Su-6 (AM-42)
| This page is about the Soviet strike aircraft Su-6 (AM-42). For other versions, see Su-6 (Family). |
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Contents
Description
The Su-6 was a project by Sukhoi with the objective of creating an attack aircraft capable of surpassing the Il-2. The Su-6 AM-42 was the name given to its last version. Compared to previous prototypes, it featured the same rear gunner as the third prototype, Su-6 (M-71F), but now with a liquid-cooled inline engine instead of a radial engine, the Mikulin AM-42. While this engine was less powerful than the M-71F, it proved to be more reliable. The Su-6 AM-42 was tested against the Il-10 in 1944, but the tests favoured the design from Ilyushin and the Su-6 never went into serial production.
It was introduced in Update 1.71 "New E.R.A.". The Su-6 is a ground attack aircraft made with a bit of the IL-2 mindset, but with some improvements regarding manoeuvrability and speed, while lacking protection. Despite the improvements, it is still not recommended to go for enemy planes as, unless it is a head-on, you will lose energy quickly and perish. The gunner can help deal with some opponents that stick to your tail, but with only 24° of horizontal guidance, it won't be able to help in most cases. The armour is good at the back, but it won't stop much more than a 12.7 mm bullet. Everything is compensated by the wide array of payload options, even allowing you to change the 37 mm NS-37 cannons for weaker but higher capacity and easier to aim 23 mm VYa-23 cannons, which can still take out pillboxes and light tanks.
General info
Flight performance
| Characteristics | Max Speed (km/h at 3,000 m) |
Max altitude (metres) |
Turn time (seconds) |
Rate of climb (metres/second) |
Take-off run (metres) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AB | RB | AB | RB | AB | RB | |||
| Stock | 478 | 459 | 6000 | 25.8 | 26.7 | 8.6 | 8.2 | 800 |
| Upgraded | 531 | 501 | 23.9 | 25.0 | 15.2 | 11.2 | ||
Details
| Features | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Combat flaps | Take-off flaps | Landing flaps | Air brakes | Arrestor gear |
| ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | X | X |
| Limits | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wings (km/h) | Gear (km/h) | Flaps (km/h) | Max Static G | |||
| Combat | Take-off | Landing | + | - | ||
| 680 | 330 | 458 | 431 | 290 | ~10 | ~5 |
| Optimal velocities (km/h) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ailerons | Rudder | Elevators | Radiator |
| < 350 | < 380 | < 395 | > 323 |
Survivability and armour
- 4 mm steel surrounding the engine
- 4 mm steel on both sides of gunner
- 6 mm steel behind propeller spinner
- 4 mm steel behind wing oil cooling systems
- 4 mm steel beneath engine, fuel tank, and gunner
- 2 mm steel on both sides of fuel tank
- 6 mm steel on both sides of pilot
- 4 mm steel on both sides of gunner
- 6 mm steel directly in front of windshield
- 4 mm steel above windshield
- 12 mm steel between pilot and gunner
- 8 to 12 mm steel in front of gunner*
- 12 mm steel in front of gunner*
- 55 mm (55°) and 50 mm (24°) bulletproof glass in front of pilot (centre/sides)
- 60 mm (35°) bulletproof glass in front of gunner*
- Self-sealing fuel tank with neutral gas pressurization system underneath pilot
* (Note: the gunner is rear-facing)
Modifications and economy
| Flight performance | Survivability | Weaponry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
Armaments
Offensive armament
The Su-6 (AM-42) is armed with:
- 2 x 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns, wing-mounted (750 rpg = 1,500 total)
- A choice between two presets:
- 2 x 37 mm NS-37 cannons, wing-mounted (45 rpg = 90 total)
- 2 x 23 mm VYa-23 cannons, wing-mounted (120 rpg = 240 total)
Suspended armament
The Su-6 (AM-42) can be outfitted with the following ordnance presets:
- Without load
- 2 x 37 mm NS-37 cannons, wing-mounted (45 rpg = 90 total), weight:68.4kg
- 2 x 23 mm VYa-23 cannons, wing-mounted (120 rpg = 240 total), weight:47kg
- 10 x M-8 rockets, weight:78.4kg
- 10 x RBS-82 rockets, weight:150.0kg
- 10 x M-13UK rockets, weight:423.6kg
- 10 x RBS-132 rockets, weight:516.0kg
- 16 x 25 kg AO-25M-1 bombs (400 kg total), weight:408.0kg
- 6 x 50 kg FAB-50sv bombs (300 kg total), weight:298.6kg
