Ilushin Il-2 Sturmovik was a ground attack aircraft in the Second World War. This 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. IL-2 was heavily armored, and proved that it could take a great deal of punishment which made it a difficult target for both ground and aircraft fire to shut down. German troops called IL-2 the “Black Death” while German fighter pilots called it the “Concrete Bomber”.
It was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers, a total of 36,163 Sturmoviks were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in all of aviation history, as well as the third most produced aircraft in history of aviation. . .
IL-2 also had rear gunners, gunners were not provided with either armour protection, or allegedly parachutes and relied entirely on their machine guns to ensure their own survival. The death rate among the air gunners was exceptionally high. In his book “Inside the Soviet Army” Viktor Suvorov alleges that a lack of rear gunner protection was a deliberate governmental policy. Air gunners companies were essentially made up of prisoners who were accused of being “enemies of socialism” or “enemies of the people” and according to Suvorov, prisoners who survived could theoretically clear their sentences after nine missions. What matters most though, is that this amazing airplane and heroic pilots and air gunners who operated it, made history and helped USSR defeat the NAZI Germany through their courage, achievements, and sacrifice…
via wikipedia.org, sukchoj.com, antraspasaulinis.net, mo-na-ko.net, wio.ru, globalaircraft.org, vvs.hobbyvista.com.
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