Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik

The Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik was the most-produced military aircraft in history, and the aircraft that Soviet soldiers loved most. Built in numbers unmatched by any other combat aircraft — about 36,000 to 36,200, depending on the source — the Il-2 was a heavily armoured ground-attack aircraft designed to fly low over the battlefield, destroy German tanks, artillery, and transport, and survive the hail of fire that rose to meet it. Soviet troops called it the “Flying Tank”, and German soldiers called it the “Black Death” and the “Concrete Aircraft”, because it seemed impossible to shoot down. The Il-2 flew in every major Soviet operation of the war, from the defence of Moscow in 1941 to the Battle of Berlin in 1945, and it became a symbol of Soviet air power and of the Soviet Union’s industrial might. Its designer, Sergey Ilyushin, created an aircraft that was not fast, not elegant, and not easy to fly, but that was exactly what the Red Army needed: a tough, simple, heavily armed aircraft that could be built in enormous numbers and flown by pilots with minimal training.

1. Key Facts

Role	Ground-attack aircraft
First flight	2 October 1939 (TsKB-55 prototype)
Introduced	1941
Number built	About 36,000–36,200 (the most-produced military aircraft in history)
Crew	1 (early versions); 2 (Il-2M3 onwards, with a rear gunner)
Engine	Mikulin AM-38F 12-cylinder liquid-cooled V-12, 1,770 hp
Max speed	About 410 km/h (255 mph) at low altitude
Range	About 765 km (475 miles)
Armament	2 × 23 mm VYa cannons, 2 × 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, 1 × 12.7 mm UBT rear gun (two-seat versions); up to 600 kg of bombs and 8 RS-82 or RS-132 rockets
Operators	Soviet Union (VVS); also Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and others after the war
Fate	Retired from Soviet service in the 1950s; replaced by the Il-10

2. Development

Origins and the Armoured Concept

The Il-2’s origins lay in a 1938 requirement from the Soviet Air Force for a heavily armoured ground-attack aircraft that could support the Red Army in the field. Sergey Ilyushin’s design bureau responded with a radical idea: instead of adding armour plates to a conventional airframe, the armour itself would be the airframe. The Il-2’s engine, cockpit, fuel tanks, and radiators were enclosed in a single armoured “bathtub” made of riveted steel plate, 4 to 12 mm thick, that formed the load-bearing structure of the forward fuselage. The armoured shell weighed about 700 kg, but it protected the pilot and the engine from ground fire, and it made the aircraft extraordinarily tough. The first prototype, the TsKB-55, flew on 2 October 1939, and it was followed by the improved TsKB-57 with a more powerful engine. The Soviet leadership was impressed, and the Il-2 was ordered into production in 1940.

From Single-Seat to Two-Seat

The first production Il-2s were single-seat aircraft, with no rear gunner and no defence against fighters attacking from behind. This was a serious weakness, and it was exposed in the first months of the war, when German fighters shot down Il-2s in large numbers by attacking from the rear. The problem was so severe that Joseph Stalin personally intervened, sending a famous telegram to the aircraft factories in December 1941 demanding more Il-2s and accusing the factories of failing the Red Army. In 1942, the Il-2 was redesigned as a two-seat aircraft, the Il-2M, with a rear gunner armed with a 12.7 mm UBT heavy machine gun. The rear gunner sat in a cramped, unarmoured position behind the pilot, and his life expectancy was short, but his presence made German fighter pilots think twice before attacking from behind. The two-seat version became the standard, and it was the aircraft that fought at Stalingrad and Kursk.

Production on a Massive Scale

The Il-2 was built in numbers that no other combat aircraft has ever matched. Production was centred on the factories at Voronezh, Kuibyshev (Samara), and Moscow, and at its peak the Soviet Union was building more than 1,000 Il-2s a month. The total production of about 36,000 to 36,200 aircraft makes the Il-2 the most-produced military aircraft in history, ahead of the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (about 35,000) and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 (about 20,000). The scale of production was possible because the Il-2 was designed for simplicity: its wooden rear fuselage could be built by furniture factories, its engine was already in production, and its armament was standard Soviet equipment. The Il-2 was not a sophisticated aircraft, but it was an aircraft that Soviet industry could build in the numbers the war demanded.

