Ilyushin Il-2 Илью́шин Ил-2

National origin:- Soviet Union

Role:- Ground-attack aircraft

Manufacturer:- Ilyushin

Designer:-

First flight:- 2 October 1939

Introduction:- 1941

Produced:- 1941-1945

Introduction:- 1941

Number built:- 36,183

Primary users:- Soviet Air Force; Bulgarian Air Force; Czechoslovak Air Force; Hungarian Air Force; Mongolian Air Force; Air Force of the Polish Army; Yugoslav Air Force

Status:- Retired 1954 (Yugoslavia and Bulgaria)

Variants:- Ilyushin Il-10

Tupolev Tu-2

Ilyushin Il-2 mentions an engagement during the Battle of Kursk on 7 July 1943, in which 70 tanks from the German 9th Panzer Division were claimed to be destroyed by Ilyushin Il-2s in just 20 minutes. However, on 1 July 1943, the 9th Panzer Division had only a total of 83 tanks and armored command vehicles available, which continued in action for over three months with most of its initial tanks still intact.

Further Soviet claims during the Battle of Kursk, suggest the Sturmoviks destroyed over 270 tanks and several thousand men in a period of just two hours against the 3rd Panzer Division. Again, here on the 1st of July before the start of Operation Zitadelle, the 3rd Panzer Division had only 90 tanks and armored command vehicles, which is 180 less than the Soviets claimed as destroyed by Sturmoviks and on 11 July, the division still had 41 operational tanks. Finally, the Soviet claim that over a period of 4 hours Sturmoviks destroyed 240 tanks of the 17th Panzer Division and virtually wiped them out is also of questionable merit. On 1 July the 17th Panzer Division had only a total of 67 tanks and armored command vehicles, which is 173 fewer total tanks than claimed destroyed by the Sturmoviks. Furthermore, the division did not even participate in the battle, being in Army Group South reserve. In the Battle of Kursk, General V. Ryazanov became a master in the use of attack aircraft en masse, developing and improving the tactics of Il-2 operations in co-ordination with infantry, artillery and armoured troops. Ryazanov was later awarded the Gold Star of Hero of Soviet Union twice, and the 1st Attack Aircraft Corps under his command became the first unit to be awarded the honorific title of Guards.

Total German tank losses in Operation Zitadelle were approximately 1,612 tanks and assault guns damaged and 323 irreparably destroyed, the majority most likely to Soviet AT guns and armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs). Total German fully tracked AFV losses on the entire East Front from 1941 to 1945 were approximately 32,800 of which approximately 2,300 were lost to direct air attack from the IL-2s and other aircraft such as the Petlyakov Pe-2. In contrast, from 22nd June 1941 to the cessation of hostilities, 23,600 Il-2 and Il-10 ground attack aircraft were destroyed. These numbers suggest that more than 10 Il-2s and Il-10s were irrecoverably lost for every German fully tracked AFV destroyed by direct air attack on the East Front during WWII.