Ilyushin DB-3

The Ilyushin DB-3, where "DB" stands for Dalniy Bombardirovschik (Russian: Дальний бомбардировщик) meaning "long-range bomber", was a Soviet bomber aircraft of World War II. It was a twin-engined, low-wing monoplane that first flew in 1935. It was the precursor of the Ilyushin Il-4 (originally named DB-3F). 1,528 were built.

Design and development

The genesis of the DB-3 lay in the BB-2, Sergey Ilyushin's failed competitor to the Tupolev SB. Ilyushin was able to salvage the work and time invested in the BB-2's design by recasting it as a long-range bomber, again competing against a Tupolev design, the DB-2, to meet the stringent requirements of an aircraft capable of delivering 1,000 kg (2,200 lb) bomb load to a range of 3,000 km (1,900 mi) at a maximum speed no less than 350 km/h (220 mph). He had redesigned the BB-2 to take advantage of the radial Gnome-Rhône Mistral Major 14Kdrs engine, for which the Soviets had purchased a license in 1934 as the M-85, and had begun construction of the prototype of the BB-2 2K-14 as the TsKB-26 that same year.