Tupolev Tu-2

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.

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.

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. In the 1958-1962 counter-riot actions in Qinghai-Tibet Platean covering Qinghai, Tibet, south of Gansu, west of Sichuan, Chinese PLAAF Tu-2s took on the roles of ground-attack, reconnaissance and liaison. The Chinese Tu-2s retired at the end of 1970s.

Variants

File:Tu-2.jpg

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"Aircraft 103", ANT-58

The initial 3-seat version. Top speed 635 km/h (395 mph) at 8,000 m (26,247 ft). Two 1,044 kW (1,400 hp) Mikulin AM-37 (water cooling), 1941.

"Aircraft 103U", ANT-59

Redesigned for 4-seat crew (influenced by Junkers Ju-88). Top speed dropped to 610 km/h (379 mph). The same powerplant as for ANT-58- 2*Mikulin AM-37 engines.

ANT-67

Five-seat long-range bomber.

Tu-1 (ANT-63P)

Three-seat long-range escort fighter.

Tu-2

Two 1,081 kW (1,450 hp) Shvetsov ASh-82 (air cooling) with bigger drag, 1942.

Tu-2S (ANT-61)

Powered by two 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) Shvetsov ASh-82FN radial piston engines, 1943.

Tu-2D (ANT-62)

Longe-range version, powered by two 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) 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 1,417 kW (1,900 hp) 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

Ground-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 515 kW (690 hp) created by the Sukhoi OKB in 1946

Operators

World War Two operators

Template:USSR

• Soviet Air Force

Post-War operators

Template:BUL

• Bulgarian Air Force

Template:CHN

• People's Liberation Army Air Force

Template:HUN

• Hungarian Air Force

Template:IDN

• Indonesian Air Force

Template:PRK

• North Korean Air Force

Template:POL

• Polish Air Force

Template:ROM

• Romanian Air Force

Template:USSR

• Soviet Air Force

Template:YUG

• SFR Yugoslav Air Force

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 kn, 325 mph)
• Range: 2,020 km (1,090 nmi, 1,260 mi)
• Service ceiling: 9,000 m (29,528 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 (3,300 lb)
  • External 2,270 kg (5,004 lb)

See also

Related development

• Tupolev Tu-1
• Tupolev Tu-6
• Tupolev Tu-8
• Tupolev Tu-10
• Tupolev Tu-12

Comparable aircraft

• Petlyakov Pe-2
• Dornier Do 217
• Junkers Ju-88

External links

• http://www.aviation.ru/Tu/#2
• Walkaround of Tu-2 from Monino Museum, Russia

The initial version of this article was based on material from aviation.ru. It has been released under the GFDL by the copyright holder.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Tupolev Tu-2".