| PZL.23 Karaś | |
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| General Historical Information | |
| Place of origin | Poland |
| Designer | Stanisław Prauss |
| Manufacturer | Państwowe Zakłady Lotnicze |
| Speed | 304 km/h |
| Category | Light Bomber Reconnaissance aircraft |
| General Ingame Information | |
| Debut | v0.55 |
| Used by | Poland |
| Crew in‑game | 4 |
| Guns | 1x 7.92mm PWU-FK wz.33 machineguns (600 rounds) |
| Bombs | 4x 50kg bombs 12x 12.5kg bombs |
| Special abilities | Spotting targets for artillery |
| Seat 2 | Artillery Observer (press ↓ to look down and press ↑ to return to the cockpit) |
| Seat 3 | 1x 7.92mm Vicker F machineguns (300 rounds) |
| Seat 4 | 1x 7.92mm Vicker F machineguns (300 rounds) |
| Historical Picture | |
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Classified as light bomber, the PZL.23 "Karas" (meaning "the crucian carp") also undertook reconnaissance sorties as required. Hardly a fighter with very little in the way to defend itself as a light bomber, the aircraft was better reserved to the non-combat reconnaissance role. With Poland clamoring to stem the tide of German invasion, it was a necessity for the PZL.23 to fight regardless. Armament was purely defensive in nature and numbered three machine guns. A single 7.92mm wz.33 type machine gun was held in a fixed nose position. Two other 7.92mm PWU wz.37 series (or sometimes Vickers F types) were in somewhat trainable gun positioned at rear - on in an underside gun position and the other in a World War 1 style open cockpit dorsal rear gun position.
In service, the PZL.23 took to the skies in defense of Poland. Though air superiority was far out of the question, the PZL.23 nonetheless took to the skies to reconnoiter and assess the perilous situation. It was also used to bomb targets in German held territories when possible, though losses most times were horrendous. Despite the limitations of the system, Polish air crews and pilots delivered ordnance and notched a few Luftwaffe kills themselves.
The PZL.23 was produced in limited numbers - numbering some 253 total examples - and did little to aid the efforts of a falling nation. About 20 or so fled to Romania before the inevitable fall of Poland to fight another day, this time against the might of Soviet aggression from the East.
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