Description
SB-2 bombers were among the first aircraft to arrive in Spain from the USSR during the civil war. By October 1936, the Spanish Republican Air Force already had 31 aircraft of this type, and the total number of SB deliveries to Spain during the entire period of the armed conflict is estimated at approximately 170 - 200 copies. Republicans gave them the nickname "Katyushka". In the initial period of the war, these aircraft had an advantage in speed and flight altitude over enemy fighters. However, the appearance of Bf 109 fighters in the skies over Spain changed the situation, as they now had the speed advantage, thus depriving the SB-2 bombers of their main advantage. Inadequate defensive armament and the insecurity of Katyusha fuel tanks also made them too vulnerable to the new fighters who fought on the side of the Francoists. The first SB was shot down by a Bf 109 fighter on July 23, 1937, and losses continued to mount. By the end of the war, about 20 such aircraft remained in the Republican Air Force.
