Iluyshin IL-2M “Shturmovik”

Iluyshin IL-2M “Shturmovik” Soviet Air Force Summer 1942

The Shturmovik, designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team in 1938, was a highly successful ground attack aircraft, produced in huge numbers during WWII. Not particularly fast, it was heavily armed and armored. It’s 23-mm cannon, rockets, and bombs made it particularly effective as a tank-killer, and the Soviets considered it the most decisive aircraft in the history of modern land warfare. Lt. Anna Timofeyeva-Yegorova was made a Hero of the Soviet Union after over 260 combat missions as an IL-2 pilot, including being shot down and severely wounded, and then surviving a German prisoner-or-war camp.