Tupolev Tu-2

In 1937, Andrei Tupolev, along with many Soviet designers at the time, was arrested on trumped-up charges of activities against the State. Despite the actions of the Soviet government, he was considered important to the war effort and following his imprisonment, he was placed in charge of a team that was to design military aircraft. 

Designed as Samolyot (Russian: "aircraft") 103, the Tu-2 was based on earlier ANT-58, ANT-59 and ANT-60 light bomber prototypes. Essentially an upscaled and more powerful ANT-60 powered by AM-37 engines, the first prototype was completed at Factory N156, and made its first test flight on 29 January 1941, piloted by Mikhail Nukhtinov. Mass production began in September 1941, at Omsk Aircraft Factory Number 166, with the first aircraft reaching combat units in March 1942. 

Modifications were made based on combat experience, and Plant Number 166 built a total of 80 aircraft. The AM-37 engine was abandoned to concentrate efforts on the AM-38F for the Il-2, which required Tupolev to redesign the aircraft for an available engine. Modifications of this bomber took ANT-58 through ANT-69 variants. 

A further 2527 aircraft were built at Kazan, with these modifications. Production ceased in 1951 after a total of some 3,000 aircraft were delivered to various Soviet Bloc air forces.
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The Tu-2 was already a proven combat entity in a ground-attack role with its two forward 20mm machine guns, three rear 7.62 x 54mm machine guns, bomb carrying capacity, and high survival rate; the addition of PPSh-41 submachine guns to the belly of the aircraft further increased its potential for inflicting damage and casualties on enemy forces. In 1944, A.V. Nadashkevich and S. Saveliev pioneered a new design – a removable battery of originally 48, then 88, PPSh-41 submachine guns to the underside of the Tu-2.

Experimental ground-attack versions. Two variants were tested in 1944: one with a 76mm centerline gun and another with a battery of 88 7.62mm PPSh-41 submachine guns fixed in the bomb bay, directed to fire ahead at a 30-degree angle. 

Another version under this designation was tested in 1946; this one had a frontal armament consisting of with two NS-37 and two NS-45 autocannons
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General characteristics
Crew: four
Length: 13.80 m 
Wingspan: 18.86 m 
Height: 4.13 m 
Empty weight: 7,601 kg
Loaded weight: 10,538 kg 
Max. takeoff weight: 11,768 kg 
Powerplant: 2 × Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engine, 1,380 kW (1,850 hp) each
Maximum speed: 528 km/h 
Range: 2,020 km 
Service ceiling: 9,000 m 
Rate of climb: 8.2 m/s 
Wing loading: 220 kg/m² 
Power/mass: 260 W/kg 
Guns: 2 × 20 mm fixed forward-firing ShVAK cannon in the wings
3 × 7.62 mm rear-firing ShKAS machine guns 
(later replaced by 12.7 mm Berezin UB machine guns) 
in the canopy, dorsal and ventral hatches.

Bombs: 1,500 kg internally and 2,270 kg  externally
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Built from 1941 to 1948, the Tu-2 was the USSR's second most important twin-engine bomber (the first being the Pe-2). The design brought Andrei Tupolev back into favour after a period of detention. Crews were universally happy with their Tupolevs. Pilots could maneuver the aircraft like a fighter, it could survive heavy damage, and it was fast. The Tu-2 remained in service in the USSR until 1950.

Some surplus Tu-2s were provided to the Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force for use in the Chinese Civil War. Some Chinese Tu-2s were shot down by United Nations airmen during the Korean War. 

In the 1958–1962 'counter-riot actions' in the 1959 Tibetan uprising in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau covering Qinghai, Tibet, southern Gansu, and western Sichuan, Chinese PLAAF Tu-2s took on the roles of ground-attack, reconnaissance and liaison. 
The Chinese Tu-2s were retired at the end of the 1970s.

After World War II, the Tu-2 proved to be an ideal test aircraft for various powerplants, including the first generation of Soviet jet engines.