By the time Nazi Germany attacked the USSR, the Luftwaffe did not have well-armored attack aircraft comparable to the Soviet Il-2, or specialized anti-tank aircraft. Within the framework of the Lightning War concept, single-engine Bf 109E fighters, Bf 110 heavy fighters, Hs 123 attack aircraft and Ju 87 dive bombers were to provide direct air support to advancing units and operate on enemy communications. dive bombers Ju 88.
By June 1941, fighters of modifications Bf 109E-4, E-7 and E-8 ("Emil") were no longer considered the most modern, and therefore they were mainly focused on performing strike missions. Conquering air superiority and escorting bombers were to be dealt with by the Fredericks - Bf 109F. However, this division was largely arbitrary, although specialization did take place.
"Emil" became the first truly mass modification of the Bf 109 and in mid-1941 was a fully combat-ready fighter. Its top speed was 548 km / h. The bomb load could reach 250 kg. The built-in armament consisted of two 7.92 mm machine guns and two 20 mm cannons. However, the 20mm MG FF wing-mounted cannons were not the pinnacle of perfection.
With a relatively low weight of 28 kg, the rate of fire was only 530 rds / min, the initial velocity of the armor-piercing projectile was about 600 m / s. The aiming range of the MG FF did not exceed 450 m, and the armor penetration was insufficient even to fight lightly armored vehicles. The ammunition load was also limited - 60 rounds per barrel. In all respects, except for the mass, the German 20-mm cannon was not even losing to the most powerful Soviet ShVAK, and therefore, in the second half of the war, it gradually disappeared from the scene.
Single "Messerschmitts" operating on the Soviet-German front had a 6-mm steel armor plate installed behind the tank and covering the entire section of the fuselage, bulletproof glass and armored back of the pilot's seat. But the use of a liquid-cooled engine and the lack of armor protection on the sides of the cockpit made the Bf 109 vulnerable even when fired from rifle-caliber weapons. Therefore, additional 8 mm armor plates were installed on part of the Bf 109E-4, which protected the pilot from below and behind. When performing attacks, the high speed of flight and the small size of the Messer helped to avoid being hit by anti-aircraft fire.
German pilots were well aware of the vulnerability of their machines, and therefore, with anti-aircraft countermeasures, they tried not to make repeated attacks. In Russian memoir literature, it is often said that the "messers" in the initial period of the war terrorized columns of refugees and retreating Soviet troops. Often they managed to smash the train trains. But the high flight speed sharply reduced the accuracy of bombing and made it difficult to aim when firing machine guns and cannons at ground targets.
The Emil's anti-tank capabilities, despite the heavy bomb load, were weak. After the failure of the "blitzkrieg" and stabilization of the front line, the effectiveness of the Bf 109E in the role of a fighter-bomber fell sharply, while losses, on the contrary, increased. Even taking into account the rather high flight speed, the probability of a burst from a large-caliber DShK machine gun sharply increased, and the Soviet infantry no longer panicked and fired concentrated small arms fire at low-flying enemy aircraft. By the beginning of 1943, there were practically no Bf 109Es on the Eastern Front, and fighters of the Bf 109F and G modifications were not used massively for strikes against ground targets.
The history of the combat use of heavy Bf.110 fighters on the Soviet-German front is in many ways similar to the combat career of the Bf.109E. After the Bf 110 suffered a fiasco as a fighter in the Battle of Britain, it was reclassified as attack aircraft. At the same time, the cockpit of attack aircraft in front had 12 mm armor and 57 mm bulletproof glass, the shooter was protected by 8 mm armor. The side panels of the cockpit used 35 mm bulletproof glass. The thickness of the armor from below was 8-10 mm.
The offensive armament of the Bf 110 was quite powerful: two 20-mm MG FF cannons with 180 rounds per barrel and four 7, 92-mm MG 17 machine guns with 1000 rounds of ammunition. The tail was covered by a shooter with a 7, 92 mm MG 15 machine gun.
