Ar-2
Contents
Description
The Ar-2 is a rank I Soviet bomber with a battle rating of 2.7 (AB/SB) and 2.3 (RB). It has been in the game since the start of the Open Beta Test prior to Update 1.27.
General info
Flight performance
The Ar-2 is a pleasant aircraft to fly with a good climb and turn rate, as well as a low stall speed and takeoff requirement.
Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 4,700 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
Stock | 490 | 477 | 9900 | 22.8 | 23.4 | 10.0 | 10.0 | 366 |
Upgraded | 536 | 512 | 21.3 | 22.0 | 15.4 | 12.5 |
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 | + | - | ||
0 | 350 | 315 | 309 | 280 | ~9 | ~5 |
Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
< 320 | < 320 | < 300 | > 350 |
Compressor (RB/SB) | ||
---|---|---|
Setting 1 | ||
Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
2,000 m | 1,100 hp | 1,188 hp |
Setting 2 | ||
Optimal altitude | 100% Engine power | WEP Engine power |
4,000 m | 1,050 hp | N/A |
Survivability and armour
- 6mm Steel plate in the pilot's seat & headrest.
Modifications and economy
Armaments
Suspended armament
The Ar-2 can be outfitted with the following ordnance:
- 6 x 100 kg FAB-100 bombs (600 kg total)
- 10 x 100 kg FAB-100 bombs (1,000 kg total)
- 2 x 250 kg FAB-250M43 bombs (500 kg total)
- 4 x 250 kg FAB-250M43 bombs (1,000 kg total)
- 6 x 250 kg FAB-250M43 bombs (1,500 kg total)
- 1 x 500 kg FAB-500 bomb (500 kg total)
- 3 x 500 kg FAB-500 bombs (1,500 kg total)
Defensive armament
The Ar-2 is defended by:
- 1 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, nose turret (500 rpg)
- 1 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, dorsal turret (1,000 rpg)
- 1 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun, ventral turret (600 rpg)
Usage in battles
Ar-2 is quite fast, and is faster than most other bombers at a similar BR (like B-18A and He 111 H-3). Use this as an advantage. Go directly for the enemy bases, then go back to the airfield and restart a bombing run. If an enemy plane targets you, keep flying straight and have a slight climb. Use your defensive turrets to scare away enemies tailing you. In Mixed battles, its armament of 3 x 500 kg bombs is quite the loadout for the battle rating and can be used to carpet-bomb a point. However, only spawn in the Ar-2 if there are no enemy fighters up and don't go low altitude- SPAA and roof-mounted MGs will easily chew this plane up.
Manual Engine Control
MEC elements | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
Oil | Water | Type | ||||
Controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Not controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Combined | Controllable 2 gears |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- It is pretty fast (able to outrun Bf 109s)
- The air brakes allows for easy landings (even with critical damage), and excellent diving capabilities
- Excellent mobility for a bomber (expanded further with the use of combat flaps and air brakes)
- Good frontal turret aiming range
- Adequate payload for its speed and mobility (able to take one base and a half when fully loaded)
Cons:
- Lightly armoured and easily taken down by anything from 20 mm and above
- Prone to flat spins with engine damage or when pushed too far
- Most components are located in the front which makes it easy to destroy in frontal attacks
- Despite the ShKAS machine guns having great belts, they are not very effective against more armoured fighters
History
Describe the history of the creation and combat usage of the aircraft in more detail than in the introduction. If the historical reference turns out to be too long, take it to a separate article, taking a link to the article about the vehicle and adding a block "/ History" (example: https://wiki.warthunder.com/(Vehicle-name)/History) and add a link to it here using the main
template. Be sure to reference text and sources by using <ref></ref>
, as well as adding them at the end of the article with <references />
. This section may also include the vehicle's dev blog entry (if applicable) and the in-game encyclopedia description (under === In-game description ===
, also if applicable).
In-game description
Arkhangelsky Ar-2 (SB-RK) twin-engine front-line dive bomber (Tupolev OKB).
An all-metal, twin-engine monoplane dive bomber with a retractable landing gear system including a tail wheel. Its crew consisted of three persons.
This aircraft was designed under the direction of A. A. Arkhangelsky and was a further structural development of the high-speed SB bomber.
It differed from the SB in its shorter wing and its streamlined, spindle-shaped nose section and modified nacelles, with water-cooled radiators removed from them and placed on the wing (hence the "SB-RK" designation where "SB" means "high-speed bomber" and "RK" means "radiators-wing"). The SB-RK prototype was tested in 1939. Full-scale production of the aircraft designated the Ar-2 started in 1940 at Factory No. 22, in Moscow.
Production Ar-2s were equipped with 1,100 hp Klimov M-105R twelve-cylinder, V-type, geared water-cooled engines.
The plane's defensive armament included an NU nose mount with a 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun with 500 rounds. The machine gun was fitted in a special sphere that enabled it to fire forward within a 50-degree cone-shaped region.
The TSS-1 upper rear machine gun mount ("TSS" standing for "high-speed aircraft turret") had a 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun with 1,000 rounds and a K-8T collimator sight. When firing, the upper canopy (nicknamed the "turtle") was moved back on rollers along rails and partially raised upward to protect the gunner from the incoming flow.
In order to protect the plane from below, the aircraft had a retractable MV-2 turret which housed a 7.62 mm ShKAS machine gun with 600 rounds and an OP-2L periscope sight.
The aircraft's standard bomb capacity was 600 kg (carried internally), which was the same as that of the SB, its predecessor, while its maximum bomb capacity could reach 1,500 kg with various combinations of internal and external loads. More advanced NP-1 racks were fitted under the Ar-2's centre wing section to carry bombs weighing 250 or 500 kg. The bombs were fastened in one central holder near the plane's center of gravity, and the plane's hold on them was reinforced with the help of side stops.
The Ar-2 entered service with the Red Army Air Force in the spring of 1940. The plane was in service from the beginning of the war until late 1944, with the units of the Red Army Air Force and Soviet naval aviation, as a dive bomber and a reconnaissance aircraft. The Ar-2's production was discontinued in early 1941. A total of about 200 aircraft were produced.
Media
- Skins
- Videos
See also
- Related development
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 |