FlyPast – August 2018

(John Hannent) #1
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
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