Sukhoi Su-2

Sukhoi Su-2 History

The Sukhoi Su-2 was Pavel Sukhoi's first aircraft design and became a two-seat light bomber used by the Soviet Air Force during World War II. While the Su-2 was a relatively modern design when it was introduced, the 2 was quickly overwhelmed by changes in the face of war that limited its range in combat and production - a total of about 910 examples were produced, but losses because this type is expensive.

The arrival of the stellar Ilyushin IL-2 made the Su-2 almost useless in the war for years to come. As a result, the type ceased production sometime in 1942.

Background

The Sukhoi Su-2 originated from a directive issued by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1936. The requirement calls for a multi-role combat platform that can support advancing forces through high-velocity, low-level attacks on enemy formations and positions, as well as conduct general wartime reconnaissance and target assessment.

The project was code-named "Ivanov".

Development

Pavel Sukhoi was then an employee of the Tupolev Design Bureau and as a "student" learned the basics of the Shvetsov M-62 family of equipment from Andrei Tupolev himself . The aircraft's first flight took place on August 25, 1937, and the results were worse than expected. As a result, the aircraft was converted to more powerful, more efficient (but somewhat unreliable) 1,000 hp Tumansky M-87 series engines.

The modified aircraft met performance requirements and was released for production under the designation "BB-1". In 1940, the M-87 series engines were replaced by the better M-88 series.

At this point, the BB-1 was renamed "Su-2", adopted the Sukhoi designation, and became the first aircraft design to use the Sukhoi name - a designation that would eventually yield such a cold fighter - Popular performers like the hit "Fitter" and the impressive "Flanker" series.

Su-2 Drill

The design of the Su-2 revolves around its front radial piston engine. The engine drives a three-bladed propeller covered by a conical spinner. Wings are low-lying monoplane components mounted in the middle of the fuselage, mainly made of duralumin. The hull features wood interiors wrapped in plywood. At the time, resources were scarce throughout Russia, and the prospect of creating an "all-metal" fighter was (at least for now) far from being realized.

The two-person cockpit is housed under a "greenhouse"-style frame that provides reasonable visibility, but the entire cockpit is located some distance behind the engine bay. The tail gunner sits in a spherical turret position behind the pilot.

The turret itself is manually driven and has a less stellar arc of fire. The two crew members are protected to some extent by the use of armor (up to 9mm thick) throughout the cockpit. The fuselage tapers to a conventional tail with a circular vertical tail and two cloth-covered horizontal planes. The landing gear is fully retractable and consists of two main gear legs and a single-wheel rear tail wheel. Weapons vary by model, but typically include forward-firing, fixed 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns on the wings and 7.62mm machine guns on the rear turret.

Some carried additional 7.62mm machine guns on the cabin floor. To make the Su-2 a viable attack aircraft, the fighter has four underwing brackets designed to carry bombs (up to 800 lbs) or 10/20 x RS-82/RS-132 rockets.

Su-2 in action

While initially a viable fighter on the battlefield, the Su-2 was quickly obsoleted by the changing face of warfare. Germany abandoned traditional ground support tactics in favor of more agile and powerful single-seat, single-engine fighters to aid their advancing tribes. The Su-2 is completely surpassed due to its inherently unpleasant qualities.

The engine was up again, this time a 1,000-horsepower Shvetsov M-88B radial, but it barely stopped the loss.

The Su-2 was underarmed, had little defense, and offered performance specifications well below what the Germans had achieved with it. During the low-altitude attack, many Su-2s fell victim to German targeted and lethal ground-based air defenses.

Combine that lackluster performance with the well-trained flight crew that the Soviet Union relied on at the time, and you have a recipe for disaster.

However, 1941 was an extremely pivotal year for the Red Empire. The Russians found themselves caught in a desperate battle with Germany, with every airworthiness system thrown into the fray - in a horrific battle with overwhelming superiority. The engine was again upgraded to a new 1,520 hp Shvetsov M-82 radial air-cooled engine.

The M-82 now offers performance specs including a top speed of 300 mph, a service ceiling of 27,560 feet and a range of 685 miles.

Improvement attempts

In many subsequent production forms of the Su-2, the rear turret was completely removed to reduce weight and eliminate the futility of the hand-cranked turret and its simple defensive machine gun armament. Despite these changes, the aircraft had little lasting success.

Still, the Soviet high command took the system to the extreme and even started arming the guy with dropping bombs and rockets, which turned out to be a suicidal mission for their pilots.

The ShB is a proposed ground attack variant with M-88A series radial piston engines. The landing gear was revised and the total ammunition load increased to 1,235 pounds. However, IL-2 finally caught on in the production line, and there was little demand for the obsolete ShB. As such, this variant was never put into production. The Su-4 became a short-lived modification of the Su-2 and was used in conjunction with the M-82 engine.

The armament has been slightly improved by adding 2 x 12.7mm Berezin UB heavy caliber machine guns to replace the 4 x 7.62mm ShKAS system in the wings. The source also pointed to an abandoned "Su-6" development, which would be another form of improvement, this time a redesigned Su-2 from scratch.

The end of the flagpole

With the quantitative arrival of Ilyushin Il-2 "Shturmovik", mercy for Su-2 inevitably appeared. This new single-engine, two-seat ground-attack fighter was a godsend for the Soviets and has gained a legacy as one of the most important aircraft of World War II. On the other hand, history won't be good until the first draft of Pavel Sukhoi's Su-2 is quickly withdrawn from meaningful production in mid-1942.

Many Su-2s ended their service careers in second-line missions or as emergency fighters when needed. In the bombing role, the Su-2 was replaced by the Tupolev Tu-2 and Petlyakov Pe-2 series.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes