JU-87 Stuka

"The Furher will never ask me how big our bombers are, only how many of them we have."

– Herman Goering

Nweeeeeewoooooooooooooooooooohh!!

The JU-87, better known as the Stuka, was the primary German Close Air Support aircraft during the second world war. The Stuka is notorious for its design and it's fearsome reputation in the early War.

Early War

Die Statistiken.

IRL

Ah, the Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka"... One of the most iconic airplanes of World War Two, almost synonymous with Blitzkrieg. The first thing to mention is that "Stuka" is not the airplane's name, but shorthand for Sturtzkampfflugzeug (dive-bomber in German), and that it can be applied to multiple models over the war. The 87 is 'merely' the most iconic one.

The Ju 87's development goes all the way back to the early 1930's. German studies determined two things: first that high-altitude bombing was horribly imprecise and best reserved to strategic raids, and second that for the more accurate dive-bombing three things were needed: high enough speed, a near 90 degree angle when diving at the target and a pilot with balls of steel to release his bomb(s) and pull up at the very last moment.

Dive-bombing was championed by Ernst Udet of WWI fame, and initial testing was done on an old Hs 123 biplane. Despite the many, many reservations of the German High Command (who were concerned that training pilots to have the required calm, focus and steel nerves for successful dive-bombing would be hard if not impossible), the concept was pushed forward again and again, and slowly but surely a definitive version of the 'dive-bomber' emerged from the many half-successes, scares and sometimes outright crashes (for instance, early variants of the Stuka were planned to have a twin tail fin, but this was abandoned after an early prototype crashed when the tail sheered off during a dive). In 1936, proud daddy Udet could finally announce 'his' baby was ready for service. It should be noted that for his single-mindedness, Udet did take the criticisms into account; and the Stuka sported some nifty gimmicks for its time like a fully automated dive recovery system in case the pilot blacked out from G-forces stress.

Stukas were first blooded in Spain, where they performed admirably and seemingly validated Udet's beliefs the dive-bomber was the superior choice. The Junkers company then incorporated the infamous Jericho-Trompete sirens onto the bottom of the aircraft to create a loud, distinct screech that would scare the shit out of their targets and hopefully delay a reaction by AA gunners. This worked well, more or less, from Spain to Poland, to France and during the early stages of the war against Russia. The aircraft was solid, and sunk more shipping than any other aircraft. The Stuka typically targeted stationary targets in support of Blitzkrieg, but as the war went on they more and more came to serve in the close support role. While it was somewhat dated by the end of the war, they served right up to the end of it, with the JU-87D variant.

Alas for the Germans, one 'detail' Udet had overlooked was that they enjoyed almost total air superiority early, which meant the Ju 87 could operate at its leisure. Once the skies became contested, Stukas quickly turned from predators into prey. This is because while it a splendid dive-bomber, it was too slow and too lumbering to evade dedicated fighters for very long. In 1943, with the war turning sideways and Udet being dead, the production of Ju 87's was slowed down dramatically and eventually stopped in 1944.

Like many German war machines, the Stuka had many variants; it was later even converted into a light transport and anti-partisan combat aircraft to reduce the need for new aircraft. Many were sent to allied countries such as Italy, Romania, and Hungary, to give them at least a token air force to play with. One of the more interesting sub variants of the war was the Ju-87C, which was to be stationed on the Graf Zeppelin, the Kriegsmarine Aircraft carrier. However, the opening of the Eastern front, combined with the C variant's short takeoff distance made it an ideal candidate for Eastern service, and was promptly rushed to the Eastern front. Also of note is the Stuka G, or the "Gustav", which instead of bombs had two 37mm cannons pods under the wings for tank hunting (similar in concept to the HS-129, only less awesome).