- 6 x 100 kg FAB-100sv bombs (600 kg total), weight:621.0kg
- 2 x 250 kg FAB-250sv bombs (500 kg total), weight:504.4kg
Custom loadout options
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 mm NS-37 cannons | 1* | 1* | ||||||
| 23 mm VYa-23 cannons | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| 25 kg AO-25M-1 bombs | 16 | |||||||
| 50 kg FAB-50sv bombs | 1 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| 100 kg FAB-100sv bombs | 1* | 4 | 1* | |||||
| 250 kg FAB-250sv bombs | 1* | 1* | ||||||
| M-8 rockets | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| M-13UK rockets | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| RBS-82 rockets | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| RBS-132 rockets | 5 | 5 | ||||||
| Maximum permissible loadout weight: 670 kg Maximum permissible wing load: 335 kg Maximum permissible weight imbalance: 280 kg | ||||||||
| *Please note that: when equipping 2 x 37 mm NS-37 cannons on hardpoints 3/5, it is not possible to carry 100 kg FAB-100sv bombs and 250 kg FAB-250sv bombs on hardpoints 2/6, respectively. | ||||||||
Defensive armament
The Su-6 (AM-42) is defended by:
- 1 x 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine gun, dorsal turret (196 rpg)
Usage in battles
The Su-6, like the previous Ilyushin attackers, is a tough aircraft that excels at taking out enemy ground targets. The Su-6 comes equipped with two 37 mm cannons as standard armament, which can be swapped out for 23 mm cannons. With the 37 mm cannons, the aircraft can take out most ground targets with ease: even heavy tanks don't stand a chance with well-aimed shots to the sides or rear. As they rapidly lose accuracy in full-auto fire, controlled semi-auto fire is required to make the most out of the 37 mm cannons. It may be easier to take out most ground targets with the 23 mm cannons (given they're far more accurate than the 37 mm cannons in full-auto). With either choice of cannon armament, the Su-6 can even be a lethal foe for enemy attackers who aren't too careful, though the 23 mm cannons are better suited to anti-air attacks compared to the 37 mm. Apart from the higher BR and different cannon options compared to previous Soviet attackers, the Su-6 plays much like the Il-2s that precede it.
Manual Engine Control
| MEC elements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixer | Pitch | Radiator | Supercharger | Turbocharger | ||
| Oil | Water | Type | ||||
| Controllable | Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Controllable Not auto controlled |
Separate | Not controllable 1 gear |
Not controllable |
Pros and cons
Pros:
- Well armoured
- Powerful, multi-purpose cannons to attack ground and air targets
- Good short term manoeuvrability at moderate speeds
- Gunner & pilot are very well protected
- Good payload options, including 10 x RS/RBS-132 rockets
Cons:
- Rear gunner has restrictive firing angles
- Defensive armament doesn't keep up with the offensive armament of opposing aircraft
- Bad sustained turn rate
- Bad climb-rate compared to fighters
- Uncontrollable at high speeds and bad redline speeds
- Engine overheats easily
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).
Media
- Skins
- 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
| Sukhoi Design Bureau (Сухого Опытное конструкторское бюро) | |
|---|---|
| Jet fighters | Su-9 · Su-11 |
| Su-27 | Su-27 · Su-27SM |
| Strike aircraft | |
| Su-2 | BB-1 · Su-2 (M-82) · Su-2 MV-5 · Su-2 TSS-1 |
| Su-6 | Su-6 · Su-6 (AM-42) · Su-6 (M-71F) |
| Su-7 | Su-7B · Su-7BKL · Su-7BMK |
| Su-8 | Su-8 |
| Su-17 | Su-17M2 · Su-17M4 · Su-22M3 |
| Su-24 | Su-24M |
| Su-25 | Su-25 · Su-25BM · Su-25K · Su-25T · Su-25SM3 · Su-39 |
| Su-34 | Su-34 |
| Export | ◊Su-22UM3K · ◔Su-22M3 · ◊Su-22M4 · ◄Su-22M4 WTD61 |
| J-11* | |
| *CKD and SKD kits assembled by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation | |
| USSR strike aircraft | |
|---|---|
| IL-2 | IL-2 (1941) · IL-2 (1942) · IL-2M (1943) · IL-2M type 3 · IL-2M "Avenger" · IL-2-37 · IL-2 M-82 |
| IL-8 | IL-8 (1944) |
| IL-10 | IL-10 · IL-10 (1946) |
| Pe-3 | Pe-3 (e) · Pe-3 · Pe-3bis |
| Su-2 | BB-1 · Su-2 MV-5 · Su-2 TSS-1 · Su-2 (M-82) |
| Su-6 | Su-6 · Su-6 (AM-42) · Su-6 (M-71F) |
| Su-8 | Su-8 |
| Tandem MAI | Tandem MAI |
| TIS MA | TIS MA |
| Tu-1 | Tu-1 |
| Yak-2 | Yak-2 KABB |
