flew on 22 December
1930 with Mikhail Gromov at the
controls and with ski landing
gear. On 20 February 1931,
Soviet Air Force approved mass
production of ANT-6 with M-17
engines.
The prototype was refitted with
BMW VIz 500 engines of 730 PS
(720 hp) each, larger radiators,
and wooden fixed-pitch
propellers of TsAGI design.
Single-wheel landing gear was
deemed too weak and was replaced
by tandem bogies with 1350×300
mm (53×12 in) tires. The first
pre-production TB-3-4M-17
flew on 4 January 1932 with A.
B. Yumashev and I. F. Petrov at
the controls. Unexpectedly,
subsequent mass-produced
aircraft were found to be 10-12%
heavier than the prototype which
significantly hampered
performance. The discrepancy was
discovered to be due to high
positive tolerances on raw
materials which resulted in
steel sheetmetal, pipes, and
wires being much thicker than on
the carefully constructed
prototypes. The aircraft were
also more crudely painted with a
thick layer of camouflage and
lacquer. The factories asked the
workers for suggestions on
reducing the weight, paying 100
roubles for each kilogram (2.2
lb) removed from the aircraft.
In combination with OKB efforts,
this resulted in weight savings
of almost 800 kg (1,765 lb).
Despite this, production
aircraft could differ from each
other by as much as several
hundred kilograms.
In 1933, a single TB-3-4M-17F
was streamlined with removal of
turrets and bomb shackles,
covering of all openings, and
fitting of wheel spats. This
resulted in only a 4.5% increase
in top speed and a similar
increase in the range. Tupolev
concluded that streamlining was
minimally beneficial for large
and slow aircraft. To study the
effect of corrugated skin, in
January-February 1935 a single
TB-3-4AM-34R had the
corrugations incrementally
covered with fabric. This
resulted in a 5.5% gain in top
speed and a 27.5% increase in
the ceiling. The same aircraft
demonstrated a significant
increase in climb rate when
fitted with experimental
four-blade propellers.
TB-3 was an all-metal aircraft
of steel construction. The frame
was composed of V-section beams
covered with non-stressed
corrugated skin ranging from 0.3
to 0.8 mm (1/64 to 1/32 in) in
thickness. The corrugations were
13 mm deep (0.5 in) and 50 mm (2
in) apart. The cantilever wing
was supported by four
tube-section spars. In 1934,
thanks to development of
stronger steel alloys, wingspan
was increased from 39.5 to 41.85
meters (127 ft 7 in to 137 ft 4
in) with a concurrent wing area
increase from 230 to 234.5 m²
(2,475 to 2,524 ft²). Any part
of the aircraft could be walked
on in soft shoes without
damaging the skin, and the
leading edges of the wings swung
down to form walkways for engine
maintenance. Controls were
cable-actuated with a
variable-incidence tailplane and
a trim compensation system in
case of engine failures on one
side. Fixed main landing gear
was not fitted with brakes. The
fuel tanks did not have fire or
leak protection, although the
engines had an internal
fire-extinguishing system. The
M-17 engines were tuned to
provide a maximum theoretical
range of 3250 km (1,760 NM,
2,020 mi) without spark plug or
carburetor fouling. Defensive
armament consisted of light
machine guns in five turrets —
one in the nose, two on top of
mid-fuselage, and one
retractable "dustbin" under each
wing between the engine
nacelles. Later variants moved
one of the top fuselage turrets
aft of the tail fin.
The TB-3 was used operationally
during the Battle of Khalkhin
Gol and in the Winter War with
Finland. Although it was
officially withdrawn from
service in 1939, at the start of
the Great Patriotic War on 22
June 1941, Soviet Air Force had
516 operational aircraft, with
an additional 25 operated by the
Soviet Navy. The aircraft
avoided destruction on the
ground in the opening phases of
the war and TB-3s from 3rd TBAP
(Heavy Bombing Regiment) began
flying night bombing missions on
23 June. Shortage of
combat-ready aircraft also
required daytime use of TB-3s
without fighter escort and in
this role the bombers, operating
at low-to-medium altitudes,
suffered heavy losses to enemy
fighters and ground fire. By
August 1941, TB-3s made up 25%
of the Soviet bomber force and,
operated by elite air force
crews, were flying up to three
combat missions per night.[2]
The aircraft participated in all
major battles through 1943,
including the first Battle of
Smolensk, the Battle of Moscow,
the Battle of Stalingrad, the
Siege of Leningrad, and the
Battle of Kursk. On 1 July 1945,
18th Air Army still had ten
TB-3s on the active roster.
The TB-3 served extensively as a
cargo and paratroop transport,
carrying up to 35 soldiers in
the latter role. In the first
five months of the war, the
aircraft transported 2,797 tons
of cargo and 2,300 personnel.