High-explosive bombs weighing up to 500 kg could be suspended under the fuselage, 50 kg bombs were placed under the wing. The variant of a typical bomb load was distributed as follows: 2 bombs of 500 kg and 4 bombs of 50 kg. When refining the suspension units, the aircraft could take even 1000 kg of an aerial bomb, while the weight of the combat load in the reloading version could reach 2000 kg. When operating on weakly protected areal targets, the 500 kg AB 500 bomb containers turned out to be very effective, which were loaded with 2 kg fragmentation bombs and opened after being dropped at a given height.
Without a bomb load, at an altitude of 4000 m, the shock Bf 110F developed a speed of 560 km / h. The practical range was 1200 km. An attack aircraft with such characteristics could operate quite successfully in the initial period of the war without fighter cover. Having got rid of the bombs, he had every chance to get away from the Soviet fighters. At the same time, attempts by Bf 110 pilots to conduct active air combat with single-engine fighters often ended in failure for them. The heavy twin-engine "Messerschmitt" with a take-off weight of 9000 kg was hopelessly inferior to single-engine machines in terms of rate of climb and maneuverability.
There is a known case when a Soviet pilot on an I-153 in one air battle managed to shoot down two Bf 110. Having fired all the cartridges, the deputy squadron commander of the 127th IAP, senior political instructor A. S. Danilov, with a ramming strike, sent the third enemy plane to the ground.
However, with the correct tactics of using the Bf 110, it was a very good attack aircraft and did not suffer large losses. The sturdy and tenacious airframe design, armor protection and two engines made the aircraft resistant to combat damage. In any case, it was difficult to shoot down an aircraft with a rifle caliber weapon. The long flight range made it possible to operate at a distance of several hundred kilometers from the front line, and a significant bomb load to hit the entire range of targets, including armored vehicles.
Since the 20 mm MG FF cannons were considered too weak, at the end of 1941, variants began to appear with the 30 mm MK 101 and MK 108 cannons, and even with the 37 mm BK 3.7 cannon.
Aviation 30-mm cannon MK 101 weighed 139 kg and had a rate of fire of 230-260 rds / min., A 500 g projectile containing 15 g of explosives, fired from the barrel at a speed of 690 m / s at a distance of 300 m along the normal, could penetrate 25 mm armor plate. In the middle of 1942, the production of a lightweight armor-piercing projectile with a mass of 455 g with an initial speed of 760 m / s began, its armor penetration at the same distance increased to 32 mm. Around the same time, a 355 g projectile with a tungsten carbide core entered service. The muzzle velocity exceeded 900 m / s. At a distance of 300 m along the normal, according to German data, he pierced 75-80 mm armor, and at an angle of 60 ° - 45-50 mm. The same armor-piercing shells were used in other German 30mm aircraft guns. However, due to the chronic shortage of tungsten, carbide-tipped shells have not been produced much. Ordinary armor-piercing shells could only penetrate the armor of light tanks with sufficient probability, medium T-34s and heavy KVs for them, as a rule, were invulnerable. However, the armor-piercing effect of hard-alloy cores, even in the event of penetration of tank armor, was very modest. As a rule, everything ended with a small diameter hole formed in the armor, and the tungsten carbide core itself, after breaking through, crumbled into powder.
The 37-mm VK 3.7 gun was created on the basis of the 3.7 cm FLAK 18 anti-aircraft machine gun. The 37-mm projectile weighed twice as much as the 30-mm, which made it possible to dramatically increase the thickness of the penetrated armor. The long-barreled gun with a high muzzle velocity with a carbide core promised to be even more effective in the fight against armored vehicles. Since the VK 3.7 used exchange loading, the responsibility for reloading the gun was assigned to the side shooter. But the introduction of 30 and 37 mm cannons on the Bf 110 coincided with the withdrawal of aircraft from ground attack aircraft. In 1942, the Germans began to feel an acute shortage of night fighters in the air units defending Germany from British bombers, and therefore the remaining Bf.110s were decided to be re-profiled for solving air defense missions.
