SB (Family)

Description

The Tupolev SB (Скоростной бомбардировщик - high-speed bomber) is a Soviet fast bomber designed by the Tupolev design bureau in the 1930s. It saw significant action in the Spanish Civil War and Second Sino-Japanese War, but by the time of the German invasion, had become outdated. The design was superseded by the more modern Pe-2 and Tu-2 bombers but remained in use throughout the war.

The exact nomenclature of the SB is often a bit confusing, with a handful of incorrect misnomers. As was standard for the time, the SB was named for its role. However, since it was the only high-speed bomber design created, it did not receive a number index (unlike TB-3, for example, the third heavy bomber design) and was left as simply SB. All the numbers and letters that follow are indicative of the number and type of engines fitted to the aircraft—SB 2M-103U has two M-103U engines. Thus, the correct nomenclature is "SB" or "SB 2M-100", not "SB-2" or "SB-2M".

Vehicles

Rank I

• Ar-2 - Dive bomber variant of the SB, named appended by Alexander Arkhangelsky after Tupolev was imprisoned during the Great Purge
• SB 2M-100
• SB 2M-103
• SB 2M-103U
• SB 2M-103 MV-3
• SB 2M-103U MV-3
• SB 2M-105

Rank II

• SB 2M-103U (China) - Aircraft supplied to China

See also

• DB-3 (Family) - Ilyushin bomber that evolved from a competing design to the SB
• Ju 88 (Family)

Tupolev Design Bureau (Ту́полев Опытное конструкторское бюро)
Bombers	TB-3M-17-32 · SB 2M-100 · SB 2M-103 MV-3 · SB 2M-103 · SB 2M-103U · SB 2M-103U MV-3 · SB 2M-105
	Tu-2 · Tu-2S · Tu-2S-44 · Tu-2S-59 · Tu-4
Arkhangelsky Bomber	Ar-2*
Strike Aircraft	Tu-1
Jet Bomber	Tu-14T
Export	␗SB 2M-103U · ␗Tu-2S-44 · ␗Tu-4
	◔Tu-2S-59
	* While Andrei Tupolev was imprisoned, Alexander Arkhangelsky, second in command at Tupolev OKB was able to append his name to the final production series of the SB bomber.