One of the branches of the Armed Forces of the USSR, the main tasks of which included air cover of the Ground Forces (ground forces) and the navy (navy), direct destruction of enemy objects and forces, participation in special operations, airlifts, as well as a decisive role in the conquest air supremacy.
In the pre-war years in the USSR, the profession of a military pilot was especially popular. Until December 1940, the Air Force was staffed exclusively by volunteers who underwent the strictest selection. The popularity of aviation among young people was facilitated by numerous records set by Soviet aviators in the 1930s. The names of heroic pilots V. P. Chkalov, G. F. Baidukov, S. A. Levanevsky, M. M. Gromov, brave pilots V. S. Grizodubova, M. M. Raskova were no less famous than the names of popular actors and musicians . Soviet aviation industry, still at the end. 1920s which was in its infancy, by the end of the first five-year plan it stood on its feet and was able to provide the Air Force with modern aviation technology. So, if in 1928 there were only 12 aviation enterprises in the USSR, then by 1933 their number increased to 31. Towards the end. 1930s In terms of aircraft production, the Soviet Union was ahead of all developed capitalist countries. However, by that time a number of serious problems had emerged. The domestic engine industry lagged significantly behind; there was a shortage of light aviation materials (aluminum, duralumin, etc.); Aircraft produced by the domestic industry, which 2-3 years ago were considered quite modern, due to the rapid development of design ideas in the West, began to rapidly become obsolete. In 1939, the Soviet government began to take emergency measures to modernize the Air Force aircraft fleet. New design bureaus are being created under the leadership of young engineers A. S. Yakovlev, S. A. Lavochkin, P. O. Sukhoi, A. I. Mikoyan and M. I. Gurevich. N.N. Polikarpov, S.V. Ilyushin, as well as A.N. Tupolev, V.M. Petlyakov and many others are working on new machines. By June 1941, the Soviet Air Force numbered approx. 16,000 combat aircraft. Directly in the five western border districts, 10,243 aircraft were deployed, of which 7,473 belonged to the Red Army Air Force (front-line, army and corps aviation), 1,437 aircraft from the Northern, Baltic and Black Sea fleets and 1,333 long-range bomber aircraft (LBA), subordinated directly to the High Command of the Red Army. Most Soviet aircraft were obsolete types: I-15bis, I-16, I-153 fighters; bombers SB, Ar-2, TB-3; reconnaissance aircraft R-5, R-Z, R-10, MBR-2. The short-range bombers Su-2, Yak-2, Yak-4 and long-range DB-3 and DB-3f (Il-4) could be considered relatively modern. All of these aircraft were, to one degree or another, inferior to similar enemy aircraft; the gap was especially strong in fighter aircraft. Even to the aging German fighter Me-109E, the Soviet I-16, depending on the modification, lost 60-100 km/h in speed, and the new Me-109F, of which the Germans had the majority, lost 120-150 km/h. The situation could be corrected by new Soviet fighter aircraft Yak-1, MiG-3 and LaGG-3, Il-2 attack aircraft, and Pe-2 bombers, but these aircraft did not have time to replace outdated models in units. But even in those units that received new equipment, the personnel did not have time to master it. Although there were already 1,540 new types of aircraft in the west of the country, only 208 crews were retrained on them. The level of training of Soviet pilots was also lower than that of German ones. During 1939-1941 A large number of young pilots trained under a shortened program joined the ranks of the Air Force. Only a little more than 3 thousand Soviet pilots had at least some combat experience gained in Finland, Spain or Khalkhin Gol. Among the German pilots, the vast majority had experience of fighting in Poland, France, over England, Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete. Many German fighter pilots received the right to be called aces. The German Air Force (Luftwaffe) and its allies - Hungary, Romania, Finland and Slovakia - numbered 4,130 combat aircraft. In the fall of 1941, they were joined by aircraft from the Italian and Croatian Air Forces. And yet the Soviet pilots offered fierce resistance. On the very first day of the war, the enemy lost 78 aircraft, and another 89 were damaged. 