World War II Soviet Aircraft: World War II Soviet Bombers, World War II Soviet Fighter Aircraft, World War II Soviet Ground Attack Aircraft

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 54. Chapters: World War II Soviet bombers, World War II Soviet fighter aircraft, World War II Soviet ground attack aircraft, World War II Soviet reconnaissance aircraft, Ilyushin Il-2, Polikarpov I-16, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-3, Yakovlev Yak-9, Yakovlev Yak-1, Petlyakov Pe-3, Polikarpov Po-2, Lavochkin La-7, Ilyushin Il-10, Yakovlev Yak-3, Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-1, Polikarpov I-15, Lavochkin La-5, Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-3, Polikarpov R-5, Polikarpov I-185, Yakovlev Yak-14, Yakovlev Yak-2, Sukhoi Su-6, Kharkov KhAI-5, Gribovski G-11, Lavochkin-Gorbunov-Gudkov LaGG-1, Yakovlev Yak-8, Yakovlev Yak-6, Yakovlev Yak-4, Waco CG-3. Excerpt: The Ilyushin Il-2 (Cyrillic -2) was a ground-attack aircraft (Shturmovik) in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in very large numbers. In combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330 were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in all of aviation history, as well as one of the most produced piloted aircraft in history along with the Cessna 172 and the Polikarpov Po-2. It is regarded as the best ground attack aircraft of World War II. It was a prominent aircraft for tank killing with its accuracy in dive bombing and its 37mm guns being able to penetrate tanks' thin back armour. To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive Ilyusha. To the soldiers on the ground, it was the Hunchback, the Flying Tank or the Flying Infantryman. Its postwar NATO reporting name was Bark. The Il-2 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. Joseph Stalin paid the Il-2 a great tribute in his own inimitable manner: when a particular production factory fell behind on its deliveries, Stalin sent an angrily-worded cable to the ...