The AM-38 Engine

The Il-2’s engine, the Mikulin AM-38, was a 12-cylinder liquid-cooled V-12 that produced 1,770 hp in the AM-38F version fitted to the Il-2M3. The engine was powerful and reliable, but it was also heavy and thirsty, and it gave the Il-2 a modest top speed of about 410 km/h. The engine’s location inside the armoured bathtub protected it from ground fire, but it also made it difficult to service, and the Il-2’s mechanics had to work in cramped conditions to maintain it. The AM-38 was a development of the AM-35 engine used in the MiG-3 fighter, and it was one of the most successful Soviet engines of the war. Later versions of the Il-2, including the Il-2M3 and the Il-10, used improved versions of the same engine.

3. Design

The Armoured Bathtub

The Il-2’s defining feature was its armoured shell, a riveted steel structure that enclosed the engine, the cockpit, the fuel tanks, and the oil cooler. The armour was 4 to 12 mm thick, with the thickest plates around the cockpit and the engine, and it accounted for about 15 percent of the aircraft’s empty weight. The armoured shell was not just protection; it was the primary structure of the forward fuselage, and the wings and the rear fuselage were attached to it. The design was so effective that German 20 mm cannon shells often bounced off the Il-2’s armour, and the aircraft could absorb extraordinary amounts of damage and keep flying. Soviet pilots reported returning to base with dozens of bullet holes, with wings shredded and control surfaces damaged, and the Il-2’s toughness became legendary. The price was weight: the Il-2 was heavy, slow, and sluggish, but its pilots accepted these limitations because the armour kept them alive.

Wings, Tail, and Handling

The Il-2’s wings were a conventional low-wing design with a span of 14.60 metres, and they carried the aircraft’s main armament — two 23 mm cannons and two 7.62 mm machine guns — as well as racks for bombs and rockets. The rear fuselage and tail were made of wood, with plywood skinning, to save weight and aluminium. The aircraft’s handling was heavy and demanding: the controls were stiff, the aircraft was slow to respond, and it required constant attention to fly straight and level. Pilots joked that the Il-2 was not flown but driven, like a truck, and that it took a strong pilot to wrestle it through a mission. But the Il-2’s stability was also an asset in ground attack: it was a steady gun platform, and its pilots could aim their cannons and rockets accurately at ground targets.

Cockpit and Crew

The Il-2’s cockpit was spartan and functional, with basic instruments, a simple gunsight, and little comfort. The pilot sat in the armoured bathtub, with armoured glass in front of him and steel plate around him, and his view to the rear was poor. In the two-seat version, the rear gunner sat behind the pilot in an open, unarmoured position, exposed to the slipstream and to enemy fire. The rear gunner’s job was to watch for German fighters and to fire the 12.7 mm UBT machine gun at them, but his position was so exposed that his casualty rate was among the highest of any Soviet aircrew. The Il-2’s crew worked as a team: the pilot flew the aircraft and aimed the forward guns, while the gunner protected the rear and called out targets. The bond between Il-2 pilots and their gunners was strong, because each man’s life depended on the other.

4. Technical Specifications

The figures below are for the Il-2M3, the definitive wartime version, and are typical values from Soviet manuals and post-war reference works. Earlier versions had lower performance, and individual aircraft varied.

	Il-2M3
Length	11.65 m (38 ft 3 in)
Wingspan	14.60 m (47 ft 11 in)
Height	4.17 m (13 ft 8 in)
Wing area	38.5 sq m (414 sq ft)
Empty weight	4,360 kg (9,612 lb)
Loaded weight	6,160 kg (13,580 lb)
Max takeoff weight	6,360 kg (14,021 lb)
Engine	Mikulin AM-38F V-12, 1,770 hp
Max speed	410 km/h (255 mph) at low altitude
Range	765 km (475 miles)
Service ceiling	5,500 m (18,000 ft)

Dimensions and Weights

The Il-2 was a large, heavy aircraft for a single-engine type, with a loaded weight of about 6,160 kg — heavier than many twin-engine bombers. Its weight reflected its armour, its heavy armament, and its large fuel capacity. The aircraft’s wing loading was high, which made it stable in the attack but sluggish in manoeuvre, and its low speed made it vulnerable to fighters. The Il-2’s fuel capacity was about 730 litres, enough for a range of 765 km, which was adequate for the short-range tactical missions it flew. The aircraft’s size and weight were the price of its toughness: the Il-2 was built to survive, not to be fast, and its designers accepted the trade-off.

