IL-2M (1943)

IL-2M (1943)

Pe-3bis

IL-2M type 3

IL-2M (1943)

Pe-3bis

IL-2M type 3

USSR

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
3.3	3.3	3.7

Class:

Strike aircraft

Research:18 000

Purchase:47 000

This page is about the Soviet attacker IL-2M (1943). For other uses, see IL-2 (Family).

Description

The IL-2M (1943) in the garage

The IL-2M (1943) is a rank III Russian attacker with a battle rating of 3.3 (AB/RB) and 3.7 (SB). This aircraft was introduced in Update 1.49 "Weapons of Victory".

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
?	?	6500	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	???
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
?	?	6500	??.?	??.?	??.?	??.?	???

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	320	???	~??	~?

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

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:

• Retains the flexible payload options of it's predecessors
• Features a 12.7 mm Berezin in a defensive position, making it much harder for attackers to simply stay behind the plane while firing.

Cons:

• Plane is less agile than before
• Gunner doesn't benefit from the same level of protection as the pilot

History

On 21st July 1941, the lead designer of the IL-2 Sergey Ilyushin sent a request to the People's Minister of Aviation, calling for the improvement of the IL-2 by upgrading the engine to a 1,675-HP M-82 and increasing the aircraft's armour. The request was extremely urgent, considering that the rapidly advancing German troops at the time threatened serial production of the engines then used on the IL-2. Several influential Party members also called for upgrading the IL-2's engine. Another crucial change, in conjunction with the engine, called for converting the aircraft into a two-seater, based on combat experience. The second crewman would mainly deal with protecting the rear section of the Sturmovik from aerial attack, making it, in the designer's opinion, "nearly invincible". An aft fuel tank, previously installed behind the pilot in the armoured tub, was replaced with a gunner compartment under a stretched canopy, armed with a 12.7 mm (.50-cal) UBT machine gun with 280 rounds of ammunition. The gunner position, just like the pilot's, was well armoured.

Once the prototype was tested, all test pilots concluded that flight performance of the new variant was worse than that of the earlier IL-2 AM-38 variant; however, no changes in overall behaviour were noted, the armour was very effective, and no shortcomings that made flying dangerously were uncovered. Therefore, the new prototype was accepted for serial production.

Based on the two-seat Il-2, armed with Nudelman-Suranov NS-37 in conformable gun pods under the wings, instead of the 20/23 mm cannons, this version is an attempt to create an anti-tank aircraft, first used in combat during the Battle of Kursk. However, the combat effectiveness was quite low and production of the variant was limited to about 3,500. Moreover, the bomb load was decreased from 600 kg to 200 kg. It was replaced by the conventional Il-2 attackers armed with cassettes with cumulative bomblets.

Media

An excellent addition to the article will be video guides, as well as screenshots from the game and photos.

Read also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example,

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

Sources

Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:

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