SB 2M-103U

SB 2M-103U

SB 2M-103U

USSR

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
2.7	2.3	2.3

Class:

Bomber

Light bomber

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

This page is about the Russian bomber SB 2M-103U. For other variants, see SB 2M (Family).

Description

The SB 2M-103U is a Rank I gift Russian bomber with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB) and 2.3 (RB/SB). Though initially in the game pre-1.29, this plane was removed upon Update 1.37 due to redundancy. Those players who acquired the aircraft before it was removed still have access to it.

General info

Flight Performance

Characteristics
Stock
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	9800	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	???
Upgraded
Max Speed (km/h at ?,000 m)		Max altitude (meters)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (meters/second)		Take-off run (meters)
AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
?	?	9800	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	???

Details

Features
Combat flap	Take-off flap	Landing flap	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	X	X	X

Limits
Wing-break speed (km/h)	Gear limit (km/h)	Combat flap (km/h)	Max Static G
			+	-
0	350	???	~??	~?

Optimal velocities
Ailerons (km/h)	Rudder (km/h)	Elevators (km/h)	Radiator (km/h)
< ???	< ???	< ???	> ???

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
?,??? m	??? hp	?,??? hp

Survivability and armour

• No armour plating
• No armour glazing
• Critical components located at the front of aircraft (fuel, pilot, engine, controls)
• More fuel tanks located in wings near the fuselage

Armaments

Offensive armament

      Main article: Bombs-->

Usage in the battles

Arcade Battles:

This bomber is quite fast for its BR so you should use this as an advantage. For example, you should climb directly at the beginning of the match to 5000 m and destroy the enemy bases with the setup 5 (2 x 250kg + 2 x 500kg) which is the heaviest payload you'll have with this plane.

Realistic Battles:

In Realistic battles you should use the same tactics as in arcade battles. Note that 2 500kg FAB 500 bombs are enough to destroy a base.

Simulator Battles:

In sim, the overall tactic remains the same as other bombers: base / airfield bombing. However, there are several notes for this particular SB 2M bomber.

Maybe it's because of the design of short fuselage and huge wings, or it's caused by something else, the SB 2M is super hard to control in the pitch. If you leave the stick at the deadzone, the aircraft will automatically climb or dive which will lead to a crash if unnoticed. Trimming doesn't help. For the gunner view, even though you might have the "autopilot when in gunner view" enabled, it won't help either, as it will still continuously pitch up and down like a boat. Also note that when switching to gunner view, it will sometimes uncontrollably roll to one side which will make it enter a spin quickly. Therefore this bomber is extremely frustrating to fly in sim.

When bombing airfields, make sure to fly above 2,000m to avoid the AAA, as this plane is unprotected and its coolers will often get damaged, leading to the engines overheating. You should familiarise each module of the airfield to maximise the damage. The airstrip is the most visible and the easiest one to hit, however bombing it seems to halve your reward. So it is recommended to bomb everything else: hangar, fuel area, living quarters, etc. The plane hangars are probably easy, since they aren't too small.

Against the SB 2M (all modes but mostly in sim):

You should be very careful against bombers since with the Sim control (whether it be mouse joystick or a real stick) the plane will manoeuvre much more gently, making yourself a great target for the bomber's gunners. DO NOT follow behind the SB 2M's 6 unless you are sure that its tail gunners are unconscious. Chasing behind the SB 2M makes yourself pretty much stationary for the tail gunners, and you will be showered with 7.62mm bullets.

If your plane is an early biplane armed with weak MG (2-4x 7.7mm or below), DO NOT follow behind the SB 2M's 6 unless you are sure that its tail gunners are unconscious. Chasing behind the SB 2M makes yourself pretty much stationary for the tail gunners, and you will be showered with 7.62mm bullets. Instead you should use deflection shots. That is, imagine yourself as an anti-air missile, predict where you two will meet and fly towards that point. This way it gives the gunners little window to open fire at you. When firing, try to aim for the cockpit for a possible pilot-snipe, as the pilot is very unprotected. Or aim at its engines to damage it or the cooler. Without an engine the SB 2M won't fly far.

