Ar-2 SB-RK - dive bomber
Ar-2 (popular name "Arochka" - a very rarely used word meaning "little arch") was an alteration and a deep modernization of the SB bomber [there does not appear to have been an "Ar-1" aircraft]. The designer of the Ar-2 aircraft, Alexander Alexandrovich Arkhangelsky, worked in domestic aviation for more than half a century. In 1915, he was an employee of the Calculation and Testing Bureau at the Moscow Technical Technical University and, under the direction of N.Ye.Zhukovsky, participated in checking the calculations of the largest Russian aircraft, Svyatogor. After the October Revolution, Arkhangelsk worked in the aircraft department of TsAGI, was the first deputy A.N. Tupolev , headed the design teams for designing the main parts of the aircraft, including TB-1 and TB-3, and was the lead designer for a number of types of machines.
In 1934-1935 The team, headed by A.A.Arkhangelsky, designed and built the SB aircraft and several of its variants, including the passenger PS-35 (ANT-35). The designer helped the plants to master the mass production of these high-speed aircraft. At the same time, during the serial construction of the Security Council, Arkhangelsky strengthened its armament. After the production of the SB and Ar-2 was discontinued in 1941, Aleksandr Aleksandrovich was directly involved in the development of almost all the aircraft created by the design bureau of A.N. Tupolev in the war and post-war years. For his dedicated work on the creation of a new aviation technology, A. A. Arkhangelsky was awarded the title Hero of Socialist Labor.
According to its layout and layout, the Ar-2 was similar to the then widely known SB high-speed bomber. This external similarity was not accidental. The new bomber was an improved version of the SB and was designed for more powerful engines, although it had a slightly smaller wing (its area was 48.7 m2). The new dive bomber created under the leadership of A.A. Arkhangelsky was so structurally different from the SB prototype that the decision of the NKAP in December 1940, the experimental SB-RK was renamed into the Ar-2. Unfortunately, the war that broke out did not give the chance to bring this very promising project to mind. A small series of aircraft produced did not say its weighty word, but it is known that in many respects the Ar-2 was superior to the new Pe-2. In some aviation units, it was possible to find copies of the Ar-2 even in 1944.
Analyzing the operational experience in the combat units and the experience of the combat use of the SB bomber (ANT-40), Chief Designer A.A. Arkhangelsky planned to carry out a radical modernization of it, which should have taken place in two stages: at the first stage, by improving aerodynamics, and at the second stage, by creating on the basis of the SS, essentially a new aircraft with a maximum speed of 600 km / h. In the published decree of A.A. Arkhangelsky needed to build two prototypes: one with M-105 engines, the other with M-104 engines.
The first aircraft with M-105 engines, with the designation MMN 2M-105 (a small modification of the N-aircraft), was built in May 1939. The main differences were as follows: the new M-105 engines, the wing area reduced by 8 m2, the bow part of the fuselage is given a streamlined shape, additional fuel tanks are installed in the consoles, the navigator has a second control. Despite the increase in the horizontal flight speed in comparison with the serial aircraft of the Security Service, the plane failed to pass the state tests. The main reasons was that the defensive unit in the bow had an insufficient angle of fire, and the machine gun slot worsened the navigator's working conditions. The absence of a hatch defensive system made the lower hemisphere completely defenseless.
Despite the poor performance of the M-105 engines, the next brainchild of A.A. Arkhangelsk became the aircraft SB-RK (Ar-2), a further modification of the SB. On one of the production vehicles with M-105 engines, water radiators were installed in special channels inside the wing. At the end of April 1940 test pilot MA. Lipkin tested the first SB-RK. The tests showed a significant improvement in the flight data, the speed increased to 492 km / h. The second copy of the SB-RK was used for the first time to install brake grilles and an automatic withdrawal device from a dive. The standard SB-RK replaced the nose part with a more aerodynamically improved one, as well as a new hood of the cockpit of the arrow-radiist cab. The defensive armament of the aircraft included three SHKAS machine guns. Bombardment weapons in comparison with serial SB had a number of improvements, in particular, The possibility of suspending larger bombs was increased. During the test, 25 dives were made at an angle of 40 ° to 75 °.
According to the results of state tests, a conclusion was drawn: the SB-RK aircraft (in 1940, it was assigned the designation AR-2) for its flying technical data is much better than the serial SB. But at the same time from AA. Arkhangelsk and the plant number 22 was required to bring to mind the screw-motor group. In total, about 200 Ar-2 aircraft were produced. According to the decision of the Defense Committee of 11 February 1941, the serial production of the Ar-2 was discontinued in favor of launching the Pe-2 dive bomber series. As of June 1, 1941, there were only 164 Ar-2 aircraft in the Air Force units.
In the conditions of the Red Army retreat and the frankly poor organization, the Ar-2 bombers could not demonstrate all that they were capable of. By the end of 1941, 95 A-2 aircraft had been lost. Calculations show that in the typical conditions of fighting on the Eastern Front, when solving the combat mission to destroy small-scale hard-to-hit targets, the Ar-2 bomber surpassed the effectiveness of the BB-2PB bomber almost 5.5 times, and the Pe-2 bomber 1.4 times. When solving the combat mission to destroy poorly protected targets from all serial Soviet bombers, the best result was shown again by Ar-2. The main thing is that the Ar-2 had excellent take-off and landing qualities and was more accessible than the Pe-2, for development by young pilots.
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