Ilyushin Il-2
Role: Heavy Fighter, dive-bomber
Manufacturing Nation: USSR
Introduced: 1941

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General characteristics
• Crew: 2
• Maximum speed: 414 km/h (257 mph)
• Range: 720 km (450 mi)
• Armaments: Two forward-firing 23 mm cannons, two fixed forward-firing 7.62 mm machine guns, one manually aimed 12.7 mm machine gun the in rear cockpit, up to 600 kg (1,320 lb) of bombs and/or up to eight rockets

The Ilyushin Il-2 Shturmovik was a legendary ground attack aircraft in the Second World War, produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers. In combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 36,163 were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in all of aviation history as well as the third most produced aircraft in history behind the Cessna 172 and the Polikarpov Po-2. It was a prominent aircraft for tank killing with its accuracy in dive bombing.

To Shturmovik pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was the "Hunchback," the "Flying Tank" or, the greatest of compliments, the "Flying Infantryman". 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 called the Il-2: "…as essential to the Red Army as air and bread."

The Il-2 was equipped with high explosive anti-tank bomblets which were highly effective against German tanks. At the battle of Kursk Ilyushin Il-2’s destroyed 70 tanks from the German 9th Panzer Division in just 20 minutes! The Il-2 could take a great deal of punishment and was very difficult to shoot down. Its biggest vulnerability was to enemy fighters, so later models added a rear facing gunner. These poorly armored positions had a high death rate, and were sometimes manned by personnel from penal companies considered "enemies of the state". The plane was continuously upgraded throughout the war with better weapons, aerodynamic improvements, increased range and more powerful engines.

PZL.48 Lampart
Role: Heavy Fighter
Manufacturing Nation: Poland
Introduced: 1939 (Prototype)

General characteristics
• Crew: 2
• Maximum speed: 560 km/h
• Range: 1500 km
• Armaments: Two 20 mm cannon fixed in nose, two 7.92 mm machine guns fixed in nose, two 7.92 mm machine guns movable at the upper rear, up to 300 kg of bombs.

The PZL.48 Lampart (Leopard) was a Polish heavy fighter-bomber design that remained only a project, owing to the outbreak of World War II. It was a twin-engine low-wing cantilever monoplane of metal construction, metal covered. The crew of two – pilot and rear gunner/bombardier/observer – sat under separate canopies, far from each other, fitted with dual controls. It had retractable landing gear, with main wheels retracting into engine nacelles, and a rear skid. Building of a prototype started in 1939. It was planned to fly the prototype in the first half of 1940. Further plans were to produce 110 Lamparts for the Polish Air Force in 1941. Owing to the German invasion on 1 September 1939, all plans were cancelled.

Praga E.51
Role: Heavy Fighter
Manufacturing Nation: Czechoslovakia
Introduced: 1938

General characteristics
• Crew: 2-3
• Armaments: Machine guns and Bombs

The Praga E.51 used a split tail design similar to the Fokker G.1 or the P-38 Lightning. It had a crew of three, a pilot, a bombardier/gunner and rear gunner. It saw limited production prior to the German invasion and occupation of Czechoslovakia. A number of them were captured but after the Germans examined the plane they scrapped it in favor of their own designs.

Fokker G.1
Role: Heavy Fighter
Manufacturing Nation: Netherlands
Introduced: 1938

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