Now few people remember about the German attack aircraft Hs 123, but he actively fought until the second half of 1943 and even took part in the battles near Kursk. The archaic biplane, created in the mid-30s, turned out to be in great demand and the vehicles that survived the battles flew until they were completely worn out. Since the aircraft was considered obsolete by the end of the 30s, only about 250 were built.
For its time, the attack aircraft had very good data, with a normal take-off weight of 2215 kg, the Henschel took on board 200 kg of bombs. At the same time, the combat radius of action was 240 km - quite enough for an aircraft of close air support and for actions in the near rear of the enemy. In the case when it was necessary to work along the front edge of the enemy's defense, the bomb load could reach 450 kg (one 250 kg aerial bomb on the central suspension node + four 50 kg under the wing). Built-in armament - two rifle caliber machine guns.
Star-shaped nine-cylinder air-cooled engine BMW 132D with a capacity of 880 hp. made it possible to develop a speed of 341 km / h in horizontal flight at an altitude of 1200 m. This roughly corresponded to the maximum speed of the Soviet I-15bis fighter. This speed was a practical limit for an aircraft with non-retractable landing gear, but unlike Soviet biplanes, the Hs 123 was built of aluminum, which made it more resilient to combat damage and increased the airframe's resource. In general, in the hands of experienced pilots, the Henschel assault aircraft turned out to be a very effective strike aircraft. Although the pilot was initially protected by armor only from the rear, the biplane's combat survivability was so high that it earned the reputation of being "indestructible." Compared to other close air support aircraft, the combat losses of the Hs 123 were significantly lower. So, during the Polish campaign, much more modern Ju 87 dive bombers lost about 11% of those who participated in the hostilities, at the same time, 2 Henschels out of 36 who took part in the battles were shot down by enemy fire. The fairly high combat survivability of the Hs 123 was explained not only by the all-metal structure, but the front of the pilot was covered by an air-cooled engine, which kept combat damage well. In addition, in the initial period of the war, when German aviation dominated the battlefield, the anti-aircraft cover of the Soviet troops was frankly weak, and the main air defense system in the frontal zone was quad anti-aircraft guns based on the Maxim machine gun. An important advantage of the assault biplanes was their ability to make combat flights from muddy unpaved airfields, which other German aircraft could not do.
Although in relation to other types of combat aircraft operating on the Soviet-German front, Hs 123A was relatively small, infantry commanders of all levels noted the good accuracy and effectiveness of their airstrikes. Due to its low flight speed and excellent maneuverability at low altitudes, the Henschel bombed very accurately. He could equally successfully act as an attack aircraft and a dive bomber. Cases were repeatedly noted when the Henschel pilots managed to hit 50 kg of aerial bombs into single tanks.
In connection with the fair criticism of weak offensive weapons, starting in the summer of 1941, containers with 20-mm MG FF cannons began to be suspended on the Hs 123A - this, of course, did not greatly increase the anti-tank potential of the vehicle, but it increased its effectiveness against trucks and steam locomotives.
In the winter of 1941-1942. the assault biplanes that remained in service underwent major repairs and modernization. At the same time, the cockpit was protected by armor from below and along the sides. Taking into account the harsh winter conditions of Russia, the cabin was closed with a canopy and equipped with a heater. To compensate for the increased takeoff weight, air-cooled BMW132K engines with a capacity of 960 hp were installed on the modernized attack aircraft. On some of the vehicles, built-in MG 151/20 cannons were installed in the wing. At the same time, the anti-tank capabilities of attack aircraft increased. A 15-mm armor-piercing bullet weighing 72 g at a distance of 300 m normally pierced 25 mm armor. A 52 g bullet with a carbide core, fired at an initial velocity of 1030 m / s, pierced 40 mm armor under the same conditions. It is not known what the real successes of the Henschels with built-in cannons are, but given the fact that they were released a little, they could not have much influence on the course of hostilities.