18 aircraft were shot down by ramming attacks by Soviet pilots. Soon the names of the first Soviet aces of the Great Patriotic War became known: A. Antonenko, P. Brinko, B. Safonov. On July 22, 1941, German aircraft carried out their first raid on Moscow. In response, on the night of August 8, Red Banner Baltic Fleet Air Force bombers bombed Berlin. In July-August, the staffing structure of Air Force regiments and divisions was changed. At the same time, the position of commander of the Air Force was introduced, who became the head of the Air Force Directorate, General P. F. Zhigarev (from April 1942 - General A. A. Novikov). In the spring of 1942, the enemy was able to recover from the blow received and, having gathered huge forces on the southern sector of the front, again went on the offensive. The 4th Luftwaffe air fleet operating here consisted of 1,200 combat vehicles, not counting the air forces of Hungary, Romania and Italy. These planes supported the fascist troops rushing to Stalingrad and the Caucasus. The Soviet aviation operating near Stalingrad did not have even a thousand aircraft. In such conditions the grandiose Battle of Stalingrad began. In the spring and summer of 1942, the organizational structure of the Soviet Air Force underwent changes again. In March, the DBA was reorganized into long-range aviation (ADA, commander - General A.E. Golovanov). In May-June, the formation of air armies (AA) began - independent aviation formations. Unlike the previously operating system, when air force forces were split between the front, armies and even corps, the new organization made it possible to use aviation more massively, concentrating its efforts on the most important sectors of the front. In total, 18 air armies were formed during the war (the ADD was reorganized into the 18th Air Army in 1944). To strengthen the air forces operating in the directions of the main attacks, the formation of reserve aviation corps of the Supreme High Command began in the fall of 1942. Until the end In 1944, 30 such corps were formed; by January 1, 1945, they included 43% of all aircraft of the Red Army Air Force. These events became possible because since 1942, Soviet industry launched the mass production of modern combat aircraft. If in 1941 15,735 aircraft were produced, then in 1942 - already 25,436, in 1943 - 34,884, in 1944 - 40,261. Only the US aviation industry worked at a faster pace, which, however, there was no need to evacuate their enterprises and re-organize all production. Without slowing down the rate of production, the Soviet aviation industry mastered new types of aircraft, while at the same time continuing to improve the earlier ones. The allies also provided significant assistance. From the end 1941 until the summer of 1945, 18,865 aircraft were received under Lend-Lease, including Airacobra, Kittyhawk, Kingcobra, Thunderbolt, Hurricane, Spitfire fighters, bombers and torpedo bombers "Mitchell", "Boston", "Hampden", various naval, transport and training aircraft. Aviation gasoline and various aviation materials came from the USA, Great Britain and Canada. In the spring-summer of 1943, during the grandiose air battles in Kuban (April-May) and on the Kursk Bulge (July-August), the Soviet Air Force broke enemy resistance and did not lose its air superiority until the very end of the war. In 1944-1945 The Soviet Air Force firmly maintained air superiority, although the enemy periodically tried to seize the initiative on certain sectors of the front. In the Soviet Air Force, in addition to the already operating French Normandy air regiment, Polish and Czechoslovakian national aviation formations appeared. On the other hand, the Luftwaffe began to receive increasingly new and advanced military equipment, including including Me-262 jet fighters and Ar-234 bombers. As we approached the German borders, the resistance to German anti-aircraft artillery, which was armed with radar-guided guns, increased significantly. Until the last days of the war, fascist aviation and air defense offered fierce and stubborn resistance. Thus, in less than a month of the Berlin offensive operation, the losses of the Soviet Air Force amounted to 917 aircraft out of more than 7,500 participating. In August 1945, the Red Army Air Force and the Pacific Fleet took part in the defeat of the Japanese Kwantung Army. From the very first day, our aviation reigned supreme in the skies, supporting the advance of ground units. During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet aviation (excluding the naval air force) made 3 million 124 thousand combat sorties. 30 million 450 thousand bombs with a total weight of 660 thousand tons were dropped on the enemy. 57 thousand enemy aircraft were destroyed in air battles and at airfields, and the total losses of Germany and its satellites on the Eastern Front amounted to 77 thousand aircraft. Own losses amounted to 88,300 aircraft, including 43,100 shot down and destroyed at airfields. For 1941-1945 2,420 aviators were awarded the honorary title of Hero of the Soviet Union, 65 pilots were awarded this title twice, and two (I.N. Kozhedub and A.I. Pokryshkin) became Heroes of the Soviet Union three times.
