![]() The French Armée de l’Air made limited use of armor-piercing 20mm ammunition for Morane-Saulnier MS.406 fighters engaged in ground strafing during the May-June 1940 campaign in France, but little is known about the results of those operations. ![]() But that image has little relation to the realities of close air support during the war. Tales of their exploits helped to firmly establish a positive image of anti-tank aviation in histories of the conflict. Luftwaffe legend Hans-Ulrich Rudel claimed to have destroyed 519 Soviet tanks, most of them while piloting a cannon-armed Junkers Ju-87G Panzerknäcker, or “tankbuster.” Aleksandr Yefimov, said to have destroyed 126 German tanks while flying the Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, was twice made a Hero of the Soviet Union. The effectiveness of anti-tank aircraft in World War II is taken for granted by most writers on the subject, offering a technophile orthodoxy that can be seamlessly woven together with accounts of later developments up to and including the Iraq wars. Think It's Easy to Destroy Tanks With Airplanes? Think Again Close
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