In 1942, the Luftwaffe command realized the lack of effectiveness of standard bombs against the ever-increasing tank armor. And if in the beginning of the war the efficiency of the conventional bombs were quite acceptable, by the beginning of 1943 against the increasing number of medium tanks T-34 they were almost useless. It was necessary to directly hit the bomb in the tank. But dive on each individual tank with a 250-kg bomb was not possible. And bombs not????, and enter it is difficult. It was necessary to counter the threat posed by some new and more sophisticated weapon. It was proposed to use as a modernized anti-aircraft gun 37-mm Flak 18. The modification of the gun was reduced to changing the muzzle brake, reducing the length of the barrel and changing the mechanisms of rollback and shutter. The whole structure was placed in a streamlined container. So the aircraft gun VK 3,7 sm was born. Ammunition of the weapon made 12 shells (as a rule, armor-piercing) in narrow box stores.
This anti-tank weapon only got two versions of "Pieces" — Ju 87G-1, converted from D-3 (just released about 100 copies) and Ju 87G-2, established on the basis of D-5 (174 cars). Some "Gustavo" retained its normal offensive weapons, which were used for zeroing.
the New version in December 1942 experienced at the test site at Rechlin I... were satisfied. No one really cared about the answer to the question, as the pilot of "Gustav" to fight on the machine, under the wing of which stick bulky "pieces of iron", each of which weighed more than 300 kg.the New attack aircraft had such a low speed that barely overtook the old reconnaissance aircraft Hs 126 contemptuously referred to in the red army-"crutch", the new Ju 87 also earned many nicknames: "Cannon bird" (Kanonenvogel) or "Thing with long sticks". Stuka mil den Langen stangen).