Performance in Ground Attack

The Il-2’s performance was modest by fighter standards, but it was adequate for its role. Its top speed of 410 km/h was faster than most German ground-attack aircraft, and its low-altitude handling was good enough for precise attacks on tanks, artillery, and transport. The Il-2 typically attacked in a shallow dive from 200 to 300 metres, firing its cannons and rockets and dropping its bombs in a single pass, then pulling up and turning for another attack. The aircraft’s armour allowed it to fly through heavy anti-aircraft fire, and its pilots learned to attack at very low altitude, where German anti-aircraft guns had difficulty tracking them. The Il-2’s performance was not impressive on paper, but in the hands of a skilled pilot it was devastating on the battlefield.

5. Armament

Cannons and Machine Guns

The Il-2M3’s main armament was two 23 mm VYa cannons, one in each wing, with 150 rounds per gun, and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns with 750 rounds per gun. The VYa cannon was a powerful weapon, capable of penetrating the thin top armour of German tanks and destroying soft-skinned vehicles, artillery, and transport. Soviet pilots valued the VYa’s destructive power, and the cannon became the Il-2’s signature weapon. The ShKAS machine guns were used against soft targets and for suppressing anti-aircraft guns. The rear gunner in the two-seat version was armed with a 12.7 mm UBT heavy machine gun, which was effective against fighters attacking from behind. The Il-2’s forward armament was concentrated in the wings and fired along the aircraft’s line of flight, which made aiming simple and accurate.

Bombs, Rockets, and Anti-Tank Weapons

The Il-2 could carry up to 600 kg of bombs on underwing racks, typically six 100 kg bombs or four 250 kg bombs, and it could also carry eight RS-82 or RS-132 unguided rockets. The rockets were particularly useful against tanks and transport, although their accuracy was poor. Later in the war, the Il-2 was fitted with PTAB anti-tank bomblets — small, shaped-charge bomblets that could penetrate tank armour — and these were devastating against German armoured columns. A single Il-2 could carry nearly 200 PTAB bomblets, and a formation of Il-2s could destroy an entire tank column in a single pass. The PTAB was one of the most effective anti-tank weapons of the war, and it made the Il-2 the most feared aircraft on the Eastern Front from the German soldier’s point of view.

6. Variants

Il-2, Il-2M, and Il-2M3

The Il-2 went through a continuous process of improvement during the war. The first production version, the Il-2, was a single-seat aircraft with two 20 mm ShVAK cannons and a 1,600 hp AM-38 engine. The Il-2M, introduced in 1942, was a two-seat version with a rear gunner and a more powerful engine. The Il-2M3, introduced in 1943, was the definitive version, with swept-back outer wing panels, a more powerful AM-38F engine, and two 23 mm VYa cannons replacing the 20 mm ShVAKs. The Il-2M3 was faster, better armed, and more manoeuvrable than earlier versions, and it remained in production until the end of the war. About 36,000 Il-2s of all versions were built, making it the most-produced military aircraft in history.

Il-10 and Other Developments

The Il-2’s successor was the Ilyushin Il-10, a redesigned ground-attack aircraft with a more powerful engine, better aerodynamics, and heavier armament. The Il-10 entered service in 1944 and fought in the final months of the war, but it did not replace the Il-2, which remained in production until 1945. After the war, the Il-10 replaced the Il-2 in Soviet service and was exported to the Soviet Union’s allies. Other developments of the Il-2 included a two-seat trainer version and a torpedo-bomber version for naval aviation, but neither of these was built in large numbers. The Il-2’s design was so successful that it remained the basis for Soviet ground-attack aircraft until the jet age.

7. Combat Record

The Defence of Moscow and Stalingrad

The Il-2 entered combat in the summer of 1941, just as the German invasion of the Soviet Union was reaching its peak. The first Il-2 units flew in the defence of Moscow, attacking German tank columns and transport on the roads to the capital. Losses were heavy, because the single-seat Il-2 had no defence against German fighters, and many aircraft were shot down. But the Il-2’s attacks slowed the German advance and gave the Soviet Union time to bring up reinforcements. At Stalingrad in 1942–1943, the two-seat Il-2M became the Red Army’s main weapon against German armour, and Il-2 regiments flew hundreds of sorties a day in support of the Soviet counter-offensive. The Il-2’s attacks on German supply columns and airfields were a major factor in the encirclement and destruction of the German Sixth Army.