In 1942, Hs 123 were used at the front even on a larger scale than a year ago. To increase their number at the front, the aircraft were withdrawn from flight schools and rear units. Moreover, Henschels suitable for further use were collected and restored from aviation dumps. A number of high-ranking officials of the Luftwaffe advocated the resumption of production of the hopelessly outdated aircraft. All this, of course, did not come from a good life. Already in the winter of 1941 it became clear that a quick victory did not work out, and the war in the East was dragging on. At the same time, the Soviet air force and air defense recovered from the initial shock, the ground units and commanders of the Red Army gained some combat experience, and the Soviet industry began to rebuild on a military track. In the Luftwaffe, on the contrary, there was a shortage of qualified pilots and aviation equipment. That is why the Hs 123, an easy-to-operate, unpretentious in maintenance, tenacious and quite effective attack aircraft, has become so in demand.
On the Soviet-German front, this aircraft actively fought until the second half of 1943. Good controllability and high maneuverability allowed him, operating near the ground, to evade attacks from Soviet fighters. By the middle of the war, due to the increased power of the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery, the Henschel pilots tried not to go deeper behind the front line, their main targets were at the front line. The inevitable losses and wear and tear of the materiel led to the fact that by 1944 there were no more Hs 123 attack aircraft in the first line of attack aircraft. The small number of Hs 123 built is largely due to the fact that soon after the start of serial production of the Henschels, it was decided to adopt a more advanced dive bomber.
In the mid-30s, with the increase in the flight speed of combat aircraft, it became clear that it was almost impossible to hit a point target from a horizontal flight with one bomb. It was required either to increase the bomb load many times over, or to increase the number of bombers participating in the sortie. Both proved to be too costly and difficult to implement in practice. The Germans closely followed American experiments in creating a light dive bomber, and in the second half of 1933, the German Air Ministry announced a competition to develop its own dive bomber. At the first stage of the competition, it was supposed to create a relatively simple machine, on which it would be possible to gain the appropriate experience and work out the combat techniques of using a dive bomber. The winner of the first stage of the competition was Henschel Flugzeug-Werke AG with its Hs 123. At the second stage, a combat aircraft with higher flight data and a maximum bomb load of close to 1000 kg was to enter service.
The Ju 87 from Junkers was announced as the winner of the second stage of the competition. It made its first flight in 1935 - almost simultaneously with the Hs 123. It was a two-seat single-engine monoplane with an inverted gull wing and a fixed landing gear. Ju 87 is also known as Stuka - short for it. Sturzkampfflugzeug is a dive bomber. Due to the non-retractable landing gear with large fairings, Soviet soldiers later nicknamed this aircraft "the bastier".
But due to the large number of previously unused technical solutions, the refinement of the aircraft was delayed, and the first Ju 87A-1s began to enter the combat squadrons in the spring of 1937. Compared to the Hs 123 biplane, the plane looked much more advantageous. The pilot and gunner, protecting the rear hemisphere, sat in a closed cockpit. To limit the speed of the dive, the wing had "air brakes" in the form of a grid that rotated 90 ° during the dive, and the pilot's combat work was greatly facilitated by the "automatic dive", which, after dropping bombs, ensured the aircraft's exit from the dive with constant overload. A special electroautomatic device rearranged the elevator trim, which achieved the desired effect, while the effort on the control stick did not exceed normal for level flight. Subsequently, an altimeter was included in the automatic withdrawal from the peak, which determined the moment of withdrawal, even if the bomb was not dropped. If necessary, the pilot, applying more effort on the handle, could take control. The search for the target was facilitated by the presence of an observation window in the cockpit floor. The dive angle to the target was 60-90 °. To make it easier for the pilot to control the dive angle relative to the horizon, a special graduated grid was applied to the glazing of the cockpit canopy.
