10. WWII’s Most Successful Ground Attack Airplane Was Not the Stuka, But the Sturmovik
The Soviet Il-2 Sturmovik ground attack bomber’s most distinguishing feature was a 1500 lbs armored tub that protected the pilot, engine, fuel tank, and radiator. That made it one of the toughest airplanes of its day, nearly impervious to bullets and 20 mm cannon fire from below. Armed with two 23mm cannons, two machine guns, and loaded with up to 1300 lbs of bombs plus 12 rockets, the Sturmovik carried a devastating punch. A punch that became stronger in 1943, with the introduction of shaped charge bomblets weighing 3.3 lbs, capable of penetrating the thinner armor atop German tanks, and which the Il-2s carried in clusters of 192 to shower on enemy columns.
Germans came to dread the Sturmovik’s “Circle of Death”, in which groups of 8 or more Il-2s circled a ground target, each protecting the one ahead with its forward firing machine guns and cannons from enemy fighters, taking turns to dive and attack, then rejoin the circle to allow another Il-2 its turn. When production numbers dipped, Stalin wrote those responsible ” Our Red Army now needs IL-2 aircraft like the air it breathes, like the bread it eats. … I ask you not to try the government’s patience, and demand that you manufacture more ILs. This is my final warning.” Production increased sharply, and with 36,000 units built, the Sturmovik became the most produced military aircraft in history.