aircraft, Soviet
Publié le 22/02/2012
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That the German military aircraft industry entered
World War II with innovative and devastatingly
effective designs surprised no one, but little was
expected of the Soviets. While it is true that some
Soviet aircraft designs were obsolescent or even
obsolete at the outbreak of war, the nation also
produced a number of superb aircraft.
Ilyushin II-4. Among the bombers, only the
major Soviet model is generally classified as a heavy
bomber. The twin-engine Ilyushin II-4 was a
superb aircraft, with more than 5,000 produced
between 1937 and 1944, mostly during the final
three years of production. The prototype design
dates to 1935, and hard lessons learned during the
Red Army invasion of Finland during 1939–40
resulted in improvements to armor protection.
Nevertheless, later models of the aircraft replaced
many metal parts with wood, which was easier to
come by during the war. The II-4 served with the
Red Army Air Force as well as with Soviet Naval
Aviation, and it was naval pilots who flew the first
Soviet air raids over Berlin on August 8, 1941. The
aircraft served to the end of the war, although in
the final months its age was showing, and it was
relegated mainly to glider towing.
General specifications of the II-4 included two
1,100-horsepower M-88B radial piston engines, a
wingspan of 70 feet 4 ¼ inches, and a top speed of
255 miles per hour. Service ceiling was 32,810 feet.
Defensive armament consisted of 0.5-inch machine
guns in the nose, in a dorsal turret, and in ventral
positions. The II-4 carried up to 2,205 pounds of
bombs or three 1,102-pound torpedoes and was
crewed by four.
Like the Germans, the Soviets produced more
light to medium bombers than heavy bombers.
The three most important were the Tupolev SB-2,
the Tupolev Tu-2, and the Petlyakov Pe-2.
Tupolev SB-2. Familiarly called the Katyusha,
the Tupolev SB-2 was first flown on October 7,
1933. Intended as a high-speed bomber, it was at
the time one of the Tupolev organization's most
advanced designs, based on a heavy fighter airframe
rather than a bomber. Construction was all
metal and, in service during the Spanish civil war,
24 aircraft, Polish
its 255-mile-per-hour speed outflew many enemy
fighters—until the appearance of the German Bf-
109 fighter. A total of 6,656 SB-2s were built up to
1940, and some remained in service until 1943,
despite heavy losses to the Bf-109s.
The SB-2 was driven by twin 850-horsepower
M100 V-12 piston engines to a top speed of 255
miles per hour and a service ceiling of 27,885 feet.
Its range was a modest 746 miles. Wingspan was 66
feet 8 ½ inches, and defensive armament consisted
of two 0.3-inch machine guns in a nose turret, one
in a dorsal turret, and one in the ventral position.
Bomb capacity was 2,205 pounds, and the plane
was crewed by three.
Tupolev Tu-2. First flown in October 1940, the
Tupolev Tu-2 went into production beginning in
1942 and, with the Petlyakov Pe-2, emerged as the
most important Soviet bomber of the war. This
medium bomber had a maximum speed of 342
miles per hour and had a range of 1,243 miles. It
was 45 feet 3 inches long with a wingspan of 61 feet
10 inches. Bomb load was an impressive 6,614
pounds. Along with the Petlyakov Pe-2, the Tupolev
Tu-2 was used in large numbers during the war,
and some of these aircraft remained in Soviet service
during the postwar years, flying in the Korean
War with North Korean forces. During the early
1960s, the Tu-2 continued to fly with the Chinese
air force and with the air forces of other communist
countries. Its general specifications included a
power plant consisting of two Shvetsov Ash-82fn
1,850-horsepower 14 cylinder radial engines making
a rop speed of 342 miles per hour over a range
of 1,553 miles. Defensive armament was two 20-
mm ShVAK cannon in wing roots and three 0.5-
inch UBT machine guns, two in dorsal positions
and one in the ventral position. As mentioned, the
bomb load was 6,614 pounds. The aircraft was
crewed by four.
Petlyakov Pe-2. This aircraft was produced in a
light-bomber configuration and, like the Pe-3, in a
fighter configuration. The Pe-2 is generally judged
the most important light Soviet bomber of the war,
and a total of 11,427 Pe-2s and Pe-3s were produced.
