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The Junkers Ju 87, popularly known as the "Stuka", [b] is a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft.Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935.The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939 and served the Axis in World War II from beginning to end (1939–1945).
It was mounted on Luftwaffe aircraft such as the Junkers Ju 87 G-1 and G-2; Henschel Hs 129B-2/R3; Messerschmitt Bf 110G-2/R1-3; Junkers Ju 88P-2 or P-3 and others. The cannon could be attached under the wings or the fuselage of the aircraft as self-contained gun pods with 12-round magazines.
In March 1943 Rudel knocked out the first tank with the new Stuka. The Ju 87 G-2, based on the Ju 87 D-5 with extended wingtips, replaced the Ju 87 G-1 during 1944. This was a dedicated tank-buster, with no secondary dive-bombing role. Ju 87 G-2 "Kanonenvogel" with its twin Bordkanone BK 3.7, 37 mm guns.
Hans-Ulrich Rudel (2 July 1916 – 18 December 1982) was a German ground-attack pilot during World War II and a post-war neo-Nazi activist.. The most decorated German pilot of the war and the only recipient of the Knight's Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds, Rudel was credited with the destruction of 519 tanks, one battleship, one cruiser, 70 landing craft and 150 artillery ...
The vulnerability of the Ju 87 and the loss of air superiority to the Red Air Force, precluded any further large-scale use of the aircraft in the traditional dive-bombing role. In October 1943, the Ju 87 units were renamed Schlachtgeschwader, battle wings, with a mixed number of Ju 87s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s operating in the anti-tank role.
Mounted within self-contained gun pods or in conformal gondola-style flat-surface mounted gunpod housings, the BK 3,7 saw use on the Ju 87G panzerknacker ("tank-cracker") version of the Stuka dive bomber as flown with considerable success by Hans-Ulrich Rudel, the Ju 88P-2 and P-3 subtypes, and the Hs 129 B-2/R3 twin-engined strike aircraft.
It was equipped with Ju 87G cannon-armed aircraft specifically for engaging Soviet armour. Little is known about this unit. It was known to have fought at Kursk from 12 and 13 July 1943 when Luftflotte 6, to which it was attached, claimed 67/68 tanks destroyed. It is known to have lost two aircraft, one killed and wounded.
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