Hello everyone!

Today we can show you the Il-10 attack aircraft — the successor of the famous Il-2, the aircraft that gave its name to our simulator series. Launched in 1943 as an interceptor project, the Il-10 made its first flight in May 1944, piloted by the famous test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki. However, it soon became clear that the military did not see it as an interceptor, but as an attack aircraft with significantly improved flight characteristics. This task was completed by the war’s end: Il-10 attack aircraft saw combat in April 1945.

Compared to the Il-2, the new Il-10 had really good flight characteristics — the ground speed at nominal engine operation increased from 389 to 507 km/h. Climbing speed and maneuverability increased: all this was possible due to the use of all-metal construction, a new thinner and faster wing profile and, of course, a new Mikulin AM-42 engine, which was a further development of the AM-38 engine. The design of the landing gear was changed so that it didn’t protrude from the wing when retracted, and the radiator intakes were moved to the wing root.

The aircraft’s maximum bomb load remained the same — 600 kilograms. Due to changes in the wing design, the number of bomb bays was reduced from four to two. Rockets were not used during the short period of combat at the end of the Great Patriotic War, but they could still be mounted on four underwing rails. The forward armament was similar to that of the Il-2 and consisted of two 23 mm VYA-23 wing cannons and two 7.62 mm ShKAS machine guns. Taking into account past combat experience, the attack aircraft was a two-seater, the gunner’s machine gun was a 12.7 mm magazine-fed UBK (UBK, not UBT). The aircraft’s armor was redesigned based on the analysis of combat damage and now covered the aircraft only from below and from the sides, but the gunner’s station was now located in the armored fuselage together with the pilot’s station.

All in all, the Ilyushin design bureau developed practically a new aircraft, faster and more maneuverable, but still well protected. It was in this form that it participated in the Korean War — the Soviet Union delivered the first production aircraft there shortly before the outbreak of hostilities. Il-10s were also in service in the Air Force of the People’s Liberation Army of China, but they did not take part in the Korean War. In the future, we plan to show you the Il-10 cockpit in our Dev Blog, as well as the progress of development in other areas. Please keep an eye on our news!