"How did the Il-2 Sturmovik actually conduct ground attacks?" Topic

I'm looking for information regarding the actual techniques used by Il-2 pilots to attack ground targets.

For aerial gaming I need to know more specifics than I've been able to find. Were they dive bombers? Glide bombers? Level bombers? Shallow-angle MG/cannon strafers? I'm sure the answer is "several of the above", but I'd like to know more about real use cases.

Anything accepted, references to sources in English greatly appreciated.

- Ix

I'm not an expert but I've just started working on some 1/600 Sturmoviks. Ironically enough, I was watching the Estonian movie 1944 which features a Sturmovik attack on a caravan of German soldiers and Estonian refugees. In the movie they strafe with cannon and machine guns. Movie had some accurate equipment, and while I wouldn't take anything in a movie as gospel, that method of attack would make sense.

Interesting translated book here

link

"The basic method of dropping bombs is glide bombardment. The highest launch accuracy achieved with an IL-2 is at a 30 ° glide angle, and the launch itself must be made at a 20 ° glide angle because it is easier to determine when to launch the bombs."

Chapter 5 of the link above also specifies glide attacks against most targets.

This video contains some footage of the eponymous IL-2 video game and discusses some of the homegrown tactics IL-2 pilots developed due to lack of formal training.

YouTube link

Techniques changed radically over the course of the war. Early tactics were hedge-hopping (NoE) flight to avoid aearly detection and anti-aircraft fire, and to prevent high-side attacks by enemy fighters. Attacks were low-level strafing, rocket fire, and what would now be considered lay-down bombing. (I haven't seen evidence about the fusing used, but I suspect that they had delays of 8+ seconds.) Rearward-firing rockets were even used, to allow attacks on targets that were overflown (since it was easy to spot targets too late from such low altitude.)

Attack profiles moved to dive attacks using all three weapon types in the same pass (rockets first, then guns and bombs). However, accuracy was extremely poor. The VVS realized that separate passes were needed for accurate delivery.

As the Soviets gained air superiority, they were able to operate at medium-low altitude and loiter over target. The preferred tactic was the "wheel of death, where the Sturmoviks formed a circle and dove on the target one at a time to attack and then climb back into the circle. By removing any concern with keeping formation (or colliding with friendly aircraft) during the attacks, the pilots were able to achieve the best accuracy. This technique was enabled by dedicated anti-flak flights that both attacked known and suspected flak before the bombers arrived and responded to any flak the revealed itself.

link is a decent account. I'm sure there are better.

Here is some stuff I've found:

link

The other type of attack was an "S" type starting at one end of a vehicle column and making perpendicular passes coming around for another pass working your way to the other end of the column.

RS-82 rockets: Like most unguided rockets, RS suffered from poor accuracy (they were worse than the US and British). Early testing demonstrated that, when fired from 500 m (1,640 ft), a mere 1.1% of 186 fired RS-82 hit a single tank and 3.7% hit a column of tanks. RS-132 accuracy was even worse, with no hits scored in 134 firings during one test. I think it had a 16 mil accuracy so at about 200m it would have about a 50% chance to hit (someone corrects me if I'm wrong)

The Soviets resorted to having the ground attack aircraft fly in larger groups of eight to 12 planes, enabling the Il-2s to better protect each other by flying in a defensive circle, which the Germans called the "Wheel of Death." Attacking in such groups also helped assure that the volleys of the somewhat inaccurate rockets would strike vital components of the German defenses. The changes also included having a few of the Il-2s initially attack German artillery positions to help lessen flak damage in subsequent attacks. The pilots also developed a zig-zag system of attack that reduced chances of being hit. Studies conducted on a Soviet test range revealed that it was more effective if rockets were used on the first run, followed by secondary runs with bombs and following runs with guns.

Soviet flyers also discovered that while the Ilyusha was slower in a turn than German fighters it could outturn them in a half-turn maneuver, which enabled them to become the attackers. They also learned to suddenly slow the Sturmovik so the German fighters would zip past and then become victims of the Soviet planes' heavy cannon and machine-gun fire. They also learned to sideslip the Il-2 in a 20-degree bank, creating aiming problems for the Germans.

To compensate for the poor accuracy of the Il-2's bombsight, in 1943, the Soviet Command decided to use shaped-charge armor-piercing projectiles against enemy armored vehicles, and the PTAB-2.5-1.5 SCAP aircraft bomb was put into production. These small-calibre bombs were loaded directly into the bomb bays and were dropped onto enemy vehicles from altitudes up to 100 meters (328 ft). As each Il-2 could carry up to 192 bombs, a fire carpet 70 meters (229 ft.) long and 15 meters (49 ft) wide could cover the enemy tanks, giving a high "kill" probability.

According to my recreation, a tank 6m x 3m would be hit by 3-4 bombs if the drop was over the tank. If tanks/vehicles are in a column with 25m intervals up to three would be in the bomb area.

I think the German 88 had a minimum AAA engagement range of about 1000m making so by flying low they could get inside their minimum range.

The rules we're using allows the IL-2 to actually act like a flying tank and have shootouts with German AAA. With 5-second movement increments it moves about 150m (6" on the table). The Wirblewind is good but uses a 20 round box magazine so it needs to reload frequently.

Wolfhag