The aircraft of the first modification did not become truly combat vehicles, although they had a chance to receive the baptism of fire in Spain. The Antonov had a too weak engine, and the propeller-driven group was incomplete. This limited the maximum speed to 320 km / h, reduced the bomb load and the ceiling. Nevertheless, the viability of the dive bomber concept was confirmed in Spain, which gave impetus to the improvement of the Stuka. In the fall of 1938, serial production of Ju 87B-1 (Bertha) began with a liquid-cooled Jumo 211A-1 engine with a capacity of 1000 hp. With this engine, the maximum horizontal flight speed was 380 km / h, and the bomb load was 500 kg (in an overload of 750 kg). Significant changes were made to the composition of the equipment and weapons. More advanced instruments and sights were installed in the cockpit. The tail was protected by a 7, 92 mm MG 15 machine gun in a ball mount with increased firing angles. The offensive armament was reinforced with a second 7, 92 mm MG 17 machine gun. The pilot had the Abfanggerat device at his disposal, providing safe dive bombing. After entering the dive, a frequent signal was heard in the headset of the pilot's headset. After flying past the pre-set bomb drop height, the signal disappeared. Simultaneously with pressing the bomb release button, the trimmers on the elevators were rearranged, and the angle of the propeller blades was changed.
Compared to the Anton, the Bert's dive bombers have become full-fledged combat aircraft. In December 1939, construction began on a Ju 87В-2 with a 1200 hp Jumo-211Da engine. with a new screw and other changes. The maximum speed of this modification increased to 390 km / h. And in the overload, a 1000 kg bomb could be suspended.
For the first time against tanks "Stuka" successfully operated in France in 1940, demonstrating good combat effectiveness. But basically they played the role of "air artillery", acting at the request of ground forces - they smashed enemy fortifications, suppressed artillery positions, blocked the approach of reserves and the supply of supplies. It must be said that the Ju 87 was quite consistent with the views of the German generals on the strategy of conducting offensive operations. The dive bombers swept away anti-tank gun batteries, firing points and resistance centers of the defending enemy in the path of tank "wedges" with precise bombing strikes. According to German data, in the battles of 1941-1942. German dive bombers and attack aircraft could destroy and disable up to 15% of the total number of targets on the battlefield.
By the middle of 1941, the Luftwaffe had a well-functioning system of aviation control over the battlefield and interaction with ground forces. All German strike aircraft were equipped with high-quality, reliably working radios, and the flight crew had good skills in using radio in the air for control and guidance on the battlefield. Air controllers in the combat formations of the ground forces had practical experience in organizing aviation control over the battlefield and targeting ground targets. Directly to accommodate the aircraft controllers, special radio-equipped armored vehicles or command tanks were used. If enemy tanks were detected, they were often subjected to a bomb attack, even before they had time to attack the German troops.
The Stuck was the ideal battlefield strike aircraft during the initial period of the war, when German aviation dominated the air and Soviet ground air defenses were weak. But German dive bombers turned out to be a very tasty target for Soviet fighters, even for the "oldies" I-16 and I-153. In order to break away from the fighters, the high-speed data of the Ju 87 was not enough, and the weak armament and maneuverability insufficient for conducting aerial combat did not allow to effectively defend themselves in aerial combat. In this regard, additional fighters had to be allocated to escort the dive bombers. But the losses of the Ju 87 began to grow from anti-aircraft fire. With a shortage of specialized anti-aircraft weapons, the Soviet command paid great attention to the training of personnel of line infantry units to conduct fire from personal small arms at air targets. In defense, special positions with home-made or semi-handicraft anti-aircraft devices were equipped for light and heavy machine guns and anti-tank rifles, on which dedicated crews were constantly on duty. This forced "initiative" gave a certain effect. Taking into account the fact that the Ju 87 dive bomber did not have special armor protection, often one rifle bullet hitting the engine radiator was enough to prevent the plane from returning to its airfield. Already in the fall of 1941, German pilots noted an increase in losses from anti-aircraft fire when striking the front edge. With intensive shelling from the ground, the pilots of dive bombers tried to increase the height of the bomb release and reduce the number of approaches to the target, which of course could not but affect the effectiveness of airstrikes. With the saturation of the Red Army Air Force with fighters of new types and the strengthening of anti-aircraft cover, the effectiveness of the actions of the "bastards" fell sharply, and the losses became unacceptable. The German aviation industry, up to a certain point, could make up for the loss of equipment, but already in 1942, a shortage of experienced flight personnel began to be felt.