Historical sources:
List of associations and formations of the Soviet armed forces that were part of the active army during the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945: (reference book). M., 1992.
Combat aircraft are birds of prey in the sky. For more than a hundred years they have been shining in warriors and at air shows. Agree, it’s difficult to take your eyes off modern multi-purpose devices filled with electronics and composite materials. But there is something special about World War II airplanes. It was an era of great victories and great aces who fought in the air, looking into each other's eyes. Engineers and aircraft designers from different countries have come up with many legendary aircraft. Today we present to your attention a list of the ten most famous, recognizable, popular and best aircraft of the Second World War according to the editors of the [email protected].
Supermarine Spitfire
The list of the best aircraft of World War II opens with the British Supermarine Spitfire fighter. He has a classic look, but a little awkward. Wings - shovels, heavy nose, bubble-shaped canopy. However, it was the Spitfire that helped the Royal Air Force by stopping German bombers during the Battle of Britain. German fighter pilots discovered with great displeasure that British aircraft were in no way inferior to them, and were even superior in maneuverability.
The Spitfire was developed and put into service just in time - right before the start of World War II. True, there was an incident with the first battle. Due to a radar malfunction, the Spitfires were sent into battle with a phantom enemy and fired upon their own British fighters. But then, when the British tried out the advantages of the new aircraft, they used it as soon as possible. And for interception, and for reconnaissance, and even as bombers. A total of 20,000 Spitfires were produced. For all the good things and, first of all, for saving the island during the Battle of Britain, this aircraft takes an honorable tenth place.
The Heinkel He 111 was exactly the aircraft that the British fighters fought against. This is the most recognizable German bomber. It cannot be confused with any other aircraft, thanks to the characteristic shape of its wide wings. It was the wings that gave the Heinkel He 111 its nickname "flying shovel".
This bomber was created long before the war under the guise of a passenger aircraft. It performed very well back in the 30s, but by the beginning of World War II it began to become outdated, both in speed and maneuverability. It lasted for a while due to its ability to withstand heavy damage, but when the Allies conquered the skies, the Heinkel He 111 was “demoted” to a regular transport aircraft. This aircraft embodies the very definition of a Luftwaffe bomber, for which it receives ninth place in our rating.
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, German aviation did whatever it wanted in the skies of the USSR. Only in 1942 did a Soviet fighter appear that could fight on equal terms with the Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs. It was La-5, developed at the Lavochkin design bureau. It was created in great haste. The plane is designed so simply that there are not even the most basic instruments in the cockpit, such as an attitude indicator. But the La-5 pilots immediately liked it. In its first test flights, it shot down 16 enemy aircraft.
"La-5" bore the brunt of the battles in the skies over Stalingrad and the Kursk Bulge. Ace Ivan Kozhedub fought on it, and it was on it that the famous Alexei Maresyev flew with prosthetics. The only problem with La-5 that prevented it from rising higher in our ranking is its appearance. He is completely faceless and expressionless. When the Germans first saw this fighter, they immediately gave it the nickname “new rat.” And all because it was very similar to the legendary I-16 aircraft, nicknamed “rat”.
North American P-51 Mustang
The Americans used many types of fighters in World War II, but the most famous among them was, of course, the P-51 Mustang. The history of its creation is unusual. Already at the height of the war in 1940, the British ordered aircraft from the Americans. The order was fulfilled and in 1942 the first Mustangs entered combat in the British Royal Air Force. And then it turned out that the planes were so good that they would be useful to the Americans themselves.
The most noticeable feature of the P-51 Mustang is its huge fuel tanks. This made them ideal fighters for escorting bombers, which they did successfully in Europe and the Pacific. They were also used for reconnaissance and assault. They even bombed a little. The Japanese especially suffered from the Mustangs.
