Editing Polikarpov Po-2 (section)

{{More citations needed|date=April 2025}}{{Short description|All-weather multirole Soviet biplane}}
{{Infobox aircraft
| name = Po-2 "Kukuruznik"
| image = File:Polikarpov Po-2 28 (G-BSSY) (6740751017).jpg
| caption = 1944 Polikarpov Po-2 of The Shuttleworth Collection, United Kingdom
| type = Utility biplane
| manufacturer = [[Polikarpov]]
| designer = 
| first_flight = 24 June [[1927 in aviation|1927]]<ref>Bargatinov, Valery. ''Баргатинов Валерий: Крылья России'' ("Wings of Russia") Moscow, 2005.</ref>
| introduction = 1929
| produced = [[1928 in aviation|1928]]–[[1959 in aviation|1959]]<ref name=wveh/>
| number_built = 20,000–30,000<ref name=wveh/>
| primary_user = [[Soviet Air Force]]
| more_users = [[Aeroflot]]<br/>[[DOSAAF]]
| developed_from = 
}}

The '''Polikarpov Po-2''' (also '''U-2''' before 1944, for its initial [[Glossary of Russian and USSR aviation acronyms: Aircraft designations|''uchebnyy'']], 'training', role as a [[flight instruction]] aircraft) was an all-weather multirole [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[biplane]], nicknamed ''Kukuruznik'' ({{langx|ru|Кукурузник}},<ref name="Gunrus p292">Gunston 1995, p. 292.</ref>{{#tag:ref|Soviets later used ''kukuruznik'' as a nickname for Soviet leader [[Nikita Khrushchev]], notorious for advocating indiscriminate planting of [[maize]] all over the [[Soviet Union]], as well as for the [[Antonov An-2]], an aircraft with similar characteristics.{{citation needed|date=March 2016}}|group=N}} NATO reporting name "'''Mule'''"). The reliable, uncomplicated design of the Po-2 made it an ideal [[trainer aircraft]], as well as doubling as a low-cost [[attack aircraft|ground attack]], [[aerial reconnaissance]], [[psychological warfare]] and [[liaison aircraft]] during war, proving to be one of the most versatile light combat types to be built in the Soviet Union.<ref name= " Angelucci and Matricardi p. 214.">Angelucci and Matricardi 1978,  p. 214.</ref> As of 1978, it remained in production for a longer period of time than any other Soviet-era aircraft.<ref name= " Angelucci and Matricardi p. 214."/> It holds the distinction of the only biplane to take down a jet aircraft.

Production figures for Polikarpov U-2 and Po-2 bombers and trainers combined are between 20,000 and 30,000<ref name=wveh>[http://www.wwiivehicles.com/ussr/aircraft/bomber/polikarpov-u-2-po-2.asp#p7TPMc1_4 "Soviet Polikarpov U-2 bomber, trainer; Polikarpov Po-2 bomber, trainer."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140703083246/http://www.wwiivehicles.com/ussr/aircraft/bomber/polikarpov-u-2-po-2.asp#p7TPMc1_4 |date=2014-07-03 }} ''wwiivehicles.com.'' Retrieved: 30 November 2012.</ref> with production ending as early as 1952.<ref name=wveh/> Precise figures are hard to obtain since low-rate production by small repair shops and aero clubs is believed to have continued until 1959.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202103/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/photo_albums/timeline/ww2/2/Polikarpov%20U%202%20Po%202.htm ''Century of Flight: Polikarpov U 2 Po 2.''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923202103/http://www.century-of-flight.net/Aviation%20history/photo_albums/timeline/ww2/2/Polikarpov%20U%202%20Po%202.htm |date=2015-09-23 }} Retrieved: 30 November 2012.</ref>