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What is, according to the book, the most-produced military aircraft in history?

Short answer

The Ilyushin Il-2: 36,183 units were produced during the war and, combined with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330 were built, making it the most-produced military aircraft design in the history of aviation. It was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team in 1938.

Published: November 5, 2026 · Updated: November 5, 2026 · Edited by Above Ten Thousand · Editorial policy

What is, according to the book, the most-produced military aircraft in history?
Ilyushin Il-2M3 Sturmovik ADDITIONAL INFORMATION- (Red 19, c n 301060). To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was simply the diminutive Ilyusha. To the soldiers on the ground, it was the Hunchback, the Flying

Design and structural armor

The Il-2 was designed by Sergey Ilyushin and his team at the Central Design Bureau in 1938. Rather than simply bolting heavy armor plates onto an existing airframe, Kishkin and Sklyarov devised a tough, highly complex armored shell made of heterogeneous and homogeneous steel plates, which doubled as the forward structural fuselage and protection for the fuel tanks. The armor was designed as a load-bearing part of the Ilyushin's monocoque structure, which saved considerable weight. Its armament included two fixed forward-firing 23×152 mm VYa-23 cannons.

Total production

During the war, 36,183 units of the Il-2 were produced, and together with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, the total reached 42,330 aircraft — a figure that makes it the most-produced military aircraft design in the history of aviation.

Nicknames on both sides of the front

German troops called it "Black Death." Luftwaffe pilots nicknamed it Zementbomber, literally "cement bomber." To ground soldiers it was the "Hunchback," the "flying tank," or the "flying infantryman."

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