The most famous US bomber of those years is, of course, the Boeing B-17 “Flying Fortress”. The four-engine, heavy Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, hung on all sides with machine guns, gave rise to many heroic and fanatical stories. On the one hand, the pilots loved it for its ease of control and survivability, on the other hand, the losses among these bombers were indecently high. In one of the flights, out of 300 “Flying Fortresses”, 77 did not return. Why? Here we can mention the complete and defenselessness of the crew from fire from the front and the increased risk of fire. However, the main problem was convincing the American generals. At the beginning of the war, they thought that if there were a lot of bombers and they were flying high, then they could do without any escort. Luftwaffe fighters refuted this misconception. They taught harsh lessons. The Americans and British had to learn very quickly, change tactics, strategy and aircraft design. Strategic bombers contributed to the victory, but the cost was high. A third of the Flying Fortresses did not return to the airfields.
In fifth place in our ranking of the best aircraft of World War II is the main hunter of German aircraft, the Yak-9. If the La-5 was a workhorse that bore the brunt of the battles during the turning point of the war, then the Yak-9 is the aircraft of victory. It was created on the basis of previous models of Yak fighters, but instead of heavy wood, duralumin was used in the design. This made the aircraft lighter and left room for modifications. What they didn’t do with the Yak-9. Front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance aircraft and even courier aircraft.
On the Yak-9, Soviet pilots fought on equal terms with German aces, who were greatly intimidated by its powerful guns. Suffice it to say that our pilots affectionately nicknamed the best modification of the Yak-9U “Killer.” The Yak-9 became a symbol of Soviet aviation and the most popular Soviet fighter of the Second World War. Factories sometimes assembled 20 aircraft a day, and during the war almost 15,000 of them were produced.
Junkers Ju-87 (Junkers Ju 87)
Junkers Ju-87 Stuka is a German dive bomber. Thanks to their ability to fall vertically onto a target, the Junkers placed bombs with pinpoint accuracy. When supporting a fighter offensive, everything in the Stuka design is subordinated to one thing - hitting the target. Air brakes prevented acceleration during a dive; special mechanisms moved the dropped bomb away from the propeller and automatically brought the plane out of the dive.
Junkers Ju-87 - the main aircraft of the Blitzkrieg. He shone at the very beginning of the war, when Germany was marching victoriously across Europe. True, it later turned out that the Junkers were very vulnerable to fighters, so their use gradually came to naught. True, in Russia, thanks to the Germans’ advantage in the air, the Stukas still managed to fight. For their characteristic non-retractable landing gear they were nicknamed “laptezhniks”. The German pilot ace Hans-Ulrich Rudel brought additional fame to the Stukas. But despite its worldwide fame, the Junkers Ju-87 ended up in fourth place on the list of the best aircraft of World War II.
In honorable third place in the ranking of the best aircraft of World War II is the Japanese carrier-based fighter Mitsubishi A6M Zero. This is the most famous aircraft of the Pacific War. The history of this aircraft is very revealing. At the beginning of the war, it was almost the most advanced aircraft - light, maneuverable, high-tech, with an incredible flight range. For the Americans, Zero was an extremely unpleasant surprise; it was head and shoulders above everything they had at that time.
However, the Japanese worldview played a cruel joke on the Zero; no one thought about protecting it in air combat - gas tanks burned easily, the pilots were not covered by armor, and no one thought about parachutes. When hit, the Mitsubishi A6M Zero burst into flames like matches, and the Japanese pilots had no chance to escape. The Americans, in the end, learned to fight the Zeros; they flew in pairs and attacked from a height, escaping the battle on turns. They released the new Chance Vought F4U Corsair, Lockheed P-38 Lightning and Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters. The Americans admitted their mistakes and adapted, but the proud Japanese did not. Obsolete by the end of the war, the Zero became a kamikaze plane, a symbol of senseless resistance.
