The Ilyushin Bsh-2, the prototype of the Il-2 Shturmovik (“armed attacker’), makes its first flight. A durable, highly armed ground attack/tank-buster aircraft that could absorb considerable punishment, the Soviet Union would produce nearly 1,200 copies of the Il-2 a month during most of World War II. Total production will top 36,000 aircraft, making it the most produced aircraft of all time. Soviet dictator Josef Stalin said the Il-2 was “as essential to the Soviet Army as air and bread.”
In an effort to improve connectivity aboard Air Force tanker and mobility aircraft, the Pentagon’s commercial technology innovation unit wants a system to install new applications on aircraft, such as a moving map display that helps aircrew see through the fog of war.
