Tupolev MTB-2
[1] The requirements for the ANT-44 (factory designation) or MTB-2 flying boat were issued in March 1935 for an aircraft able to attack land and naval targets that could also transport 35–40 people and cargo.[2] The aircraft was armed with 7.62 mm (0.30 in) ShKAS machine guns in nose and tail turrets; the third weapon was positioned in the upper dorsal compartment with a sliding hatch.[4] The second prototype, designated ANT-44bis or ANT-44D, began construction in July 1937 and incorporated most of the changes requested when the mockup was inspected in March as were those made to the first aircraft, including the M-87A engines, the addition of landing gear and the modified armament.The production aircraft was intended to use 820 kW (1,100 hp) Tumansky M-88 radials, have a top speed of 400 km/h (250 mph) and a range of 2,000 km (1,200 mi) with a 2,800 kg (6,200 lb) bomb load.The encirclement of Sevastopol in late 1941 forced the ANT-44bis to rebase at Gelendzhik in the North Caucasus region and it began to evacuate wounded from the city while also resuming its strategic bombing of Romanian targets.Unwilling to admit that a mistake had been made, the Soviet leadership claimed that a wing touching the water caused a crash due to pilot error and transferred the inconvenient witnesses to the Northern Fleet in the Arctic.