The famous Messerschmitt Bf.109 is the main fighter of World War II. It was he who reigned supreme in the Soviet skies until 1942. An exceptionally successful design allowed Messerschmitt to impose its tactics on other aircraft. He picked up speed well in a dive. A favorite technique of German pilots was the “falcon strike,” in which a fighter dives at the enemy and, after a quick attack, goes back to altitude.
This aircraft also had disadvantages. His short flight range prevented him from conquering the skies of England. Escorting the Messerschmitt bombers was also not easy. At low altitude he lost his speed advantage. By the end of the war, the Messers suffered greatly both from Soviet fighters from the east and from allied bombers from the west. But the Messerschmitt Bf.109, nevertheless, went down in legends as the best fighter of the Luftwaffe. In total, almost 34,000 of them were produced. This is the second most popular aircraft in history.
So, meet the winner in our ranking of the most legendary aircraft of World War II. The Il-2 attack aircraft, also known as the “Humpbacked”, is also a “flying tank”; the Germans most often called it the “Black Death”. The Il-2 is a special aircraft; it was immediately conceived as a well-protected attack aircraft, so it was much more difficult to shoot it down than other aircraft. There was a case when an attack aircraft returned from a mission and more than 600 hits were counted on it. After quick repairs, the Hunchbacks were sent back into battle. Even if the plane was shot down, it often remained intact; its armored belly allowed it to land in an open field without any problems.
"IL-2" went through the entire war. In total, 36,000 attack aircraft were produced. This made the “Humpback” a record holder, the most produced combat aircraft of all time. For its outstanding qualities, original design and enormous role in World War II, the famous Il-2 rightfully takes first place in the ranking of the best aircraft of those years.
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MILITARY AVIATION IN FIGURES
Updated - 11/22/2013
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Tsarist Russian Air Force:
- during WW1, 120-150 captured German and Austrian aircraft were captured. Most - two-seat reconnaissance aircraft, fighters and twin-engine aircraft were rare (Note 28*)
- at the end of 1917, the Russian army had 91 air squadrons consisting of 1,109 aircraft, of which:
available at the front - 579 (428 serviceable, 137 faulty, 14 obsolete), 237 equipped for the front and 293 in schools. This number did not include up to 35 aircraft of the Airship Squadron, 150 aircraft of naval aviation, aircraft of logistics agencies, 400 aircraft of air fleets and in reserve. The total number of aircraft was estimated at 2200-2500 military aircraft (Note 28*)
USSR Air Force:
- in 1937 there were 18 aviation schools in the Red Army, in 1939 - 32, as of 05/01/1941 - already 100
(Note 32*)
- order No. 080 of 03.1941: training period for flight personnel - 9 months in peacetime and 6 months in wartime, flight hours for cadets on training and combat aircraft - 20 hours for fighters and 24 hours for bombers (a Japanese suicide bomber in 1944 had to have 30 hours of flight time) (Note 12*)
- in 1939, the Red Army had 8139 combat aircraft, of which 2225 were fighters (Note 41*)
- 09/01/1939 the USSR had 12,677 combat aircraft at the beginning of WW2 (Note 31*)
- in the summer of 1940 there were 38 air divisions in the Red Army, and by 01/01/1941 there should have been and there were 50
(Note 9*)
- only in the period from 01/01/1939 to 06/22/1941, the Red Army received 17,745 combat aircraft, of which 3,719 were new types, not inferior in basic parameters to the best Luftwaffe aircraft (Note 43 *). According to other sources, at the beginning of the war there were 2,739 aircraft of the latest types Yak-1, MIG-3, LAGG-3, PE-2, half of which were in the western military districts (Note 11*)
