The Junkers Ju 87, known as 'Stuka', was a WW2 German dive bomber in the arsenal of the Luftwaffe since 1936. It first saw combat action in 1938, in the Spanish Civil War, with the Condor Legion. It had been designed as a kind of support flying artillery for the Wehrmacht ground troops in the Blitzkrieg tactics. 'Stuka' is the German abbreviation for 'Sturzkampfflugzeug' (diving combat aircraft).
In August 1939, to provide fire support to the German invasion of Poland, the Luftwaffe created five Junkers Ju 87 squadrons, which was about 100 aircraft. It was in the Polish campaign, the Battle of France (1940), and in the first months of Operation Barbarossa (1941) that the Stuka became a legend and the backbone of the lightning war. With skillful and daring pilots, it was very precise, almost surgical, destroying telecommunication centers, armament and gasoline depots, railways networks, bridges, and so forth. They also attacked big concentration of enemy troops, providing fire support to the advancing German infantry spearheads.
Below, a Junkers Ju-87B diving in the skies over France in 1940.
Variants and Armament
The main versions produced by the German firm Junkers were the Ju 87A, 87B, 87D, and 87G. The Ju 87D had a more powerful engine, a 1400-HP, Junkers Jumo 211J-1. Meanwhile, the 87G was a tank-buster variant, equipped with two lethal 37-mm anti-tank guns. All of them were equipped with four 7.92mm machine guns and could carry one 1,800-kg bomb (or three 600 kg bombs).
Technical Characteristics
It was a two-seat, single-engine monoplane. The main distinctive feature of the the Stuka was its inverted gull wings, which were mounted low on the fuselage. It was fitted with fixed landing gear. The deep radiator was located right below the nose. They were equipped with sirens that screamed loud when the aircraft dived sharply to drop the bomb. Due to the type of wings, it was very maneuverable, although it as not as fast as Allied fighters, like the British Spitfire.
Specifications
Type: dive-bomber; ground-attack aircraft
Crew: 2
Length: 11.5 m
Wingspan: 13.8 m
Wing Area: 31.9 sq. meters
Height: 3.9 m
Maximum Speed: 410 km/h (255 mph)
Cruising Speed: 320 km/h (199 mph)
Power Plant: One 1400-HP, Junkers-Jumo 211J-I inverted 'V' piston engine.
Below, Junkers Ju-87 flying over Spain in 1938
A Ju-87B in Poland in 1939
A Stuka in the skies over Greece.
Junkers Ju 87 dive bomber in action (video)