The Battle of Kursk

The Battle of Kursk in July 1943 was the Il-2’s finest hour. In the largest tank battle in history, Il-2 regiments attacked German armoured columns with cannons, rockets, and PTAB anti-tank bomblets, destroying hundreds of tanks and vehicles. On 7 July 1943, a single day of fighting, Il-2s claimed the destruction of 70 German tanks in one sector alone, and over the course of the battle they destroyed thousands of German vehicles. The Il-2’s attacks were so effective that German tank crews learned to fear the sound of its engine, and German commanders complained that their armour could not move in daylight without Il-2s appearing overhead. Kursk was the turning point of the war on the Eastern Front, and the Il-2 was at the centre of it.

Bagration, Berlin, and the End of the War

After Kursk, the Il-2 flew in every major Soviet offensive, from Operation Bagration in Belorussia in the summer of 1944 to the Vistula-Oder offensive and the Battle of Berlin in 1945. In Operation Bagration, Il-2 regiments destroyed German transport and artillery, and their attacks on retreating German columns turned the retreat into a rout. In the Battle of Berlin, Il-2s flew low over the city, attacking German strongpoints and supporting the Soviet infantry in street fighting. By the end of the war, Il-2 pilots had flown more than 100,000 sorties and had destroyed thousands of German tanks, guns, and vehicles. The Il-2’s losses were heavy — about 10,000 aircraft were lost in combat — but the Soviet Union could replace them, and the Il-2 kept flying until the last day of the war.

8. Operators

Soviet Service

The Il-2 served overwhelmingly with the Soviet Air Force, the VVS, and with Soviet naval aviation. At its peak, the Il-2 equipped more than 100 regiments, and it was the most numerous aircraft in the Soviet Air Force. Il-2 regiments were organised into ground-attack divisions, each with three regiments of about 30 aircraft, and they were attached to the front-line armies they supported. The Il-2’s pilots were drawn from all parts of the Soviet Union, and many of them were young men with minimal training, but they learned their trade quickly and became effective ground-attack pilots. The Il-2’s service with the VVS was the largest and most important air-ground cooperation effort of the war, and it set the pattern for Soviet close air support for decades afterwards.

Other Users and Post-War Service

After the war, the Il-2 was supplied to the air forces of the Soviet Union’s allies, including Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, and Hungary. These aircraft served as ground-attack aircraft and trainers into the 1950s, when they were replaced by the Il-10 and by jet aircraft. The Il-2 also served with the air forces of Mongolia and North Korea, and a small number were used by the Polish Air Force in the final months of the war. The Il-2’s post-war career was short, because the Soviet Union moved rapidly to jet aircraft after 1945, but its influence on Soviet air doctrine was lasting: the Soviet Union continued to build dedicated ground-attack aircraft, culminating in the Sukhoi Su-25, which is still in service today.

9. Legacy

Assessment

The Il-2’s legacy is that it was the most important ground-attack aircraft of the Second World War, and the most-produced military aircraft in history. Its armoured design was revolutionary, and it showed that an aircraft built to survive ground fire could be more effective than a faster, more agile aircraft that could not. The Il-2’s success at Kursk and in the later Soviet offensives proved the value of close air support, and it influenced the design of ground-attack aircraft for decades afterwards. The Il-2 was not a beautiful aircraft, and it was not a pleasant aircraft to fly, but it was exactly what the Red Army needed: a tough, simple, heavily armed aircraft that could be built in enormous numbers and flown by ordinary pilots. Historians generally rank the Il-2 as one of the most important aircraft of the war, not because it was the best, but because it was the most effective.

Survivors and Memory

Very few original Il-2s survive today, because most were scrapped after the war and the wooden rear fuselages deteriorated quickly. The Central Air Force Museum at Monino preserves an Il-2, and there are examples in museums in Russia, the United States, and Serbia. In recent years, several Il-2s have been recovered from crash sites and lakes in Russia and restored to flying condition, and these aircraft now fly at airshows. The Il-2 is remembered in Russia as a symbol of the Great Patriotic War, and it appears in films, monuments, and museums across the country. For Soviet veterans, the Il-2 was the aircraft that saved the Red Army, and its memory is honoured in the same way as the T-34 tank. The Il-2’s nickname, the “Flying Tank”, captures its place in history: it was not just an aircraft, but a weapon of the ground war.