- as of January 1, 1940, there were 12,540 combat aircraft in the western military districts, excluding long-range bomber aircraft. By the end of 1940, these numbers were almost doubled to 24 thousand combat aircraft. The number of training aircraft alone was increased to 6800 (Note 12*)
- as of January 1, 1941, the Red Army Air Force numbered 26,392 aircraft, of which 14,628 were combat aircraft and 11,438 were training aircraft. Moreover, 10565 (8392 combat) were built in 1940 (Note 32*)
- at the beginning of the Second World War, 79 air divisions and 5 air brigades were formed, of which the Western Military District included 32 air divisions, 119 air regiments and 36 corps squadrons. Long-range bomber aviation in the western direction was represented by 4 air corps and 1 separate air division in the amount of 1,546 aircraft. The number of air regiments by June 1941 increased by 80% compared to the beginning of 1939 (Note 11*)
- The Second World War was met by 5 heavy bomber corps, 3 separate air divisions and one separate regiment of Soviet long-range bomber aviation - about 1000 aircraft, of which 2\\3 were lost during the six months of the war. By the summer of 1943, long-range bomber aviation consisted of 8 air corps and numbered more than 1,000 aircraft and crews. (Note 2*)
- 1528 DB-3 long-range bombers were built in 1941 (Note 44*)
- 818 TB-3 heavy bombers were launched at the beginning of the Second World War (Note 41*)
- by the beginning of the war there were 2,739 aircraft of the latest types Yak-1, MIG-3, LAGG-3, PE-2, half of which were in the western military districts (Note 11*). On 06/22/41, 917 Mig-3 (486 pilots retrained), 142 Yak-1 (156 pilots retrained), 29 Lagg (90 pilots retrained) (Note 4*) entered the Air Force
- in the Red Army Air Force units of the border military districts at the beginning of the war there were 7139 combat aircraft, 1339 long-range bomber aircraft, 1445 in naval aviation, which totaled 9917 aircraft
- on the eve of the war, in the European part of the USSR alone there were 20 thousand aircraft, of which 17 thousand were combat aircraft (Note 12*)
- by the spring of 1942, the USSR reached the pre-war level of aircraft production - at least 1000 combat aircraft per month. From June 1941 to December 1944, the USSR produced 97 thousand aircraft
- from the second half of 1942, Soviet industry reached the production line of 2500 aircraft per month with a total monthly loss of 1000 aircraft (Note 9*)
- as of June 22, 1942, 85% of all Soviet long-range bomber aviation consisted of 1,789 DB-3 aircraft (from the DB-3f modification it was called IL-4), the remaining 15% were SB-3. These planes did not fall under the first attacks of German aircraft, since they were based relatively far from the border (Note 3*)
- during the years of production (1936-40), 6831 Soviet SB bombers were built (Note 41*)
- 10,292 I-16 biplanes and its modifications were produced from 1934 to 1942
- as of June 22, 1941, 412 Yak-1s were produced (Note 39)
- 16 thousand Yak-9s were produced during the war
- IL-2 was the most popular attack aircraft of the Second World War. From 1941 to 1945, 36 thousand of them were produced (Note 41 * and 37 *) The losses of attack aircraft during the war years amounted to about 23 thousand.
- 11 thousand Soviet attack pilots died during the Second World War (Note 25*)
- in 1944, units had two aircraft for each Soviet attack pilot (Note 17*)
- the life of an attack aircraft lasted on average 10-15 sorties, and 25% of the pilots were shot down on the first sortie, while at least 10 sorties were required to destroy one German tank (Note 9*)
- the USSR received 18.7 thousand aircraft from the USA under Lend-Lease (Note 34*), of which: 2243 P-40 "Curtiss", 2771 A-20 "Douglas Boston", 842 B-25 "Mitchell" bombers " from the USA, and 1338 "Supermarine Spitfire" and 2932 "Hurricane" - (Note 26 *) from England.