At the same time, the command of the Luftwaffe was not ready to abandon a sufficiently effective dive bomber. Based on the experience of hostilities, a total modernization of the bomber was carried out. To improve flight performance, the Ju 87D (Dora), which entered the front in early 1942, was equipped with a Jumo-211P engine with a capacity of 1500 hp. At the same time, the maximum speed was 400 km / h, and the bomb load in the reloading version increased to 1800 kg. To reduce the vulnerability to anti-aircraft fire, the local armor was strengthened, which was very different depending on the production series.
So, on the Ju 87D-5 model, the total armor weight exceeded 200 kg. In addition to the cockpit, the following were booked: gas tanks, oil and water radiators. This modification, which entered the troops in the summer of 1943, had a pronounced assault specialization. The maximum bomb load was limited to 500 kg, instead of machine guns in the elongated wing, 20-mm MG 151/20 cannons with an ammunition of 180 shells per barrel appeared, and the air brakes were dismantled. On the outer nodes under the wing, containers with six 7, 92 mm MG-81 machine guns or two 20 mm MG FF cannons could be additionally suspended. The strengthening of the defensive armament was due to the MG 81Z twin, 7.92 mm caliber, designed to defend the rear hemisphere. However, given the loss of air superiority, the Stuka's assault variants were not viable.
Within the framework of this cycle, aircraft of the Ju 87G-1 and G-2 modifications ("Gustav") are of the greatest interest. These machines are based on the Ju 87D-3 and D-5 and, as a rule, were converted from combat aircraft to field workshops. But some of the Ju 87G-2 anti-tank attack aircraft were new, they differed from the Ju 87G-1 modification by an increased wing span. Brake flaps were missing on all cars. The main purpose of the "Gustav" was the fight against Soviet tanks. For this, the attack aircraft was armed with two long-barreled 37-mm VK 3.7 guns, which had previously been used on Bf 110G-2 / R1 aircraft. On a small part of the aircraft of the Ju 87G-2 modification, the 20-mm MG151 / 20 wing cannons were preserved. But such aircraft were not popular among pilots due to the too noticeable drop in flight characteristics.
The anti-tank version of the Stuka with 37-mm cannons turned out to be frankly controversial. On the one hand, long-barreled guns, low flight speed, good stability and the ability to attack armored targets from the least protected side made it possible to fight armored vehicles. On the other hand, due to the increased frontal resistance after the installation of the guns and the spread of the heavy load along the planes, the artillery version became more inert compared to the dive bomber, the speed decreased by 30-40 km / h.
The plane was no longer carrying bombs and could not dive at high angles. The 37-mm VK 3.7 cannon itself, which weighed more than 300 kg with a gun carriage and shells, was not very reliable, and the ammunition load did not exceed 6 shells per gun.
However, the low rate of fire of the guns did not allow to shoot all the ammunition at the target in one attack. Due to the strong recoil when firing and the placement of the guns, the aiming was knocked down by the emerging diving moment and the strong swing of the aircraft in the longitudinal plane. At the same time, keeping the line of sight on the target during firing and making adjustments to aiming was a very difficult task, available only to highly qualified pilots.
