The Il-2 was considered by Stalin to be the most valuable aircraft in the Soviet arsenal. Essentially a flying tank, 15 percent of the IL-2's weight was armor, making it very difficult to shoot down, and it was very well armed. The Germans called it the "Black Death" (only in German) and it proved to be the bane of German armored units. A later model, the IL-10 served in Korea. It was to be the most produced combat plane in history.

Cool stuff for Il-2 lovers:

IL-2 Sturmovik is one of the best combat flight sims ever made.

Check out the Il-2 T-shirt in the gift shop!