Po-2M

This page is about the premium Soviet bomber Po-2M. For the gift version, see Po-2. For the race event version, see Po-2 Night Witch.

Po-2M

Po-2M

USSR

I Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
1.0	1.0	1.0

Class:

PREMIUM

Bomber

Light bomber

Hydroplane

Purchase:Bundle or Gift

Show in game

MARKET

Description

The Po-2M is a premium event rank I Soviet light bomber with a battle rating of 1.0 (AB/RB/SB). It was introduced during Update "Drone Age" as a reward for the 2022 Project "Overpowered" event. It can be obtained on the market for a relatively cheap price of around 4.50 GJN. Although it's rarely found in random matches it still a very good plane to use especially on it's BR. It carries HE rockets and incendiary bombs usually found 3/4 BR higher it has very good maneuverability for a biplane and a bomb sight ( it's officially the smallest plane ingame to have one)

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 0 m134 km/h

Turn time30 s

Max altitude1 500 m

EngineShvetsov M-11D

TypeRadial

Cooling systemAir

Take-off weight1 t

Characteristics	Max speed (km/h at 0 m - sea level)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	130	126	1500	30.6	31.7	1.8	1.7	258
Upgraded	139	134		29.5	30.0	2.8	2.3

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
X	X	X	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
190	450	N/A	N/A	N/A	~5	~3

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 200	< 200	< 200	> 295

Survivability and armour

Crew2 people

Speed of destruction

Structural0 km/h

Gear450 km/h

Just like every other small biplane in it's BR it has next to no armor, it's wings are very vunerable to enemy fire (around 50° vertically from the wing plate), the tail is big and has large amount of flat areas and control surfaces, a simple hit here can result in tail cut kill instantly. Fuel tank is small and is located under the wing making it hard to hit just like the engine, but the propeller is not the same story, it's just huge, it's around the same level as your floater so hitting it is easy be aware of that.

Modifications and economy

Repair cost

AB1 161

RB1 411

SB2 184

Crew training450

Experts3 000

Aces45

Research Aces220 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

2 × 50 / 100 / 90 %

2 × 100 / 100 / 100 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Wings repair Engine	Airframe Cover	shkas_turret_belt_pack shkas_turret_new_gun RO-82 ROS-132

Armaments

Suspended armament

We came to by far the best thing about this little beast, the weapons it carries. It's equipped with AP rockets, HE rockets, bombs and incendiary bombs which is very impressive at it's BR especially the incendiary bombs usually found in around BR 5.0, it's rockets are the same that the i-153 and i-15 carries at the exception of the Ros-132 rockets which are improved version of Rbs-82 rockets, they carry way more explosive filler in it, enough to destroy up to 5 open roof vehicle with only one rocket and can easily overpressure heavy tanks up to BR 5.7, impressive stats. The Zab-50fp incendiary bombs are very usefull against capture point campers and open roof vehicles otherwise it's just used for trolling players in top tier. It can otherwise carry up to 200kg or 440 lbs of bombs.

Defensive armament

The Po-2M is defended by:

• 1 x 7.62 mm DA fast-firing machine gun

Usage in battles

[Work in progress]

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Various payload options
  • Access to incendiary bombs at reserve BR
  • Rockets are effective against ground targets
  • Very effective rear turret

Cons:

• Slow flight speed
• You slow speed makes you an easy target for fighters and spaa
• Your climb rate is awful
• Lacks an offensive armament

History

From the beginning, the U-2 became the basic Soviet civil and military trainer aircraft, mass-produced in a "Red Flyer" factory near Moscow. It was also used for transport, and as a military liaison aircraft, due to its STOL capabilities. Also from the beginning it was produced as an agricultural aircraft variant, which earned it its nickname Kukuruznik (corn man). Although entirely outclassed by contemporary aircraft, the Kukuruznik served extensively on the Eastern Front in World War II, primarily as a liaison, medevac and general-supply aircraft. It was especially useful for supplying Soviet partisans behind the German front line. Manufacturing of the Po-2 in the USSR ceased in 1949, but until 1959 a number were assembled in Aeroflot repair workshops.

The first trials of arming the aircraft with bombs took place in 1941.

During the defence of Odessa in September 1941, the U-2 was used as a reconnaissance aircraft and as a light, short-range, bomber. The bombs, dropped from a civil aircraft piloted by Pyotr Bevz, were the first to fall on enemy artillery positions. From 1942 it was adapted as a light night ground attack aircraft.

Nikolay Polikarpov supported the project, and under his leadership, the U-2VS (voyskovaya seriya - Military series) was created. This was a light night bomber, fitted with bomb carriers beneath the lower wing, to carry 50 or 100 kg (110 or 220 lbs) bombs up to a total weight of 350 kg (771 lb) and armed with ShKAS or DA machine guns in the observer's cockpit.