The TB-3 was also used in
several special projects as a
fighter mothership in the Zveno
project and for delivering light
T-27, T-37. and T-38 tanks. On 1
August 1941, a pair of TB-3s in
Zveno-SPB configuration,
each with two Polikarpov I-16
fighters carrying a pair of 250
kg (550 lb) bombs, destroyed an
oil depot with no losses. On 11
August and 13 August 1941,
Zveno-SPB successfully
damaged the King Carol I Bridge
over Danube in Romania. Zveno
operations ended in the fall of
1942 due to high vulnerability
of the motherships.
In recognition of the role TB-3
played during the war, three
aircraft were included in the
first post-war air parade on 18
June 1945.
General characteristics
-
Crew:
Four
-
Length:
24.4 m (80 ft 1 in)
-
Wingspan:
41.80 m (137 ft 2 in)
-
Height:
8.50 m (27 ft 11 in)
-
Wing area:
234.5 m² (2,524 ft²)
-
Empty weight:
11,200 kg (24,690 lb)
-
Loaded weight:
17,200 kg (37,920 lb)
-
Max takeoff weight:
19,300 kg (42,550 lb)
-
Powerplant:
4× Mikulin M-17F
![[Mikulin_M-17F_V12]](images/aircraft/russian/Engines/Mikulin_M-17F_V12-thumb.JPG) V12 engine,
525 kW (705 hp)[3]
each
Performance
-
Maximum speed:
196 km/h (106 knots, 122
mph) at 3,000 m (9,840 ft)
-
Range:
2,000 km (1,080 NM, 1,240
mi)
-
Service ceiling
4800 m (15,750 ft)
-
Rate of climb:
1.25 m/s (246 ft/min)
-
Wing loading:
73 kg/m² (15 lb/ft²)
-
Power/mass:
0.15 kW/kg (0.09 hp/lb)
-
Time to altitude:
5 min to 1000 m (3,280 ft),
29 min to 3000 m (9,840 ft)
-
Best turn time:
40 seconds
-
Takeoff roll:
300 m (985 ft)
-
Landing roll:
330 m (1,085 ft)
Armament
-
Guns:
5-8× 7.62 mm DA machine
guns, 100 63-round magazines
-
Bombs:
Up to 2,000 kg (4,410 lb) of
bombs
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Tupolev
Tu-2 |
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The Tupolev Tu-2 (Development names
ANT-58 and 103, NATO reporting name
Bat) was a twin-engine Soviet high
speed daylight bomber (SDB)/front line bomber (FB)
aircraft of World War II vintage.
The Tu-2 was tailored to meet a requirement for
a high speed bomber or dive-bomber, with a large
internal bombload, and speed similar to that of
a single seat fighter. Designed to challenge the
German Junkers Ju 88, the Tu-2 proved
comparable, and was produced in torpedo,
interceptor, and reconnaissance versions.
Designed as "Samolyet (aircraft) 103",
development took place under prison conditions.
The first prototype was completed at factory
N156, and made its first test flight 29 January
1941, piloted by Mikhail Nukhtinov. The AM-37
engine was abandoned to concentrate efforts on
the AM-38F for Il-2. So Tupolev had to redesign
aircraft for an available engine. Modifications
of this bomber took ANT-58 through ANT-69
designation slots. A total of 2,257 Tu-2s were
built.
Built from 1941 to 1948. The Tu-2 was the USSR's
second important twin-engined bomber (the first
being the Pe-2), the design brought Andrei
Tupolev back into favour after a period of
detention. It was highly effective, being
faster, and more nimble, as well as having a
greater bomb load and range than virtually all
medium bombers in service during the war
with any army.
The Tu-2 remained in service until 1950.
General characteristics
-
Crew:
4
-
Length:
13.80 m (45 ft 3 in)
-
Wingspan:
18.86 m (61 ft 10 in)
-
Height:
4.13 m (13 ft 7 in)
-
Wing area:
48.5 m² (522 ft²)
-
Empty weight:
7,601 kg (16,757 lb)
-
Loaded weight:
10,538 kg (23,232 lb)
-
Max takeoff weight:
11,768 kg (25,944 lb)
-
Powerplant:
2× Shvetsov ASh-82
![[Shvetsov_ASh-82FN-radial]](images/aircraft/russian/Engines/Shvetsov_ASh-82FN-radial-thumb.JPG) radial engines, 1,380 kW
(1,850 hp) each
Performance
-
Maximum speed:
521 km/h (281 kt, 325 mph)
-
Range:
2,020 km (1,090 nm, 1,260 mi)
-
Service ceiling
9,000 m (30,000 ft)
-
Rate of climb:
8.2 m/s (1,610 ft/min)
-
Wing loading:
217 kg/m² (45 lb/ft²)
-
Power/mass:
260 W/kg (0.16 hp/lb)
Armament
-
Guns:
-
2× 20 mm (0.79 in) fixed forward-firing
ShVAK cannons in the wings
-
3× 7.62 mm (0.30 in) rear-firing ShKAS
machine guns (later replaced by 12.7 mm
(0.50 in)Berezin UB machine guns) in the
canopy, dorsal and ventral hatches.
-
Bombs:
-
Internal 1,500 kg (3,300 lb)
-
External 2,270 kg (5,000 lb)
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