Tu-2
| This page is about the Soviet bomber Tu-2. For other versions, see Tu-2 (Family). |
Contents
Description
The Tu-2 is a gift rank III Soviet bomber with a battle rating of 4.3 (AB) and 4.7 (RB/SB). It was introduced before Update 1.17 and was obtained for free by players participating in the Closed Beta for Airplanes (2013 or before). The Tu-2 is currently unobtainable.
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 7,300 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 522 | 504 | 9500 | 32.1 | 32.9 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 326 |
| Upgraded | 575 | 547 | 29.7 | 30.8 | 13.0 | 8.1 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 900 | 390 | 437 | 380 | 310 | ~8 | ~4 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 360 | < 360 | < 440 | > 302 |
Survivability and armour
Examine the survivability of the aircraft. Note how vulnerable the structure is and how secure the pilot is, whether the fuel tanks are armoured, etc. Describe the armour, if there is any, and also mention the vulnerability of other critical aircraft systems.
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Tu-2 is armed with:
- 2 x 20 mm ShVAK cannons, wing-mounted (150 rpg = 300 total)
Suspended armament
The Tu-2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 9 x 100 kg FAB-100sv bombs (900 kg total)
- 2 x 250 kg FAB-250sv bombs (500 kg total)
- 2 x 500 kg FAB-500sv bombs (1,000 kg total)
- 2 x 500 kg FAB-500sv bombs + 2 x 250 kg FAB-250sv bombs (1,500 kg total)
- 4 x 500 kg FAB-500sv bombs (2,000 kg total)
Defensive armament
The Tu-2 is defended by:
- 1 x 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun, front dorsal turret (190 rpg)
- 1 x 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun, rear dorsal turret (250 rpg)
- 1 x 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun, ventral turret (350 rpg)
Usage in battles
Once spawned (~3,500 m), locate what ground targets to engage. It is suggested to engage the targets farthest from the enemy's airfield in order to avoid detection. Attack pillboxes (light or heavy, it doesn't matter with 500 kg bombs) as these don't move. Only engage the AI tanks if there are no pillboxes, and if engaging the tanks, judge the speed of the tank column, and release the bombs, making sure to lead where the tanks will be as the bombs fall, not where they are in that moment.
When bombing anything, note that the center of the reticule should be aimed below the target by about a centimetre (looking at the screen). This will allow the bombs maximum precision. Remember to open the bomb bay doors before attempting to drop the bombs. Once the payload has dropped, begin attacking artillery and AAA guns with the 20 mm cannons. Fire in short bursts to conserve ammo, as the more of these light targets are destroyed, the better. Never attack light pillboxes with the frontal cannons. The ammo spent attempting to destroy these (~200 rounds) isn't worth it. Always attack lighter targets, or if the situation presents itself, enemy aircraft. Once the bombs and cannon ammo are exhausted, then high-tail it back to the airfield. Fully upgraded, the Tu-2S can maintain ~450 km/h on the deck, no problem. Be careful upon landing, as the plane tends to stall at ~175 km/h. Rearm, and repeat.
Specific enemies worth noting
- Player-controlled SPAA (Kugelblitz, Crusader AA Mk II, etc.) - These are the bane of bombers (especially medium-sized ones such as the Tu-2). When the tracers fly, don't risk a dive. Circle around or find some unsuspecting flanker that is outside the cover of these AAA guns.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Auto control available |
Controllable Auto control available |
Separate | Controllable 2 gears |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Fast, for a medium bomber
- High wing rip speed (over 700 km/h)
- Air spawn in RB.
- Very easy to land and take-off
- Decent payload, 500 kg bombs are very useful in tank RB
- Forward-firing ShVAK cannons, can be useful in a head-on engagement
- Twin tail design leaves little restriction on back gunners
- Decently agile for its size
- Guaranteed to put out fires on fuel tanks due to pressurized gas system
- Very efficient in taking out individual ground targets
- Individual bomb drops, very effective in tank battles
- Engines can cool down even with a 100% throttle
- Can pretty much WEP indefinitely
- Great all-round visibility for a bomber/attacker, even has a downward window in the nose, allowing you to scan target area
Cons:
- Can extinguish fires but sometimes it will just burn out before the fuel tanks seal in time
- Relatively small defensive armament
- Only one pilot and is not protected by armour from the front
- High stall speed (175 km/h, more of a pain when taking off/landing)
- Although it is fast, everything else is faster
- Performance starts to degrade with altitude
- Low amount of cannon ammo (150 rounds per gun)
- While gunsight is well above the cockpit, it is still obstructed by the sight itself, limiting downward visibility in a lead
History
In-game description
Tupolev Tu-2 Dive Bomber, Omsk Aircraft Factory No. 166, series 1 to 7 (Aircraft 103VS; NATO reporting name: Bat).
