Tu-2Sh Hedgehog
Another Story That Could Have Started with “You See, Ivan…”
Toward the end of WWII, some Soviet engineers were looking at a way to increase the effectiveness of the Air Force fire support for ground troops.
A bright spark came up with the idea of strapping 88 PPSh-41 submachine guns to a Tu-2 light bomber!
The Brilliant Idea and Its Downfall
On paper, this was an awesome idea: The contraption could unload 6248 rounds in 4 seconds… That’s almost 94,000 RPM!!!
In reality, the weapon was never deployed. You see, the 88 submachine guns were fitted to a container loaded into the bomb bay and fired remotely. There was no way of clearing malfunctions until the plane had landed again. It took around 100 man-hours to load those guns, fit them inside the container, and load the container into the bomb bay of a Tu-2.
Practical Limitations and Final Decisions
Finally, due to the nature of the PPSh-41, the short range of this contraption meant the plane had to fly at an altitude of 800 feet for the bullets to hit anything and anyone with any effectiveness.
The project was quickly shelved. Cool rig, though!
– RBM
