The Junkers Ju 87 Stuka remains one of the most iconic aircraft of the Second World War.
With its fixed undercarriage, inverted gull wings and infamous wailing siren, it became the very symbol of Blitzkrieg—a flying herald of destruction.
From the invasion of Poland in 1939 to the sweeping victories in France and the early stages of Operation Barbarossa, the Stuka earned a fearsome reputation as the spearhead of Germany’s tactical airpower.
But as the war wore-on, that dominance began to fade. The Allies had closed the gap in the air—and on the Western Front, Stuka squadrons could no longer operate with impunity.
Yet on the vast Eastern Front, the Ju 87 found a second life—not in its original dive-bombing role, but in a new and deadly purpose: hunting Soviet tanks.
This is the story of the Ju 87G Stuka nicknamed “Kanonenvogel” or cannon bird—the specialized tank-hunting variant that became a formidable threat to Soviet armor, and the daring pilots who turned it into one of the most feared anti-tank weapons on the Eastern Front.
Credit to : FactBytes