By the time of the invasion of the Soviet
Union on June 22, 1941, only a few hundred Pe-2s
had come off the assembly lines. As they reached
the front in greater numbers, however, German
fighter pilots despaired, because the fast and nimble
aircraft was difficult to catch and destroy. The
Pe-2 benefitted from continual improvements
made in direct response to meetings with frontline
pilots. By late 1942, more crew armor and better
armament had been added. The ShKAS
7.62- mm dorsal and ventral guns were replaced by
Berezin UBT 12.7-mm guns. A turret replaced the
hand-held dorsal gun position, and the nose was
redesigned to enhance bombardier protection and
efficiency.
The final specifications for the aircraft included
two 1,100-horsepower Klimov M-105R V-12 piston
engines, which made a top speed of 335 miles
per hour. Wingspan was 56 feet 3.5 inches, and service
ceiling 28,900 feet. For a light bomber, range
was excellent at 932 miles. Bomb load was 2,646
pounds, and the plane was crewed by three.
The Red Air Force suffered devastating losses
during the opening weeks of the German invasion.
Many planes were destroyed on the ground, while
others, mostly obsolete or obsolescent, were shot
out of the skies by superior German fighters.
American and British aircraft were rushed to the
Soviets to help make up for the losses, even as the
Soviet aircraft industry went into high gear and
began turning out some excellent fighters. Certainly,
the early losses were devastating, but they
also forced a rapid modernization of the Red air
force, which threw impressive designs into the fray.
Lavochkin LaGG-3. First flown on March 30,
1940, the Lavochkin LaGG-3 was a refinement of
the earlier, grossly underpowered LaGG-1. Built
mainly of wood, the LaGG-3 was produced in great
quantity (6,528) until mid-1942. Like its predecessor,
it was still somewhat underpowered, and pilots
grimly dubbed the wooden plane the "Guaranteed
Varnished Coffin." Nevertheless, and despite its
construction materials, it was remarkably durable
and could survive very substantial battle damage.
General specifications included a power plant consisting
of the 1,050-horsepower Klimov M-105P
liquid-cooled in-line engine, which made for a top
speed of 357 miles per hour. Service ceiling was
aircraft, Soviet 25
31,825 feet, and maximum range was 404 miles.
The aircraft had a wingspan of 32 feet 1 inch.
Armament typically consisted of two 12.7-mm
UBS machine guns mounted in the engine cowling
and one ShVAK 20-mm cannon firing through the
streamlined propeller hub. The LaGG-3 could
carry six 3.23-inch rockets or 440 pounds of
bombs.
Lavochkin La-5 and La-7. As the LaGG-3 was an
evolutionary improvement on the LaGG-1, the La-
5 and La-7, also from Lavochkin, developed from
the LaGG-3. Like its predecessor, the La-5 was
made chiefly of wood, but it was designed to
accommodate the Shvetsov M-82F radial engine,
which produced 1,330 horsepower and drove the
plane to nearly 400 miles per hour, making it a
match for the best German fighters. Production on
the new aircraft began about July 1942, and it
proved quite successful. In 1943, Lavochkin added
a new power plant, the M-82FN direct-injection
engine, which developed 1,630 horsepower and
pushed the aircraft beyond 400 miles per hour. The
modified plane was designated the La-5FN. Its general
specifications included the 1,630-horsepower
M-82FN radial engine for a top speed of 402 miles
per hour and a service ceiling of 36,089 feet. Range
was 475 miles, and wingspan was 32 feet 1 inch.
Armament included a pair of 20-mm nose cannon
and four 8.2-cm RS-82 rockets or 150 kilos of
bombs.
The Lavochkin La-7 pushed the envelope even
farther with yet another high-performance ASh-
82FN engine, which made speeds of 423 miles
per hour. The La-7 was introduced in 1944, when
the Soviets had already achieved air supremacy
over most of the vast eastern front. Except for the
new engine, it was in other respects identical to
the La-5FN.
MiG-3. Before the end of World War II and well
into the postwar and cold war era, "MiG" would be
one of the most widely recognized names in fighter
aircraft design. It stands for Mikoyan-Gurevich,
and the design team's MiG-3 earned a reputation
for extraordinary performance—top speed of 398
miles per hour with a very rapid climb rate of
nearly 4,000 feet per minute—that was tempered
by the difficulty pilots had handling the machine
and its inherently poor armament. Despite its high
speed, it could barely hold its own against the German
Bf-109.
