The Ilyushin IL-2 is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word shturmovik, the generic Russian term for a ground-attack aircraft, became a synecdoche for the IL-2in English sources, where it is commonly rendered as Shturmovik, Stormovik and Sturmovik. To IL-2pilots, the aircraft was known by the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was called the "Hunchback", the "Flying Tank" or the "Flying Infantryman". Its postwar NATO reporting name was Bark.

During the war, 36,183 units of the Il-2 were produced, and in combination with its successor, the Ilyushin IL-10, a total of 42,330 were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in aviation history, as well as one of the most produced piloted aircraft in history along with the American postwar civilian Cessna 172 and the German then-contemporary Messerschmitt Bf 109.

The IL-2 played a crucial role on the Eastern Front. When factories fell behind on deliveries, Joseph Stalin told the factory managers that the IL-2s were "as essential to the Red Army as air and bread."

Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a Soviet Ilyushin IL-2M Shturmovik ground attack aircraft that was piloted by Nelson Stepanyan, commander of 57 ShAP, during 1944. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8-inches
Length: 6-1/4-inches

Release Date: July 2023

Historical Account: "Stepanyan" - After Nelson Stepanyan's promotion to the rank of major in 1943, he became the commander of the 47th Assault Aviation Regiment. With his unit, he took part in the Soviet offensives around Sevastopol, Theodosia, and Sudak (in the Crimea); for its efforts, the 47th Regiment was given the honorific title of Theodosia. Stepanyan was also shot down over enemy lines, although friendly partisans aided him to reach back Soviet lines. Stepanyan was called "Storm Petrel of the Baltic Sea."

The 47th Regiment was sent to assist in the Crimean Offensive in April 1944. Under his command, the regiment participated in battles over Sevastopol, Feodosia, and Sudak. Stepanyan had personally sunk three landing barges in one of his first combat missions. His plane was severely damaged on May 22nd. Prior to the offensive, the 47th Regiment had destroyed eight transports, 12 barges, nine patrol boats, and more than 3,000 soldiers and officers. In May 1944, after the liberation of Crimea, the 47th Regiment returned to the Baltic Sea, where they were involved in the battles of the Gulf of Finland. On July 22nd, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Nelson Stepanyan's bust in Stepanakert

On his final sortie against Liepaja in western Latvia on December 14th 1944, his squadron was attacked by German fighters. His plane was hit by anti-aircraft fire and though wounded, he dove his plane into a fleet of German ships. He died along with navigator of the 47th Regiment, Captain Aleksandr Rumiantsev. Stepanyan's loss devastated the rest of the men in the squadron. His fellow pilots sent the following letter to his parents after his death:

[Stepanyan was a] simple and modest man, close and beloved by all; he was a father and teacher to all of us, a friend and a commander....We all wept when Nelson Gevorgovich failed to return on that fateful day. They say that tears bring comfort. But the few tears of a soldier, like the red-hot drops of metal, burn the heart and call for vengeance.

He was awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title a second time posthumously for his sacrifice. Soviet sources assert that Stepanyan undertook no less than 239 combat sorties, sunk 53 ships thirteen of which he did alone, destroyed 80 tanks, 600 armored vehicles, and 27 aircraft.