10. FAQ

How many Il-2s were built?

About 36,000 to 36,200 Il-2s were built, making it the most-produced military aircraft in history. The exact figure varies by source, because production records are incomplete, but all sources agree that the total was about 36,000 aircraft. This total is ahead of the Messerschmitt Bf 109, with about 35,000 built, and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, with about 20,000. Production was centred on the factories at Voronezh, Kuibyshev, and Moscow, and at its peak the Soviet Union was building more than 1,000 Il-2s a month. The scale of production was possible because the Il-2 was designed for simplicity, with a wooden rear fuselage that could be built by furniture factories.

Why was the Il-2 called the Flying Tank?

Soviet soldiers called the Il-2 the “Flying Tank” because of its heavy armour and its role in supporting the Red Army on the battlefield. The aircraft’s armoured shell protected it from ground fire in the same way that a tank’s armour protected it, and the Il-2 attacked the same targets as tanks did: enemy armour, artillery, and transport. German soldiers had their own names for the aircraft: they called it the “Black Death” and the “Concrete Aircraft”, because it seemed impossible to shoot down. The nickname captures the Il-2’s place in the war: it was not just an aircraft, but a weapon of the ground battle, flying low over the battlefield where the fighting was.

Was the Il-2 really impossible to shoot down?

No, but it was very hard to shoot down. German pilots found that their 20 mm cannon shells often bounced off the Il-2’s armour, and that the aircraft could absorb extraordinary damage and keep flying. Soviet pilots reported returning to base with dozens of bullet holes, with wings shredded and control surfaces damaged. About 10,000 Il-2s were lost in combat, a heavy toll, but the Soviet Union built so many that the losses could be replaced. The two-seat version’s rear gunner also made German fighters think twice before attacking from behind. The Il-2 was not invulnerable, but it was the toughest aircraft on the Eastern Front.

What was the Il-2’s main weapon against tanks?

The Il-2’s main anti-tank weapons were its two 23 mm VYa cannons and its PTAB anti-tank bomblets. The VYa cannon could penetrate the thin top armour of German tanks, and it was effective against soft-skinned vehicles, artillery, and transport as well. The PTAB bomblets were small, shaped-charge weapons that could penetrate tank armour from above: a single Il-2 could carry nearly 200 of them, and a formation of Il-2s could destroy an entire tank column in a single pass. The PTAB was one of the most effective anti-tank weapons of the war, and it made the Il-2 the most feared aircraft on the Eastern Front from the German soldier’s point of view.

Who designed the Il-2?

The Il-2 was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his design bureau. Ilyushin was one of the Soviet Union’s leading aircraft designers, and the Il-2 was his most famous design. His bureau had responded to a 1938 requirement for a heavily armoured ground-attack aircraft with the radical idea of making the armour itself the airframe, a concept that proved brilliantly successful. Ilyushin’s bureau later designed the Il-10, the Il-2’s successor, and the Il-28 jet bomber. Ilyushin himself became one of the most honoured designers in the Soviet Union, and his name is still associated with the Il-2 in Russian memory.

What replaced the Il-2?

The Il-2 was replaced in Soviet service by the Ilyushin Il-10, a redesigned ground-attack aircraft with a more powerful engine, better aerodynamics, and heavier armament. The Il-10 entered service in 1944 and fought in the final months of the war, but it did not replace the Il-2 immediately: the Il-2 remained in production until 1945, and both types served side by side. After the war, the Il-10 replaced the Il-2 in Soviet service and was exported to the Soviet Union’s allies, serving into the 1950s. The Soviet Union continued to build dedicated ground-attack aircraft, culminating in the Sukhoi Su-25, which is still in service today.

11. Sources

• Il-2 general histories, including accounts of the aircraft’s development, production, and combat service on the Eastern Front.
• Soviet Air Force records and production figures for the Il-2 series, as summarised in standard reference works on Soviet aircraft of the Second World War.
• Gordon, Yefim and Khazanov, Dmitri, Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War, Volume Two: Twin-Engined Fighters, Attack Aircraft and Bombers.
• Hardesty, Von, Red Phoenix: The Rise of Soviet Air Power, 1941–1945.
• Bergstrom, Christer, works on the air war on the Eastern Front, including the battles of Stalingrad and Kursk.
• Wikipedia, “Ilyushin Il-2”, consulted for production figures and technical data, cross-checked against specialist sources.