Tupolev Tu-2
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Tu-2 | |
|---|---|
 A Tu-2 bomber at the China Aviation Museum. |
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| Type | Light bomber |
| Manufacturer | Tupolev |
| Maiden flight | 29 January 1941 |
| Introduced | 1941 |
| Primary user | Soviet Air Forces |
| Produced | 1941-1948 |
The Tupolev Tu-2 (Development names ANT-58 and 103, NATO reporting name Bat) was a twin-engine Soviet high speed daylight bomber (SDB)/front line bomber (FB) aircraft of World War II vintage.
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[edit] Design and development
The Tu-2 was tailored to meet a requirement for a high speed bomber or dive-bomber, with a large internal bombload, and speed similar to that of a single seat fighter. Designed to challenge the German Junkers Ju 88, the Tu-2 proved comparable, and was produced in torpedo, interceptor, and reconnaissance versions.
Designed as "Samolyet (aircraft) 103", development took place under prison conditions. The first prototype was completed at factory N156, and made its first test flight 29 January 1941, piloted by Mikhail Nukhtinov.The AM-37 engine was abandoned to concentrate efforts on the AM-38F for Il-2. So Tupolev had to redesign aircraft for an available engine. Modifications of this bomber took ANT-58 through ANT-69 designation slots. A total of 2,257 Tu-2s were built.
[edit] Operational service
Built from 1941 to 1948. The Tu-2 was the USSR's second important twin-engined bomber (the first being the Pe-2), the design brought Andrei Tupolev back into favour after a period of detention. It was highly effective, being faster,and more nimble, as well as having a greater bomb load and range than virtually all medium bombers in service during the war with any army.
The Tu-2 remained in service until 1950. Some Chinese Tu-2s were encountered by British and American airman during the Korean War.
[edit] Variants
- "Aircraft 103"
- Two 1400 hp Mikulin AM-37 (water cooling), 1941.
- ANT-67
- Five-seat long-range bomber.
- Tu-1 (ANT-63P)
- Three-seat long-range escort fighter.
- Tu-2
- Two 1450hp Shvetsov ASh-82 (air cooling) with bigger drag, 1942.
- Tu-2S (ANT-61)
- Powered by two 1850hp Shvetsov ASh-82FN radial piston engines, 1943.
- Tu-2D (ANT-62)
- Longe-range version, powered by two 1850hp Shvetsov ASh-82FN?, 1943?
- Tu-2DB (ANT-65)
- Long-range bomber version.
- Tu-2F (ANT-64)
- Photo-reconnaissance version.
- Tu-2G
- High-speed cargo transport version.
- Tu-2K
- Only two aircraft were built for testing ejection seats.
- Tu-2M (ANT-61M)
- Powered by two 1,900-hp (1,417-kW) ASh-83 radial piston engines.
- Tu-2N
- Engine test-bed, built to test the Rolls-Royce Nene turbojet engine.
- Tu-2 Paravan
- Two aircraft built to test barrage balloon cable cutters and deflectors.
- Tu-2R
- Reconnaissance version.
- Tu-2RShR
- Prototype, armed with 57-mm cannon in the forward fuselage.
- Tu-2Sh
- Gound-attack version.
- Tu-2/104
- All-weather interceptor prototype.
- Tu-2T (ANT-62T)
- Torpedo-bomber.
- Tu-6
- Reconnaissance aircraft.
- Tu-8 (ANT-69)
- Long-range bomber.
- Tu-10 (ANT-68)
- General-purpose bomber prototype.
- UTB
- bomber trainer with Shvetsov ASh-21 engines of 690 hp created by the Sukhoi OKB in 1946
[edit] Operators
- World War Two operators
Soviet Union
- Post-War operators
Bulgaria
[edit] Specifications (Tu-2)
General characteristics
- Crew: 4
- Length: 13.80 m (45 ft 3 in)
- Wingspan: 18.86 m (61 ft 10 in)
- Height: 4.13 m (13 ft 7 in)
- Wing area: 48.5 m² (522 ft²)
- Empty weight: 7,601 kg (16,757 lb)
- Loaded weight: 10,538 kg (23,232 lb)
- Max takeoff weight: 11,768 kg (25,944 lb)
- Powerplant: 2× Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engines, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) each
Performance
- Maximum speed: 521 km/h (281 kt, 325 mph)
- Range: 2,020 km (1,090 nm, 1,260 mi)
- Service ceiling 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
- Rate of climb: 8.2 m/s (1,610 ft/min)
- Wing loading: 217 kg/m² (45 lb/ft²)
- Power/mass: 260 W/kg (0.16 hp/lb)
Armament
- Guns:
- 2× 20 mm (0.79 in) fixed forward-firing ShVAK cannons in the wings
- 3× 7.62 mm (0.30 in) rear-firing ShKAS machine guns (later replaced by 12.7 mm (0.50 in)Berezin UB machine guns) in the canopy, dorsal and ventral hatches.
- Bombs:
- Internal 1,500 kg (3300 lb)
- External 2,270 kg (5000 lb)
[edit] See also
Related development
- Tupolev Tu-1
- Tupolev Tu-6
- Tupolev Tu-8
- Tupolev Tu-10
- Tupolev Tu-12
Comparable aircraft
[edit] External links
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The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.
