FlyPast – August 2018

the Great Patriotic War 1941 - 1945

GERMANY INVADESGERMANY INVADES

Lavochkin LaGG-3 fighters.
As part of the operational
appraisal, the 132nd Independent
Bomber Air Regiment (OBAP),
commanded by Lt Col A
Khlebnikov, worked up on Tu-2s
during the spring of 1942, having
previously flown Tupolev SBs and
Pe-2s. The 132nd received 29
Tu-2s and fought on the Kalinin
Front from October 29, 1942 to
January 4, 1943, raiding Smolensk,
Velikiye Luki and Vitebsk.
Although the Tu-2 proved to be
durable with good handling, easy
maintenance and a large bomb
load, its Shvetsov M-82A radial
engines had an unacceptably high
failure rate. The air ministry
directed that the engine issues be
corrected, which was achieved with
the Tu-2S version.

OPERATIONAL

In October 1942 four Tu-2s were

sent from factory GAZ.166 in

Omsk, Siberia, to the front. Three

were used by the 2nd Long Range

Reconnaissance Regiment, which

was renamed the 47th Guards Long

Range Reconnaissance Regiment

(GvDRAP) in February 1943.

While returning from

photographing enemy positions

near Staraya Russa, a Tu-2 flown by

V F Stolyarov was engaged by six

Focke-Wulf Fw 190s. In the fierce

dogfight that followed, the aircraft

caught fire and went down; only

the navigator survived.

The Germans were not always so

lucky. The Tupolev was well armed

and fast for a medium bomber.

In an encounter near Minsk in

May 1943, a Tu-2 flown by V N

Tereschenko fended off four Bf

109s, downing one.

Based at an airfield near

Andreapol, close to the

Byelorussian border, the remaining

Tu-2s of the 47th GvDRAP

continued reconnaissance duties,

photographing enemy movements

in such places as Parnu on the

Gulf of Livonia in the Baltic Sea.

The 47th also bombed enemy

concentrations in Minsk, Borisov

and Vitebsk.

The aircraft were heavily utilised

and by May 1943 the unit’s three

Tu-2s had flown more sorties than

the 29 of the 132nd OBAP.

In November 1942 the 3rd VA

had 17 Tu-2s operational. By this

time the decision to halt production

had been made, with the last of

the 80 early production versions

delivered to the Red Air Force in

January 1943.

On the Kalinin Front in

December 1942, the 132nd OBAP

raided the town of Velikiye Luki,

Tu-2s successfully hitting the target

with 2,205lb FAB-1000s from only

3,300ft. The low level increased the

accuracy and the large bombs made

craters 59ft (18m) in diameter.

By March 16, 1943 the 132nd

had moved its 14 Tu-2s to the

Southwestern Front.

IN THE MINORITY

For the Battle of Kursk, the Red

Army amassed thousands of

aircraft, of which only a small

number were Tupolevs. They

included 18 assigned to the

Above

A Tu-2S over Moscow

in 1945. VIKTOR KULIKOV

COLLECTION

Left

Wearing North Korean

markings, the Tu-2 on

show at the Chinese

Aviation Museum,

Datangshan, Beijing,

has the three-bladed

propellers typically

used in World War Two.

MAX SMITHWIKIMEDIA

August 2018 FLYPAST 105