Il-10

In 1943 Ilyushin began work on a new aircraft Il-1, which was to be a 1- or 2-seat heavy armoured interceptor, meant primarily for countering enemy bombers and transports. The Il-1 was similar to Il-2 in design, but was more modern and compact, powered by a new Mikulin engine AM-42. The airforce however gave up the idea of heavy armoured fighters, due to their poor speed, too low to intercept modern bombers. As a result, Ilyushin decided to turn the Il-1 into a 2-seat ground attack fighter - bomber, and changed it designation to Il-10 in early 1944 (odd numbers were reserved for pursuit fighters). In the spring of 1944, the first Il-10 was flown, and underwent state trials in June, with success.

Pilot V.K.Kokkinaki made the first test flight on April 18, 1944. The State Defense Committee (GKO) decided on August 23, 1944 to put the Il-10 into serial production as a new ground attack plane.

The high speed, maneuverability and effective armour protection mark the great fighting qualities of the Il-10. The Il-10 could effectively engage opposing fighters at lower altitudes.

Its armament was similar to late Il-2s, with two 7.62mm ShKAS machine-guns and two 23mm NS-23 cannon or (four NS-23 cannon) in the wing. The new Il-10 featured a 20mm BT-20 cannon in a rear-facing turret operated by the gunner. The plane carried a 882lb bomb load, plus eight 82mm RS 82 (or 132mm RS 132) rockets.

Production ended in 1949, after 4600 Il-10s built (in is last two years, Il-10s were produced in factory no. 64).

English help by Peter Gunther

References

• "The history of designs of planes in USSR 1938-1950" /Vadim Shavrov/
• "Planes of Stalin falcons" /Konstantin Kosminkov and Dmitriy Grinyuk/
• "Planes of Ilyushin`s design bureau" /Genrih Novojilov/
• "The Soviet planes" /Alexander Yakovlev/