The most famous pilot flying the anti-tank variant of the Stuka was Hans-Ulrich Rudel, who, according to German statistics, flew 2,530 sorties in less than four years. Nazi propaganda attributed to him the destruction of 519 Soviet tanks, four armored trains, 800 cars and steam locomotives, the sinking of the battleship Marat, a cruiser, a destroyer, and 70 small ships. Rudel allegedly bombed 150 positions of howitzer, anti-tank and anti-aircraft batteries, destroyed several bridges and pillboxes, shot down 7 Soviet fighters and 2 Il-2 attack aircraft in an air battle. At the same time, he himself was shot down by anti-aircraft fire 32 times, while making forced landings several times. He was taken prisoner by Soviet soldiers, but escaped. He was wounded five times, two of them seriously, continued to fly after the amputation of his right leg below the knee.
At the very beginning of his flying career, Rudel did not shine with special flying talents, and the command at one time was even going to remove him from flights due to poor preparation. But later, thanks largely to luck, he managed to stand out among the dive bomber pilots. Although Rudel remained a staunch Nazi for the rest of his life, he was surprisingly lucky in the war. Where his comrades died, this damn lucky pilot managed to survive. At the same time, Rudel himself has repeatedly demonstrated examples of personal courage. It is known that he almost died when he tried to take out the crew of the damaged Junkers, who made an emergency landing in the territory occupied by Soviet troops. Having gained combat experience, the Stuka pilot began to demonstrate high combat results. Although he was persistently offered more modern types of combat aircraft, Rudel for a long time preferred to fly the slow Ju 87G. It was on an attack aircraft with 37 mm cannons that Rudel achieved the most impressive results. Acting at low altitude, the pilot purposefully fought against Soviet tanks. His favorite tactic was to attack the T-34 from the stern.
Many copies have been broken about Rudel's battle accounts on the Internet. For the sake of fairness, it should be admitted that many Russian historians consider Rudel's achievements to be greatly overestimated, as well as the combat accounts of most German aces. But even if Rudel destroyed at least a fifth of the tanks he claims to be, it would certainly be an outstanding result. Rudel's phenomenon also lies in the fact that other German pilots who flew attack aircraft and dive bombers did not even come close to his results.
After 1943, the Ju 87, due to its vulnerability, became quite rare on the Soviet-German front, although its combat use continued until the spring of 1945.
On the battlefield, in addition to specialized attack aircraft and dive bombers, the "work" from low altitudes and from low level flight of twin-engine Ju 88 and He 111 bombers, which fired at and bombed the battle formations of Soviet units, was repeatedly noted. This took place in the initial period of the war, when the Luftwaffe planes ironed our leading edge and near rear areas almost without hindrance. However, the Germans were forced to return to a similar practice in the final period of the war. This did not help to stop the offensive impulse of the Soviet troops, but the losses in bombers from the Germans turned out to be very significant. Even heavy Ju 88C night fighters, which were built on the basis of the Ju 88A-5 bomber, were used to attack the Soviet troops.
The Ju 88C heavy fighters had frontal armored glass and bow armor. Armament on different modifications could be very different. Offensive armament usually consisted of several 20mm cannons and 7.92mm machine guns. On the external nodes there was the possibility of hanging up to 1500 kg of bombs. The maximum speed at the ground was 490 km / h. Practical range - 1900 km.
At the end of 1941, the Wehrmacht command expressed a desire to get an anti-tank aircraft with a powerful weapon capable of destroying medium and heavy enemy tanks with one shot. Work proceeded slowly, and the first batch of 18 Ju 88P-1s with a 75 mm VK 7.5 gun under the cockpit and reinforced armor was transferred to the troops in the fall of 1943. The aircraft was equipped with a version of the PaK 40 anti-tank gun with a barrel length of 46 calibers adapted for use in aviation. The semi-automatic gun with a horizontal wedge breech was manually reloaded. The 75-mm aircraft cannon could use the entire range of ammunition used in an anti-tank gun. To reduce recoil, the gun was equipped with a muzzle brake. The rate of fire of the 75-mm cannon was not high; during the attack, the pilot managed to fire no more than 2 shots. The cannon and the oversized fairing greatly increased the drag of the Ju 88P-1 and made the aircraft very difficult to fly and vulnerable to fighters. The maximum speed at the ground dropped to 390 km / h.
