Soviet Il-2 ''Flying Gustav'' Fighter

By Crusader1307

One of the most effective combat Fighters of World War II, was The Soviet built ilyushin-2. Nicknamed "Black Death" and "Flying Gustav", Allied Pilots called her "The Flying Tank". And "Tank" was an apt reference. The ilyushin-2 featured 0.5 inches of steel Armor plating (especially around it's engine Cowl and around the Cockpit. A stout design, it was 40 feet in length with a 47 foot wingspan. The ilyushin-2 had a 300 mph airspeed. It featured twin 23mm wing cannons, sided by twin 12.7mm Machine Guns. A twin, rear mounted Cockpit Machine Gun (also in the 12.7mm variety), completed the armaments. The primary weapon of deployment was up to 2,200 pounds of munitions (or wing mounted rockets). Known as a "Tank Buster", The ilyushin-2 specifically flew as close as 200 feet off the ground to deploy it's payload (straight line drop tactic). It's most aggressive Battle was over Kursk, Russia in 1943, when a detachment of 30 ilyushin-2 Fighters destroyed 70 Panzers. An estimated 36,000 were produced. With 7 variants made, The ilyushin-2 was deployed into the early 1950s.