I suck at lore so here is stuff from the wiki and yes i am uploading this late at night: The Ilyushin Il-2 (Russian: ????´??? ??-2) is a ground-attack plane that was produced by the Soviet Union in large numbers during the Second World War. The word shturmovík (Cyrillic: ?????????), the generic Russian term for a ground-attack aircraft, became a synecdoche for the Il-2 in English sources, where it is commonly rendered Shturmovik, Stormovik[3] and Sturmovik.[4]Il-2?A Soviet Air Force Ilyushin Il-2M in flightGeneral informationTypeGround-attack aircraftNational originSoviet UnionDesignerIlyushinBuilt byFactory 381State Aviation Factory 18Primary usersSoviet Air ForceHungarian Air ForceAir Force of the Polish ArmyYugoslav Air ForceNumber built36,183[1]HistoryManufactured1941–1945[2]Introduction date1941First flight2 October 1939Retired1954 (Bulgarian Air Force & Yugoslav Air Force)Developed intoIlyushin Il-10To Il-2 pilots, the aircraft was known by the diminutive "Ilyusha". To the soldiers on the ground, it was called the "Hunchback", the "Flying Tank" or the "Flying Infantryman". Its postwar NATO reporting name was Bark.[5]During the war, 36,183 units of the Il-2 were produced, and in combination with its successor, the Ilyushin Il-10, a total of 42,330[6] were built, making it the single most produced military aircraft design in aviation history, as well as one of the most produced piloted aircraft in history along with the American postwar civilian Cessna 172 and the German then-contemporary Messerschmitt Bf 109.The Il-2 played a crucial role on the Eastern Front. When factories fell behind on deliveries, Joseph Stalin told the factory managers that the Il-2s were "as essential to the Red Army as air and bread."[7]