PTAB

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PTAB
General Information
Designation: PTAB
Type: Shaped charge bomb
Country of origin: Soviet Union 1923Soviet Union Soviet Union
Manufacturer: ZKB-22
Commissioning: 1943
Working time: 1943-1945
Technical specifications
Combat weight: 1.5 kg
Furnishing
List of bombs by country of origin

The PTAB (Russian ПТАБ, abbreviation for Противотанковая Авиабомба; Protiwotankowaja Awiabomba) was a Soviet shaped charge bomb for aircraft in World War II , which was mostly used as a cluster bomb in cartridges with 48 pieces each. It was developed by J. A. Larionow. The German counterpart was the SD 4 HL .

commitment

The PTAB was first used in July 1943 during the Battle of Kursk . Each of the bombs weighed 1.5 kg. It was mostly used by the Il-2 , which could carry four cassette bombs with 48 PTAB each on the bomb locks of the wings. When all 192 bombs were dropped at the same time, practically all vehicles were hit in an area of ​​15 × 70 m. The PTAB could penetrate 70 mm thick armor. Since tanks were not so heavily armored on top, any tank in the war could be put out of action.

The weapon was very effective. During the first deployment on July 2, 1943, eight Il-2 destroyed 15 tanks from a group of 70 German tanks. During further missions in the Kursk battle on July 15, 1943, seven of the tanks were destroyed and four damaged in an attack by four Il-2s on 25 tanks. On July 16, 1943, 23 Il-2s with the PTAB destroyed 17 tanks and another 40 vehicles.

The German side reacted to the new weapon by loosening up the tank formations.

On March 5, 1944, Hitler released the use of the German counterpart of the SD 4 HL after it had been withheld in order not to alert the enemy to the possibility of effective anti-tank combat from the air.

Web links

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ P. T. Astashenko: Ilyushin and his planes . transpress, Berlin 1976, p. 51.
  2. ^ Robin DS Higham, John T. Greenwood: Russian Aviation and Air Power in the Twentieth Century . Routledge, 1998, p. 102
  3. ^ Christer Bergström: Kursk. The Air Battle: July 1943 . Hersham 2007, p. 41.
  4. ^ Willi A. Boelcke: Germany's armament in the Second World War. Hitler's conference with Albert Speer 1942–1945 . Frankfurt am Main 1969, p. 339.