Tupolev Tu-2

The Tupolev Tu-2 was the finest Soviet medium bomber of World War II and one of the best tactical bombers produced by any nation during the conflict. Combining the bomb-carrying capacity of a medium bomber with the speed and agility of a much lighter aircraft, the Tu-2 could deliver over 6,600 pounds of ordnance, three times the Pe-2's load, while matching or exceeding the smaller aircraft's speed and handling qualities.

Yet the Tu-2's greatest tragedy was its limited numbers. Like the Me 262, the Tu-2 was a superb weapon that arrived in quantity too late to have the strategic impact its capabilities deserved. Production was slow to ramp up due to the complexity of the design and the competing demands for the ASh-82FN engines it shared with the La-5FN and La-7 fighters. Only 2,527 were built during and after the war, compared to over 11,000 Pe-2s, meaning the Tu-2 supplemented rather than replaced its predecessor.

The Tu-2 was designed by Andrei Tupolev, like Petlyakov, while imprisoned in a sharashka prison design bureau. Tupolev's genius produced an aircraft that was remarkably well-balanced: fast enough to evade many fighters, tough enough to absorb significant damage, and capable enough to serve as a level bomber, dive-bomber, torpedo-bomber, and reconnaissance platform. Allied and German assessments alike recognized the Tu-2 as one of the outstanding tactical bombers of the war.

Andrei Tupolev, arguably the Soviet Union's most important aircraft designer, was arrested in October 1937 during Stalin's purges and accused of selling aircraft designs to foreign powers, a fabricated charge. He was sentenced to fifteen years in a labor camp but was instead transferred to TsKB-29, the same sharashka prison design bureau where Petlyakov was developing the Pe-2. There, under armed guard and with the constant threat of execution, Tupolev designed the aircraft that became the Tu-2.

Originally designated ANT-58 (and later the "103" prototype), the design was powered by twin Mikulin AM-37 inline engines. The first prototype flew on January 29, 1941, and demonstrated outstanding performance, faster than the Pe-2 with nearly double the bomb load. However, the AM-37 engine program was canceled due to production difficulties, forcing a switch to the Shvetsov M-82 radial engine. This redesign delayed production significantly but ultimately proved beneficial, as the air-cooled radial was far more combat-resilient than the liquid-cooled inline.

Initial production began in late 1942, but output was painfully slow. The Tu-2 was more complex to manufacture than the Pe-2, and the ASh-82FN engines it required were desperately needed for La-5FN and La-7 fighters. Stalin personally approved continued Tu-2 production despite the engine competition, recognizing the bomber's superior capability, but fighter production always took priority. Monthly output rarely exceeded 50 aircraft until late 1944.

The Tu-2S, the definitive production variant, incorporated the lessons of early combat experience. It featured the ASh-82FN fuel-injected engines, improved armor protection for the crew, revised defensive gun positions with better fields of fire, and a strengthened airframe for higher-G dive-bombing pullouts. The Tu-2 remained in production until 1950 and continued in frontline service with several air forces well into the 1950s, a testament to the soundness of Tupolev's design.