Quote:
Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
It looks the thread goes out of control.
Pe-2 and following Tu-2 were indeed called dive bombers, but they were as dive bombers as He 177 was. Those were not aircraft able for perpendicular dives, and I would say that if they dived it was something quite shallow. Similarly, Il-2 was not capable to dive, and Soviets had no dive bombers in a sense discussed here.
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The thread doesn't go out of control. Franek.
You are denying much that has been written about the Soviet Air Force. Good on you if you have evidence.
Historians here believe the PB-100 was the dive bomber version of the Pe-2 and was fitted with dive brakes. In concept it is believed to be similar to the Ju88 which also had dive brakes and was also used for dive bombing.
Christopher Shores wrote; "When used as a dive-bomber its (Pe-2) attacks were every bit as accurate as those of the Ju87, whilst its far heavier bombload made it a more effective proposition....One unit which did much to pioneer use of the aircraft as a dive-bomber was the 150th Bomber Regiment, led by Col. Ivan S. Polbin, who was to become to the Soviet dive-bombers what Hans-Ulrich Rudel became to the German Stukas. Polbin's Pe-2s were active during the winter of 1941/2 during the first major Soviet offensive of the war, and by the middle of 1942, as a result of the experience gained by Polbin and others, most units were becoming proficient in the new role.......The Pe-2s had now (1944) developed dive-bombing as a fine art, some experienced pilots being referred to as aerial snipers, for their ability to destroy pinpoint targets such as observation posts with great accuracy".
Tony