Junkers Ju 87 the opening day of the offensive, Hans-Ulrich Rudel flew the only "official" Ju 87 G, although a significant number of Ju 87D variants were fitted with the 37 mm (1.46 in) cannon, and operated as unofficial Ju 87 Gs before the battle. In June 1943, the RLM ordered 20 Ju 87Gs as production variants. The G-1 later influenced the design of the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, with Hans Rudel's book, "Stuka Pilot" being required reading for all members of the A-X project. The Soviet Air Force practice of harassing German ground forces using antiquated Polikarpov Po-2 and R-5 biplanes
Junkers Jumo 012 Junkers Jumo 012 The Junkers Jumo 109-012, known colloquially post-war as Jumo 012, was a turbojet engine under development in Germany during the Second World War. In essence, it was a scaled up version of the Jumo 004 which had already reached serial production by the end of the war. It was intended to power the EF 132 and variants of the Ju 287. After the Jumo 004 had entered serial production, the Technical Department of the RLM requested Junkers to build a much larger engine capable of powering the heavy jet bombers then under development for the Luftwaffe. Initially,