TSh-3: Ground Attacker

In 1911 the Italians, using aircrafts in battles against the Turkish and Tripolitania troops inflicted considerable damage to enemy ground troops. The experience of those battles had shown that it was necessary to develop a new class of winged machines – direct fire support airplanes. They were required to have strong armament – capable of fighting not only in the skies, but also attacking ground targets – a strong armor to protect the crew, a good forward-down overview.

After the Italian success almost all great aviation nations were engaged in research and construction of what was to become ground attack warplanes.

TSh-3 was a heavily armored ground attack monoplane aircraft, built following tactical and technical characteristics of the Soviet Air Force command. A monoplane scheme was chosen by S. Kocherigin, a head of the attack aircraft brigade at Central Construction Bureau of the Soviet Air Force, after TSh-1 and TSh-2 designs had failed to satisfy planned requirements and biplane solutions had become obviously obsolete.

The Air Force requirements included speed of 250 km/h (155 mph) and maximal battle altitude of 4000 m (13,000 feet). Aircraft had to carry strong armament in different combinations.

The TSh-3 was built of metal and fabric. A front fuselage was a steel armor box held together by duralumin profile frames. A front armor plate was 8mm thick; side, bottom and back plates were 6mm; a top plate was 5mm. An engine compartment was not protected from the top. A retractable under-fuselage radiator was covered by a 6mm armor plate. In a retracted ('attack') position the air for cooling was sucked inn through an armored 'scoop' intake under a propeller; a fraction of the heat also was absorbed by 106 kg (234 lbs) of water in the cooling system. Especially for this purpose a radiator was oversized.

A tail section (behind a gunner's turret) was a simple steel tube frame covered with fabric. It provided less than 10% of the airframe weight (55 kg or 121 lbs). Wings had a duralumin frame and a fabric cover. Each wing carried five ShKAS machineguns and three cartridges for six small shrapnel bombs. Hardpoints were integrated into the wing structure, so that the TSh-3 could carry heavy bombs and Special Aircraft Mounted Devices (e.g. chemical agent dispensers). Ailerons also served as flaps.

The first TSh-3 was flown in 1932 by a legendary Soviet pilot V. Kokkinaki. The plane performed well above the 1932 requirements. Trials and refinements continued until spring of 1934. By that time a rapid progress of aircraft designs had made the TSh-3 maximum speed insufficient.

The main purpose of an armored attack plane was not well defined by the Soviet Air Force, and the TSh-3 did not enter a production cycle.

It took almost 8 years before the Ilyushin's Il-2 emerged as a fully operational heavily armored aircraft with exceptional performance. Yet the TSh-3 will be remembered as the first worthy attempt at designing an attack warplane.

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