The Sukhoi Su-8 or DDBSh (russian: Су-8 ДДБШ - Двухмоторный Двухместный Бронированный Штурмовик - Twin-engine two-seat armored ground attack aircraft) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

prototype

ground-attack aircraft An attack aircraft, strike aircraft, or attack bomber is a tactical military aircraft that has a primary role of carrying out airstrikes with greater precision than bombers, and is prepared to encounter strong low-level air defenses while pres ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

Development

While Sukhoi was perfecting the light Sukhoi Su-6 attack aircraft, the OKB also developed the massive, heavily armed and armored Su-8. In May 1942, the Soviet military commanders had realized the need for an aircraft to support ground offensives operating at a great distance from their airfields, and capable of striking enemy lines of communication to the rear of the front lines. Design work was conducted at an accelerated pace, with work on the airframe commencing from August 1942, even before the drawings were completed on 20 September 1942. Two prototypes were completed at Plant Number 19 in Molotov in 1943, the first in May and the second in August, with work hampered by the Nazi invasion and need to evacuate the Sukhoi Design Bureau to

Tushino Tushino ( rus, Тушино, p=ˈtuʂɨnə) is a former village and town to the north of Moscow, which has been part of the city's area since 1960. Between 1939 and 1960, Tushino was classed as a separate town. The Skhodnya River flows across the ...

. The first flight test was not made until 11 March 1944, and testing continued to the end of the year. Flight testing was delayed due to unavailability of

Shvetsov M-71 The Shvetsov M-71 was a Soviet radial engine built in small numbers during World War II. It was derived from the Shvetsov M-25, which was a license-built copy of the American Wright R-1820-F3 Cyclone engine. Development The M-71 was developed f ...

engines. Although testing was successful, the Su-8 was not approved for mass production. By this time, the Soviet armies had reached the borders of Nazi Germany, and the need for an aircraft with a longer range than the existing

Ilyushin Il-2 The Ilyushin Il-2 ( Russian: Илью́шин Ил-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word ''shturmovík'' (Cyrillic: штурмовик), the generic Russian term ...

was no longer a priority. An attempt to re-engine the aircraft with

Mikulin AM-42 The Mikulin AM-42 was a 1940s Soviet aircraft piston engine designed by Alexander Mikulin. Representing a high-output version of the AM-38F, the AM-42 was used in the Ilyushin Il-1 fighter, and the Il-8 and Il-10 ground attack aircraft. Des ...

engines did not see further development. The Su-8 was of mixed construction. The cockpit area was armoured, with an aluminum mid-fuselage and a wooden

monocoque Monocoque ( ), also called structural skin, is a structural system in which loads are supported by an object's external skin, in a manner similar to an egg shell. The word ''monocoque'' is a French term for "single shell". First used for boats, ...

tail. The wings were of steel and aluminum construction with plywood outer sections. The twin rudders were of all-metal construction. In addition to the cockpit, the engines, fuel tanks and oil coolers were fully armoured, with a total armour weight of 1,680 kg (3,705 lb), more than twice the weight of the armour shell on an

Specifications (Su-8 / DDBSh)

References

External links

* {{Sukhoi aircraft Su-08 1940s Soviet attack aircraft