By the end of the First World War the German air force high command already knew that, despite the great success of the Junkers Ju 87B in many areas, it not longer satisfied the requirements. The armament to defend against enemy fighters was as inadequate as was the armour against firing from the ground. The Stuka needed to be completed upgraded and was now given the designation Ju 87D-1 and equipped with a 12-cylinder, 35-litre engine with take-off power of 1420 hp. The first Ju 87 D-1s came into service with the lst Group of 2 Stuka Squadron in Russia. To extend its capability to low flying missions in support of ground troops, from the middle of 1943, 1559 of the Ju 87D-3 were built. They had considerably more heavily armoured engine and cabin. The D-5 series differed from its predecessors in that it had a larger wing area with pointed tip to improve slow flying performance, a top speed of 409 km/h and could carry a load of 1000 kg bombs.
FEATURES :
Surface details with recessed panel lines
Pilot and gunner figures
Detailed cockpit with partitions, seats, instrument panel