It was redesigned, incorporating many features of what would become the Ilyushin Il-10, but proved to be inferior to that aircraft in testing.
In summer 1942 Sergey Ilyushin was requested to design a heavy attack aircraft with a bombload of up to 1,000 kg (2,200 lb).
[1] The oil cooler was housed with the coolant radiator in a big airscoop on top of the engine cowling, closer to the cockpit than was the case on the Il-2.
The gunner's position was enclosed in the armored shell, unlike that in the Il-2, and was equipped with a 12.7 mm (0.50 in) Berezin UBK machine gun on a VU-8 flexible mount.
The first flight was on 10 May 1943 and the prototypes were tested both as attack aircraft and as an artillery spotter variant with less range and better radios.
Flight tests were reasonably successful with the Il-8 proving to be almost 50 km/h (31 mph) faster at low altitudes than the Il-2.