Tupolev Tu-2

Infobox Aircraft
name = Tu-2
type = Light bomber
manufacturer = Tupolev

---

caption = A Tu-2 bomber at the China Aviation Museum.
designer =
first flight = 29 January 1941
introduced = 1941
retired =
status =
primary user = Soviet Air Forces
more users =
produced = 1941-1948
number built =
unit cost =
variants with their own articles = 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

;"Aircraft 103": Two 1400 hp Mikulin AM-37 (water cooling), 1941.;ANT-67: Five-seat long-range bomber.;Tu-1 (ANT-63P): Three-seat long-range escort fighter.;Tu-2: Two 1450hp Shvetsov ASh-82 (air cooling) with bigger drag, 1942.;Tu-2S (ANT-61): Powered by two 1850hp Shvetsov ASh-82FN radial piston engines, 1943.;Tu-2D (ANT-62): Longe-range version, powered by two 1850hp 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 1,900-hp (1,417-kW) 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 690 hp created by the Sukhoi OKB in 1946

Operators

;World War Two operators;USSR
*Soviet Air Force

;Post-War operators;BUL
*Bulgarian Air Force;CHN
*People's Liberation Army Air Force;HUN
*Hungarian Air Force;IDN
*Indonesian Air Force;PRK
*North Korean Air Force;POL
*Polish Air Force;ROM
*Romanian Air Force;USSR
*Soviet Air Force;YUG
*SFR Yugoslav Air Force

Specifications (Tu-2)

aircraft specifications
jet or prop?=prop
plane or copter?=plane
crew=4
capacity=
length main=13.80 m
length alt=45 ft 3 in
span main=18.86 m
span alt=61 ft 10 in
height main=4.13 m
height alt=13 ft 7 in
area main=48.5 m²
area alt=522 ft²
empty weight main=7,601 kg
empty weight alt=16,757 lb
loaded weight main=10,538 kg
loaded weight alt=23,232 lb
useful load main=
useful load alt=
max takeoff weight main=11,768 kg
max takeoff weight alt=25,944 lb
engine (prop)=Shvetsov ASh-82
type of prop=radial engines
number of props=2
power main=1,380 kW
power alt=1,850 hp
max speed main=521 km/h
max speed alt=281 kt, 325 mph
cruise speed main=
cruise speed alt=
never exceed speed main=
never exceed speed alt=
stall speed main=
stall speed alt=
range main=2,020 km
range alt=1,090 nm, 1,260 mi
ceiling main=9,000 m
ceiling alt=30,000 ft
climb rate main=8.2 m/s
climb rate alt=1,610 ft/min
loading main=217 kg/m²
loading alt=45 lb/ft²
power/mass main=260 W/kg
power/mass alt=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 (5,000 lb)

See also

aircontent

related=
* Tupolev Tu-1
* Tupolev Tu-6
* Tupolev Tu-8
* Tupolev Tu-10
* Tupolev Tu-12

similar aircraft=
* Petlyakov Pe-2
* Junkers Ju-88
sequence=

External links

* http://www.aviation.ru/Tu/#2
* [http://scalemodels.ru/modules/photo/viewcat_cid_180.html Walkaround of Tu-2 from Monino Museum, Russia]