The Ilyushin Il-2 was a Soviet ground attack aircraft. The design was very successful, as the planes were essensial to the Red Army's campaign to push the Germans back to Berlin. It´s NATO codename was "Bark", the Soviets nicknamed it the "Flying tank" or "Ilyusha". With 36,163 built aircraft it is one of the most produced aircraft in the world. It´s main role was to destroy armored ground targets, such as tanks. It was first flown on
the 2nd of October 1939 and entered service in March 1941.
Details[]
- Length: 38 FT 1 In
- Wingspan: 47 FT 11In
- Maximum Speed: 257 MPH
- Range: 450 Miles
- Armament: Two fixed forward firing 23 mm VYa-23 cannons, two fixed forward firing 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, one 12.7mm Berezin UBT machine gun in a rearward mounted turret. Up to 600 Kg of bombs, or 8 RS-82 Rockets.