The MiG-3 went into production in December
1940 and reached the front line fighter squadrons
in April 1941. Production continued through
December 1941, by which time it had reached
some 3,120 aircraft. General specifications included
a power plant consisting of a 1,350-horsepower
Mikulin AM-35A liquid-cooled V-12 engine, which
made 398 miles per hour. Wingspan was 33 feet
5 ½ inches, range 743 miles, and service ceiling
39,370 feet. Armament consisted of a single 12.7-mm
machine gun and two 7.62-mm machine guns in
the upper nose cowl. Some aircraft were also
equipped with a pair of 12.7-mm machine guns
mounted under the wings.
Yakovlev Yak series. The Yakovlev Yak series
(Yak-1, Yak-3, Yak-7, and Yak-9) was so successful
that a staggering 37,000 were produced during
World War II, most of them Yak-9s. The Yak-1 first
flew in January 1940, and the Yak-9 went into production
in summer 1942. It was produced in several
specialized variants, the most important of
which were the Yak-9T, a ground-attack antitank
version; Yak-9B, a fighter-bomber version; Yak-9D,
a long-range fighter; Yak-9DD, a very-long-range
fighter escort, and Yak-9U, the final evolutionary
step of the type, which reached a speed of 435 miles
per hour and could easily outperform the Bf-109
and, indeed, anything else the German could throw
at it. General specifications of the Yak-9U included
a 1,650-horsepower Klimov VK-107A V-12 piston
engine, making 435 miles per hour. Wingspan was
32 feet 0.75 inches, and service ceiling was 39,040
feet. The fighter had a range of 541 miles. The Yak-
9U was armed with one engine-mounted 20-mm
MP-20 cannon and two 12.7-mm UBS machine
guns. It could carry two 220-pound bombs on
underwing racks.
Ilyushin Il-2. For the close air support or
ground-attack role, the Red Air Force used the Lavochkin
La-5 and La-7 fighters but also flew two
more specialized aircraft, the Ilyushin Il-2 and the
Sukhoi Su-2.
26 aircraft, Soviet
The Ilyushin Il-2 was produced in a remarkable
quantity of 36,163, according to Soviet historians.
The design dates to 1938, when it was conceived as
a two-seat aircraft, but it was a lighter single-seat
design that first flew, on October 12, 1940. The aircraft
proved highly effective against German transport
vehicles and tanks, although it was highly
vulnerable to fighter attack. In February 1942,
therefore, the two-seat design was resurrected, the
second seat occupied by a rear-facing gunner who
defended against air attack. A version of the aircraft
survived World War II and was used in the Korean
War. General specifications included a power plant
consisting of one 1,700-horsepower Mikulin AM-
38F liquid-cooled inline piston engine making a
modest top speed of 251 miles per hour—adequate
for ground attack. Wingspan was 47 feet 10 ¾
inches. Service ceiling was 19,500 feet, and range
was 375 miles. Typical armament included two 37-
mm machine guns and two 7.62-mm guns, all
wing mounted; one 12.7-mm machine gun was
fired from the rear cockpit. Bomb load consisted of
up to 200 5.5-pound hollow-charge antitank
bombs or eight RS-82 or RS-132 rockets.
Sukhoi Su-2. The Sukhoi Su-2 was produced
from early in the war until about 1942 but was
badly mauled by German fighters, despite the inclusion
of a rear-facing defensive gunner. Late model
specifications included one 1,520-horsepower
Shvetsov M82 air-cooled radial piston engine, which
made for a top speed of 302 miles per hour. Wingspan
was 46 feet 11 inches, and service ceiling
28,870 feet. Armament consisted of four forwardfiring
7.62-mm wing-mounted machine guns and
one or two machine guns in a dorsal turret. The Su-
2 could deliver 882 pounds of bombs.
Further reading: Gordon, Yefim, and Dmitry Khazanov.
Soviet Fighters and Bombers of WW II. Osceola, Wis.:
Motorbooks International, 1993; Gordon, Yefim, and
Dmitry Khazanov. Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second
World War: Twin-Engined Fighters, Attack Aircraft
and Bombers. Osceola, Wis.: Motorbooks International,
1999; Hardesty, Von. Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet
Air Power, 1941–1945. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian
Books, 1991.
Liens utiles
- soviet.
- Lockheed Aircraft Company.
- Vladimir Lenin I INTRODUCTION Vladimir Lenin (1870-1924), Russian revolutionary leader and theorist, who presided over the first government of Soviet Russia and then that of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
- A former Eastern block country, which opposed Soviet power from the 1980s, in 1990 Poland moved to a market economy.
- A former Soviet Republic, Moldavia achieved a difficult independence in 1991.