At the end of 1939, the first "Berta" Ju-87B-1 was replaced in production by the Ju-87B-2 dive bomber, which for the first time appeared on a rod to carry a dropped bomb outside the circle of rotation of the propeller. The new bomb rack made it possible to hang a bomb up to 1000 kg, although a radio operator was not taken in this case.

The increased power of the Jumo 211Da motor required an increase in the area of ​​the cooling radiator, and its fairing has also changed. Jet exhausts, first seen on the latest B-1s, are now standard on the B-1. The increased power of the engine required an increase in fuel consumption, which reduced the range of action, with a 500-kg bomb, it barely reached 590 km. In addition, hydraulic rather than manual control of the radiator shutters was introduced, a new wooden propeller with wider blades. Of the minor innovations, one can note a photo-movie machine gun on the left half of the wing, fairings for MG-17 machine guns, a hatch for accessing the manual engine start drive, and a friend or foe identification system.

Various factory variants of this modification included the Ju-87B-2/U2 with an improved radio, the Ju-87B-2/U3 with increased armor protection for use as a close support aircraft, and the Ju-87B-2/U4 with a ski chassis. In addition, there was a version of the Jn-87B-2 / Trop for service in North Africa - with an air filter and a set of accessories for operation in the desert. The last model, along with the usual Ju-87B-2s, were delivered to Italy (where they were called "Picciatello"); in addition, Ju-87B-2s were transferred to Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

By the start of World War II, Germany had 336 Ju-87B aircraft in combat units, the production of all variants of the Ju-87B-2 is estimated at about 827 aircraft.

Photo	Description
	Drawing Ju 87 B-2
	Ju-87B-2, North Africa.
	Junkers Ju 87B in flight

Bibliography

• "Aviation of Luftwaffe" /Viktor Shunkov/
• "Encyclopedia of military engineering" /Aerospace Publising/
• "Junkers-87B/R Stuka" /Avia-Archive/