The U-2 became known as the aircraft used by the 588th Night Bomber Regiment, composed of an all-woman pilot and ground crew complement. The unit was notorious for daring low-altitude night raids on German rear-area positions. Veteran pilots Yekaterina Ryabova and Nadezhda Popova on one occasion flew eighteen missions in a single night. The women pilots observed that the enemy suffered a further degree of demoralization simply due to their antagonists being female. As such, the pilots earned the nickname "Night Witches" (German Nachthexen, Russian Ночные Ведьмы/Nočnye Ved’my). The unit earned numerous Hero of the Soviet Union citations and dozens of Order of the Red Banner medals; most surviving pilots had flown nearly 1,000 combat missions by the end of the war and took part in the Battle of Berlin.

The material effects of these missions may be regarded as minor, but the psychological effect on German troops was noticeable. They typically attacked by surprise in the middle of the night, denying German troops sleep and keeping them on their guard, contributing to the already high stress of combat on the Eastern front. The usual tactic involved flying only a few meters above the ground, climbing for the final approach, throttling back the engine and making a gliding bombing run, leaving the targeted troops with only the eerie whistling of the wind in the wings' bracing-wires as an indication of the impending attack. Luftwaffe fighters found it extremely hard to shoot down the Kukuruznik because of two main factors: the pilots flew at treetop level where they were hard to see or engage and the stall speed of both the Messerschmitt Bf 109 and the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 was similar to the U-2s maximum speed, making it difficult for the fighters to keep a Po-2 in weapons range for an adequate period of time. The success of the Soviet night harassment units inspired the Luftwaffe to set up similar Störkampfstaffel "harassment combat squadrons" on the Eastern Front using their own obsolete 1930s-era, open cockpit biplanes (most often the Gotha Go 145 and Arado Ar 66 biplanes) and parasol monoplane aircraft, eventually building up to larger Nachtschlachtgruppe (night attack group) units of a few squadrons each.

The Polish Air Force used these slow and manoeuvrable aircraft for air reconnaissance and COIN operations against UPA detachments in mountainous area of Bieszczady. Pilots and navigators were dispatched to look for concentrations of UPA forces and if needed, engage them with machine guns and grenades. On several occasions, the UPA managed to bring down some of the Po-2s, but never captured or operated them.

The U-2's 5-cylinder engine had an unusual exhaust manifold arrangement that gave the engine a peculiar rattling or popping sound which made the airplane easily identifiable even at night. German soldier Claus Neuber listed in his war diary six different German nicknames for the plane, the most common of which were Nähmaschine (sewing machine) or Kaffeemühle, (coffee mill), both due to the distinctive engine sound. Neuber added that some German troops derisively called it the "Runway Crow" or "Fog Crow." He also cited the nicknames "Iron Gustav," for the belly armor the plane carried to protect it from ground fire, and "The Duty NCO" because the plane almost always came at night at the same time. The fabric and wood construction of the airplane made it extremely vulnerable to catching fire when hit by tracer rounds, resulting in a Russian nickname of Kerosinka, or kerosene lantern. Finnish troops called it Hermosaha (Nerve saw)^{[citation needed]}.

Korean War

North Korean forces used the Po-2 in a similar role during the Korean War. A significant number of Po-2s were fielded by the Korean People's Air Force, inflicting serious damage during night raids on United Nations bases. During one such attack, a lone Po-2 attacked Pyongyang Air Base. Concentrating on the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group's parking ramp, the Po-2 dropped a string of fragmentation bombs squarely across the group's lineup of P-51 Mustangs. Eleven Mustangs were damaged, three so badly that they were destroyed when Pyongyang was abandoned several days later.

On 17 June 1951, at 01:30 hours, Suwon Air Base was bombed by two Po-2s. Each biplane dropped a pair of fragmentation bombs. One scored a hit on the 802nd Engineer Aviation Battalion's motor pool, damaging some equipment. Two bombs burst on the flightline of the 335th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. One F-86A Sabre (FU-334 / 49-1334) was struck on the wing and began burning. The fire took hold, gutting the aircraft. Prompt action by personnel who moved aircraft away from the burning Sabre prevented further loss. Eight other Sabres were damaged in the brief attack, four seriously. One F-86 pilot was among the wounded. The North Koreans subsequently credited Lt. La Woon Yung with this damaging attack.

UN forces named the Po-2's nighttime appearance Bedcheck Charlie and had great difficulty in shooting it down – even though night fighters had radar as standard equipment in the 1950s. The wood-and-fabric material of the Po-2 had only a small radar cross-section, making it hard for an opposing fighter pilot to acquire their target. As Korean war U.S. veteran Leo Fournier remarked about "Bedcheck Charlie" in his memoirs: "... no one could get at him. He just flew too low and too slow." On 16 June 1953, a USMC AD-4 from VMC-1 piloted by Major George H. Linnemeier and CWO Vernon S. Kramer shot down a Po-2, the only documented Skyraider air victory of the war. The Po-2 is also the only biplane credited with a documented jet-kill, as one Lockheed F-94 Starfire was lost while slowing down to 161 km/h (100 mph) – below its stall speed – during an intercept in order to engage the low flying Po-2.

Media

Skins

• Skins and camouflages for the Po-2M from live.warthunder.com.

See also

• Po-2

External links

• [Devblog] Project "Overpowered": Po-2M