The Petlyakov Pe-2 (Russian: Петляков Пе-2 — nickname «Пешка» (Pawn); NATO reporting name: Buck)[2] was a Soviet twin-engine dive bomber used during World War II.

[5] The Soviets manufactured Pe-2s in greater numbers (11,430 built) during the war than any other twin-engine combat aircraft except for the German Junkers Ju 88 and the British Vickers Wellington.

In 1937, Vladimir Petlyakov was the leader of the Heavy Aircraft Brigade at the Tupolev OKB responsible for the development of the ANT-42 four-engined long-range bomber (which would eventually enter service as the TB-7/Pe-8).

However, that same year saw the start of Stalin's Great Purge, and none were spared suspicion; Andrei Tupolev, the head of the OKB, was coerced into signing a "confession" in October 1937 that he had formed an anti-Soviet group that included Petlyakov, and both men along with many others were arrested.

The aircraft would also need a reinforced structure in order to withstand the Mach stresses of making diving attacks from high altitude against enemy bomber formations.

The first prototype VI-100 was also designed to carry KS-76 (48 modified 76 mm artillery shells with timed fuses) or KS-100 (96 AO-25 bomblets) cassettes in the fuselage for dropping on enemy bomber formations.

[11] During testing in 1940, the second prototype VI-100 suffered a cockpit fire due to an improperly tightened nut in the fuel supply and crashed into a kindergarten, killing a group of young children and a teacher.

Its performance was superior to other Soviet high altitude fighters such as the Mikoyan-Gurevich I-200 (the future MiG-3), and compared favourably with contemporary aircraft such as the Potez 630, Messerschmitt Bf 110 C, and Bristol Beaufighter Mk.

Furthermore, following the Molotov–Ribbentrop Non-Aggression Pact, Soviet experts were able to visit German aircraft factories, where they discovered that Germany had no large-scale development of high-altitude long-range bombers underway.

The cockpit was redesigned, bringing the navigator and pilot together, and given extensive glazing, while a defensive machine gun was added in the ventral position, operated by a gunner.

The tail had twin fins and rudders with a pronounced 8-degree dihedral on the tailplane; this had been added to the PB-100 to correct the poor lateral stability found on the VI-100 during testing.

[31] The aircraft did not show its true potential until the end of 1941, after the Soviet Air Force had a chance to regroup after the German onslaught, during the Winter.

The Pe-2 quickly proved itself to be a highly capable aircraft, able to elude the Luftwaffe's interceptors and allowing their crews to develop great accuracy with their bombing.

[3] The records of the 16th and 39th BAPs of the Western Front Air Force note that the Pe-2's crews had the greatest success in repelling the attacks of enemy fighters in June and July 1941.

Despite anecdotal reports by Soviet fliers, Pe-2s were daylight bombers, often crewed by comparative novices in the early years of the war, and took significant losses, even when well protected by fighters.

In December 1942 General Ivan Turkel [ru] of the Soviet Air Force estimated the life expectancy of a Pe-2 was 30 combat flights.

For example, in the Baltic where JG54 Grünherz were the main opposition, and greatly outnumbered, the Soviet 1st Gv BAK lost 86 Pe-2s shot down (another 12 to other causes), mostly to German fighters between 23 July 1944 and 8 February 1945.

Western sources use mark Pe-2FT for production series after 83, where FT stands for Frontovoe Trebovanie (Frontline Request), although Soviet documents do not use this identification.

[32] Starting on 14 April 1945, some Pe-2FT aircraft were operated by the 1st Czechoslovak Mixed Air Division made up of exiled Czechoslovakian pilots in the Soviet Union.

These arrived at State Aircraft Factory facilities at Härmälä, near Tampere, in January 1942, where the airframes were overhauled and given Finnish serial numbers.

It was initially planned to use these planes as dive bombers in the 1st flight of LeLv 48, which began to receive its aircraft in July 1942, but during the training it was found out that this caused too much strain for the engines.

By the time the Soviet Fourth strategic offensive started in June 1944, the secondary bombing role had already ended and the surviving Pe-2s began to be used solely over the Karelian Isthmus on photographic reconnaissance flights in order to find out enemy troop concentrations, usually escorted by four Finnish Air Force Bf 109 Gs.

These vital missions allowed artillery and bombers of the Finnish Air Force and the Luftwaffe's Detachment Kuhlmey to strike against formations preparing for attack, which had an important impact on the outcome of the Battle of Tali-Ihantala, where the Soviet advance was halted.

During the Continuation War, three Pe-2s were lost in accidents or technical failures, one was destroyed in bombing of Lappeenranta airfield, one was shot down by Soviet fighters and one went missing in action.