If you are flying an interceptor / heavy fighter that is heavily armed and armored, you can just sit behind the SB 2M and confidently take out its crew / modules one by one, as its 7.62mm MG has rather weak penetration and damage. This is the most precise way of damaging an aircraft, however the safest tactic is still, and will always be deflection shooting. One accurate burst will critically damage the weak airframe of the SB 2M, or snap off its wing straight away.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Not controllable	Separate	Not ontrollable	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage Repair	Radiator
II		Compressor	Airframe
III	Wings Repair	Engine
IV		Engine Injection	Cover

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Adequate speed for a bomber, allowing it to get to targets quickly
• Great turn rate allows it to change direction quickly, or to even dodge attacks
• Nice payload allows it to finish off a base in one go, or destroy tanks / pillboxes easily
• Great defensive firepower at the tail (2x 7.62mm MG) with fast firerate, good trajectory and plenty of ammo allows it to deal with enemies at 6 effectively.

Cons:

• Defensive guns don't cover the belly and the sides well, and are quite light against fighters such as Bf 109 E or Ki-61
• Crew and important parts (eg. fuel tank, engines, coolers) lack protection, increasing the chance of being pilot-sniped or critically damaged
• In simulator, it is extremely hard to control. No matter how precisely you trim, it will always automatically pitch up and down. Also when switching to gunner view, it will roll, causing a death spin.

History

Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too big, take it to a separate article, taking a link to an article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ historical reference" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/Name-vehicles/historical reference) and add a link to it here using the main template. Be sure to include links to sources at the end of the article.

In-game description

"In 1937, designers under the direction of A. A. Arkhangelski began working to improve the SB even more. The aircraft received a 960 hp Klimov M-103 twelve-cylinder, V-shaped, liquid-cooled engine. The M-103 engine, created in 1936-37, was based on the M-100.

After testing was performed, the SB 2M-103 bomber was launched into full-scale production in 1938 under the designation of ""96th series"". SB 2M-103 planes of the 96th series had external DER-19 bomb racks under the centre wing section that were designed to carry aerial bombs weighing up to 500 kg. The aircraft's maximum bomb capacity was increased up to 1,500 kg. DER-19 racks could house external teardrop-shaped fuel tanks with a capacity of 370 litres each.

To improve reliability, a mechanical bomb release system was introduced and also duplicated in the pilot's cockpit. The aircraft was equipped with an AFA-13 photo camera. An electrohydraulic landing gear retraction system was used, and the pilot's chair received an armored backrest. Due to these many changes, the aircraft's flight weight increased significantly, and the airframe's structure was strengthened.

From this point on, all production SB 2M-103s began to be produced with a shielded MV-3 gun turret and an LU hatch mount with an optical sight. An inert gas filling system was introduced for the fuel tanks.

Planes of later production series had modified M-103U and M-103A engines. These engines were equipped with ducted coolant radiators located over the engine. The power unit cowling was completely changed. For this, the engine oil coolers were moved to the leading edge of the outer wing.

This SB 2M-103 with ducted radiators became the most high-speed model among production SB bombers, reaching a speed of 450 km/h at a height of 4,100 m. These bombers were produced full-scale from 1939-40, being nicknamed ""Shchuka"" (""Pike"", as a fish) among the troops, due to the distinctive form of their engine cowls.

From December 1939 on, all SB bombers were equipped with VISh-22 three-bladed, controllable-pitch propellers."

Media

The Shooting Range #33 - Pages of History section at 03:10 discusses the SB 2M.

See also

Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era

• Martin B-10
• Martin 139WC
• Fiat BR.20
• Martin 167 Maryland
• Mitsubishi Ki-21
• Heinkel He 111

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

• topic on the official game forum;
• page on aircraft encyclopedia;
• other literature.

Tupolev Design Bureau (Ту́полев Опытное конструкторское бюро)
Bombers	TB-3M-17-32 · SB 2M-100 · SB 2M-103 MV-3 · SB 2M-103 · SB 2M-103U · SB 2M-103U MV-3 · SB 2M-105
	Tu-2 · Tu-2S · Tu-2S-44 · Tu-2S-59 · Tu-4
Arkhangelsky Bomber	Ar-2*
Strike Aircraft	Tu-1
Jet Bomber	Tu-14T
Export	␗SB 2M-103U · ␗Tu-2S-44 · ␗Tu-4
	◔Tu-2S-59
	* While Andrei Tupolev was imprisoned, Alexander Arkhangelsky, second in command at Tupolev OKB was able to append his name to the final production series of the SB bomber.