Combat trials of the Ju 88P-1 took place in the central sector of the Eastern Front. Apparently, they were not very successful, in any case, information about the combat successes of tank destroyers with 75-mm guns could not be found.
The low combat effectiveness of heavy attack aircraft with a 75-mm cannon is due to their high vulnerability, excessive recoil and low rate of fire. To increase the practical rate of fire, an electro-pneumatic automated mechanism for sending shells from a radial magazine was developed. The practical rate of fire of a gun with an automatic loader was 30 rds / min. There was at least one twin-engined Junkers with a 75mm automatic cannon. Subsequently, the installation of VK 7.5 cannons on the Ju 88 assault variants was abandoned, preferring to replace them with less powerful, but not so heavy and cumbersome 37-mm VK 3.7 and 50-mm VK 5. Guns of a smaller caliber had a higher rate of fire and less destructive recoil. They were more suitable for use in aviation, although they were not ideal.
Following the Ju 88Р-1, the eighty-eighths appeared, armed with two 37-mm VK 3.7 guns. The Ju 88Р-2 was the first for testing in June 1943. However, representatives of the Luftwaffe were not satisfied with the level of security of the cockpit. The next version with enhanced body armor was designated Ju 88P-3. The aircraft was tested, but it is not known whether this version was serially built.
One aircraft with 37-mm cannons was converted to fit the 50-mm VK 5 gun. The 50-mm automatic cannon was converted from a KwK 39 60-caliber semi-automatic tank gun with a vertical wedge bolt.
The gun was powered from a closed metal belt for 21 rounds. The projectile was sent using an electro-pneumatic mechanism. Thanks to this, the rate of fire was 40-45 rds / min. With a good practical rate of fire and reliability, the entire artillery system turned out to be very heavy and weighed about 540 kg. The gun had high armor penetration. At a distance of 500 meters, an armor-piercing projectile weighing 2040 g, flying out of the barrel at a speed of 835 m / s, pierced 60 mm armor at an angle of 60 °. A projectile with a carbide core weighing 900 g and an initial speed of 1189 m / s under the same conditions could penetrate 95 mm armor. Thus, an attack aircraft armed with a 50 mm gun could theoretically fight medium tanks, attacking them from any direction, and heavy tanks were vulnerable to shelling from the stern and side.
At the beginning of 1944, supplies of heavy Ju 88Р-4 attack aircraft with a 50-mm gun began. Different sources indicate a different number of built copies: from 32 to 40 cars. Perhaps we are also talking about experimental and aircraft converted from other modifications. Part of the anti-tank "eighty-eighths" were also armed with R4 / M-HL Panzerblitz 2 rockets with a cumulative warhead.
Due to the small number of Ju 88Р built, it is difficult to assess their combat effectiveness. Vehicles with heavy artillery weapons could effectively operate in the initial period of the war, but then the main tasks of destroying ground targets were successfully solved by dive bombers and fighter-bombers. After the Germans lost air supremacy and the multiple growth of the power of the Soviet tank armies, heavy attack aircraft operating over the battlefield during the day were doomed to catastrophic losses. However, the Ju 88 was not the only multi-engine aircraft of the Luftwaffe, which was supposed to be equipped with guns with a caliber of more than 37 mm. So, 50 and 75-mm guns were supposed to arm a heavy attack aircraft, which was created on the basis of the long-range bomber He 177.
The aircraft, designated He 177 A-3 / R5, was intended to be used to combat Soviet tanks and suppress Soviet air defense near Stalingrad, during the operation to unblock the encircled 6th Army of Field Marshal Paulus. Five He 177 A-3 bombers began to be converted into this version. But the surrounded 6th Army surrendered before the installation of heavy weapons was completed and the aircraft were returned to their original form.
