The IL-2 proved itself ten-fold during its years-long commitment to the fight and hugely instrumental in the final two years of the conflict. The airframe had an uncanny ability to withstand excessive amounts of punishment before giving out and many returned to home bases with whole chunks of airframe removed or riddled with FlaK / machine gun fire but the aircraft still deemed flyable. Many of their pilots were awarded the highest Soviet aviation honors and many more of these men and women reflected fondly of their time in the cockpits of their excellent IL-2s.
All this to say that the IL-2 was instrumental in helping to turn the tide of the War in the East - the German advance ultimately stalled and was then forced into retreat all the way back to Berlin by the time the war in Europe ended in May of 1945. IL-2s were active in the air over the famous battles of Stalingrad (August 1942 - February 1943) and Kursk (July 1943 - August 1943) to name a few of their aerial commitments.
Variants
Despite its impressive production total (36,000+ examples), the IL-2 was branched out into only a handful of variant forms. This included the original single-seat and twin-seat prototypes as well as the original IL-2 (TsKB-57P) single-seat and IL-2 twin-seat combat-ready production models. The IL-2M, or Model 1943, used the upgraded AM-38F inline engine and switched to the 23mm VYa autocannons for greater forward-facing firepower. The IL-2 Type 3M brought about use of Nudelman-Suranov NS-37 autocannons in streamlined gunpods under the wings (leading to a deletion of the wing-mounted 20mm/23mm cannon sets). Production of this "tank-killing" mark reached 3,500 units.
The IL-2M3 (or "Type 3M" or "Model of 1944") was given broader use of duralumin in its construction allowing for all-metal wings to be used in the series. The mainplane's planform was also revised to include a sweepback of the outer wing section while retaining a straight trailing edge appearance. A training model emerged as the twin-seat IL-2U (also known as the "UII-2") and the IL-2T was drawn up as a proposed maritime torpedo bomber. The latter lost its wing-mounted cannon armament in favor of carrying a single 450mm aerial torpedo but it appears this project went nowhere. Another prototype was the IL-2I intended as something of a "bomber destroyer" - fully armored and heavily armed but crippled by the added weight - it did not progress.
The IL-2 (M-82) was intended as an emergency war measure should production lines of the Am-35 and AM-38 aero engines be disrupted in the German march to Moscow. The M-82 was an inline fighter engine intended to take the place of the original Mikulin installations but testing revealed the mating to be poor in performance and control at the required low altitude flight envelopes.
The IL-10 (NATO codename of "Beast") was a further late-war/post-war evolution of the IL-2 which made it to operational service in 1944 (and was license-built by Czechoslovakia as the Avia "B-33"). The type, detailed elsewhere on this site, became the ground-attack standard of the Soviet Air Force going forward and was fielded by the North Koreans in the upcoming Korean War of 1950-1953.
The IL-16 appeared in up to three prototype forms to cover a modern ground-attack requirement in the post-World War 2 period. It was a further development of the in-service IL-10 but not furthered.
The related IL-1 (detailed elsewhere on this site) was developed as a close-support platform against the competing Sukhoi Su-7. Powered by a Mikulin AM-42 12-cylinder engine of 1,973 horsepower and showcasing a single-seat cockpit and an appearance akin to the IL-2 line, the aircraft was first-flown on June 19th, 1944 (despite its IL-1 designation it appeared after the IL-2). However, the Soviet progress in the war negated the type's usefulness and further development was ultimately abandoned - leaving just a sole, flyable IL-1 prototype to show for the investment.
Conclusion
The IL-2 continued in service into the Cold War period (1947-1991) where it was delivered to Soviet allies across Europe. Bulgaria took on a fleet of 120 IL-2 attackers and 10 IL-2U trainers in 1934 and operated these well into 1954. Similarly, the IL-2 formed a portion of the Hungarian Air Force and these were flown into 1952. Czechoslovakia took on 33 IL-2 attackers and 2 trainer forms for their part and operated them during the war in 1944 into 1949. Mongolian Army Aviation fielded 71 IL-2 aircraft from 1945 onwards and actively supported them into 1954. Yugoslavia fielded the IL-2 in no fewer than ten Air Force squadrons - the last ones were retired in 1954.
The legacy of the IL-2 lives on today in the Sukhoi Su-25 "Frogfoot", the Soviet answer to the American Fairchild Republic A-10 "Thunderbolt II" (Warthog). Like the IL-2, the Su-25 bristles with a broad armament array (missiles, rockets, gunpods and the like), is developed for low-altitude fighting, and has survivability features such as an ejection seat, twin-engine configuration, and armored systems and sub-systems not to mention active and passive warning and countermeasures systems.
The IL-2 can still be found flying in various Russian air show presentations, particularly those centered on the "Patriotic War" as related to World War 2. The aircraft has also been the subject of several long-running, and well-received, flight simulators for armchair pilots.
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