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The Pilots Desk
FightersSoviet heavy fighter

Petlyakov Pe-3

Petlyakov Pe-3

The Petlyakov Pe-3 was the long-range heavy fighter version of the successful Petlyakov Pe-2 high-speed dive bomber used by the Soviet Union during World War II. Its design and use followed a comparable path to those taken by the German Luftwaffe with the Junkers Ju 88 and the British Royal Air Force with the De Havilland Mosquito. The Soviets realized the need for a night fighter after the first night bombing of Moscow during Operation Barbarossa. The Petlyakov Pe-2 was selected for modification as the most suitable aircraft available. It was initially used for daylight ground attack missions during the Battle of Moscow, but this proved to be costly since the aircraft was unarmored. Armor and additional guns were retrofitted to the existing aircraft to make it more effective, but the evacuation of the sole factory building the Pe-3 in October 1941 limited the number of aircraft available and many units of the Soviet Air Forces flying the Pe-3 were either disbanded or converted to other aircraft. Although production was stopped and restarted several times, the aircraft remained in service throughout World War II. Most of the later production runs were given to reconnaissance units.

Summary from Wikipedia, photo via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA.

Category
Fighters
First flight
1941-08-07

Specifications

Cruise speed
290 kt
Max speed
290 kt
Range
810 nm
Service ceiling
29,000 ft
Max takeoff weight
17,637 lb
Empty weight
12,915 lb
Fuel capacity
185 US gal
Powerplant
2 × Klimov M-105 RA liquid-cooled V12 engines
Engines
2
Seats
2
Length
41.5 ft
Wingspan
56.2 ft
Number built
360

Specifications are approximate and may vary by variant. Compiled from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).

Reference and training only. Specifications vary by variant — consult the manufacturer and the official documents.