An all-metal cantilever monoplane with a twin-fin tail and a retractable landing gear system with tail wheel. This aircraft was designed by OKB-29 of the NKVD's Special Technical Bureau, under the direction of Andrei N. Tupolev, as a twin-engine bomber to operate near the front lines and in raids at the enemy's rear (the project was called "FB", which stood for "front-line bomber").
The 103 (ANT-58) prototype plane made its first flight on January 25, 1941. A production version of the aircraft having two Shvetsov M-82 fourteen-cylinder double-row radial air-cooled engines with a take-off power of 1,700 hp was designated as the 103VS. It differed from the 103V prototype model in its enlarged main landing gear wheels and its simplified equipment. Full-scale production of the aircraft started in March 1942, and the plane was then renamed the Tu-2.
The first series was armed with five 7.62mm ShKAS machine guns (including two fixed guns mounted in the nose), two 20mm ShVAK cannons located in the wings, and ten RS-132 unguided rockets. The firepower of the ShKAS machine guns was already considered insufficient by then, and thus the defensive armament on planes already built was upgraded. When the first Tu-2s arrived at the front lines, they were equipped with two or three 12.7mm UBT machine guns instead of the ShKAS models.
The final version of the aircraft's defensive armament consisted of two 20mm ShVAK cannons with 150 rounds each, a BUSh-1 blister mount with a 190-round UBT machine gun, an upper VUM-1 defensive turret with a 250-round UBT machine gun, and a LU-UBT hatch mount with a 300-round UBT machine gun.
The Tu-2's standard load was 1,000 kg, and its maximum load was 2,000 kg. When overloaded, the aircraft could carry up to 3,000 kg of bombs over a short distance. The payload could be placed inside the bomb bay or on external mounts, and dive bombing was possible in either case. The Tu-2 could carry bombs of different types in various combinations, including FAB-2000, FAB-1000, BRAB-1000, FAB-500, FAB-250, FAB-250TsK, BRAB-220, BRAB-DS-150, and FAB-100 bombs. Ten RS-132 or RS-82 rockets could be suspended under the wings.
In some cases, the aluminum used in construction was deficient, so some of the plane's structural parts had to be made of wood, most notably the forward fuselage, the tail cone, and the wing tips.
After its combat debut, the Tu-2 received high accolades. It was praised for things such as its high bomb capacity, powerful and lasting air-cooled engines, comfortable crew space, powerful armament, and good flight performance. But the first series of Tu-2s were extremely costly. Moreover, the aircraft suffered from a great number of defects and low production quality. In October 1942, due to the plane's high cost and the urgent need for fighter planes, a strategic decision was made to discontinue production of the Tu-2. Only a total of 80 aircraft had been produced.
Media
- Videos
See also
Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:
- reference to the series of the aircraft;
- links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.
External links
Paste links to sources and external resources, such as:
- topic on the official game forum;
- other literature.
| 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. | |
| USSR bombers | |
|---|---|
| SB and Ar | SB 2M-100 · SB 2M-103 · SB 2M-103 MV-3 · SB 2M-103U · SB 2M-103U MV-3 · SB 2M-105 · Ar-2 |
| Yer-2 (petrol) | Yer-2 (M-105) · Yer-2 (M-105) TAT · Yer-2 (M-105R) TAT · Yer-2 (M-105R) LU |
| Yer-2 (diesel) | Yer-2 (ACh-30B) (e) · Yer-2 (ACh-30B) (l) |
| Tu | Tu-2 · Tu-2S · Tu-2S-44 · Tu-2S-59 · Tu-4 |
| Pe | Pe-2-1 · Pe-2-31 · Pe-2-83 · Pe-2-110 · Pe-2-205 · Pe-2-359 · Pe-8 |
| IL | DB-3B · IL-4 |
| Po | Po-2 · Po-2M |
| Other | MBR-2-M-34 · TB-3M-17-32 · Yak-4 · Be-6 |
| Lend-Lease | ▂PBY-5A Catalina · ▂Hampden TB Mk I · ▂A-20G-30 · ▂B-25J-30 |
