long range soviet medium bomber world war developed prototype war bomb berlin estonia production terminated august allow factory concentrate building higher priority ground attack aircraft restarted end new fuel efficient aircraft diesel engines designed long range medium bomber flown tactical ground attack missions heavy losses survivors flown numbers august examples transferred schools resumption production allowed aircraft resume combat operations april remained service replaced engined bombers end 1940s development designed built whilst chief designer russian factory special construction scientific test institute civil air fleet performance extremely good particularly respect gross weight total weight flight trials maximum weight prototype crashed takeoff early resulting arrest imprisonment february lay appointed chief designer arrest task transforming design long range bomber task easier reserved space bomb bay fuselage repair carried flight test programme including record breaking nonstop flight august flew moscow moscow distance average speed mph preliminary design russian long range bomber bomber version designated completed beginning construction prototypes began following july retained little apart general layout structure completely redesigned pilot cockpit offset port improve downward view navigator bomb sat extensively nose millimeter machine gun radio operator sat starboard pilot dorsal gunner partially retractable turret millimeter machine gun fitted ventral hatch bombs carried bomb bay kilogram bombs carried externally fuel carried designed use experimental engines powerful engine substituted available prototype flew time began state acceptance tests september weaker engines prevented reaching designed performance attain mph instead expected mph meters defensive armament deemed inadequate problems included excessively long run engine defects offset virtues heavy bomb load long range kilometers carrying bombs ordered production factory manufacture began march approximately aircraft delivered june aircraft mph slower prototype normal weight increased production terminated august completed allow factory concentrate higher priority ground attack aircraft modified experimental engines reinforced armored seats navigator gunner machine guns place original weapons flew july able reach mph range reduced carrying bombs significant problem version excessive takeoff roll hindered operations grass engine unreliable cooling problems resources resolve cancelled october factory forced evacuate moscow german advance diesel engine evaluated engine like offered greatly reduced fuel consumption compared standard gasoline powered engine great penalty weight engines increased gross takeoff weight required reinforced wing area increased wing loading powered aircraft reached maximum speed mph ready service use project cancelled aircraft engine combination potential development work continued closely related mature diesel engine cockpit modified accommodate pilots wing areas increased machine gun dorsal turret replaced millimeter cannon nose ventral machine guns exchanged machine guns fuel carried placed production factory end production aircraft submitted state acceptance trials following month excess aircraft converted transports operational history squadron service germany invaded june russian formed shortly regiment flew operational missions later summer evening august accompanied attempted bomb berlin near airfield short accommodate fully loaded bombers manage regardless managed bomb berlin outskirts successfully returned shot friendly soviet aircraft went missing crews bombed nights august august september airport southeast moscow october service operational flown sorties beginning november august september october lost aircraft half non combat losses losses extremely high autumn winter committed german tactical targets low altitudes service march august hand briefly committed battle survivors flown numbers august aircraft transferred schools 2nd guards placed production end new bombers issued combat units june service january war ended combat mission undertaken returned production raid april russian remained service units replaced engined bombers like late 1940s variants prototypes series engines production version engines built aircraft engined prototype engines fastest diesel powered modified wings converted diesel engines production model diesel engined version performance excellent despite poor reliability rough running diesel engines range increased version engines russian special assignment aircraft production line modified seat cabin military equipment removed long range fuel tanks bomb bay aircraft converted production shuttle flights moscow russian carrier aircraft modified engine captured pulse jet engines production aircraft horsepower engine final iteration series production aircraft engined engines redesignated slightly larger wingspan increased takeoff weight improved armament prototype tested december enter production operators soviet_union russian add russian long range aviation later long range bomber aviation regiment long range bomber aviation regiment later long range bomber aviation regiment later 2nd guards long range aviation regiment long range bomber aviation regiment long range bomber aviation regiment specifications data bill encyclopedia general characteristics crew length wingspan height wing area weight gross weight powerplant diesel engines performance maximum speed mph range miles service ceiling armament machine gun nose flexible mount machine gun ventral flexible mount cannon dorsal turret bombs internal bomb bay
Yermolayev Yer-2