- by the beginning of 1944, the USSR had 11,000 combat aircraft, the Germans - no more than 2,000. During the 4 years of the war, the USSR built 137,271 aircraft and received 18,865 aircraft of all types, of which 638 aircraft were lost during transportation. According to other sources, at the beginning of 1944 there were 6 times more Soviet combat aircraft than all German aircraft (Note 8*)
- on the “heavenly slow-moving vehicle” - U-2vs about 50 air regiments fought during the Second World War (Note 33*)
- from the monograph “1941 - lessons and conclusions”: “... out of 250 thousand sorties carried out
Soviet aviation in the first three months of the war, against tank and motorized columns of the enemy..." The record month for the Luftwaffe was June 1942, when (according to Soviet VNOS posts) 83,949 sorties of combat aircraft of all types were carried out. In other words, "the defeated and "destroyed on the ground" Soviet aviation flew in the summer of 1941 with an intensity that the Germans were able to achieve in only one month during the entire war (Note 13*)
- Average survivability of Soviet pilots during the Patriotic War:
fighter pilot - 64 combat missions
attack aircraft pilot - 11 combat missions
Bomber pilot - 48 combat missions
torpedo bomber pilot - 3.8 combat missions (Note 45*)
- the accident rate in the Red Army Air Force on the eve of the Second World War was enormous - on average, 2-3 planes crashed per day. This situation largely continued during the war. It is no coincidence that during the war, non-combat aircraft losses were over 50% (Note 9*)
- “unaccounted loss” - 5240 Soviet aircraft remaining at airfields after their capture by the Germans in 1941
- the average monthly losses of the Red Army Air Force from 1942 to May 1945 were 1000 aircraft, of which non-combat losses were over 50%, and in 1941 combat losses were 1700 aircraft, and total losses were 3500 per month (Note 9*)
- non-combat losses of Soviet military aviation in the Second World War amounted to 60,300 aircraft (56.7%) (Note 32*)
- in 1944, the losses of Soviet combat aviation amounted to 24,800 aircraft, of which 9,700 were combat losses, and 15,100 were non-combat losses (Note 18*)
- from 19 to 22 thousand Soviet fighters were lost in the Second World War (Note 23*)
- in accordance with Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 632-230ss dated March 22, 1946 “On the rearmament of the Air Force, Air Defense Fighter Aviation and Naval Aviation with modern domestically produced aircraft”: “...to be removed from service in 1946 and written off: foreign fighter aircraft types, including Airacobra - 2216 aircraft, Thunderbolt - 186 aircraft, Kingcobra - 2344 aircraft, Kittyhawk - 1986 aircraft, Spitfire - 1139 aircraft, Hurricane - 421 aircraft. Total: 7392 aircraft and 11937 obsolete domestic aircraft (Note 1*)
German Air Force:
- during the German offensive of 1917, up to 500 Russian aircraft became German trophies (Note 28*)
- according to the Treaty of Versailles, Germany had to scrap 14 thousand of its aircraft after the end of WW1 (Note 32*)
- serial production of the first combat aircraft in Nazi Germany began only in 1935-1936 (Note 13*). So in 1934, the German government adopted a plan to build 4,000 aircraft by September 30, 1935. Among them there was nothing but old stuff (Note 52*)
- 03/01/1935 - official recognition of the Luftwaffe. There were 2 regiments of Ju-52 and Do-23 (Note 52*)
- 771 German fighters were produced in 1939 (Note 50*)
- in 1939, Germany produced 23 combat aircraft daily, in 1940 - 27, and in 1941 - 30 aircraft (Note 32*) By the spring of 1942, Germany was producing up to 160 aircraft per month
- 09/01/1939 Germany began WW2 with 4093 aircraft (of which 1502 were bombers) (Note 31*)
- on the eve of the Second World War, Germany had 6,852 aircraft, of which 3,909 aircraft of all types were allocated to attack the USSR. This number included 313 transport personnel and 326 communications aircraft. Of the remaining 3,270 combat aircraft: 965 fighters (almost equally - Bf-109e and BF-109f), 102 fighter-bombers (Bf-110), 952 bombers, 456 attack aircraft and 786 reconnaissance aircraft (Note 32 *). According to other sources, on June 22, 1941 the Germans concentrated against the USSR; 1037 (of which 400 are combat-ready) Bf-109 fighters; 179 Bf-110 as reconnaissance aircraft and light bombers, 893 bombers (281 He-111, 510 Ju-88, 102 Do-17), attack aircraft - 340 Ju-87, reconnaissance aircraft - 120. Total - 2534 (of which about 2000 combat-ready ). As well as 1000 aircraft of the German allies
- after the transfer in December 1941 of 250-300 aircraft of the 2nd Air Corps from the USSR for operations in the area of Malta and North Africa, the total number of Luftwaffe on the Soviet front decreased from 2465 aircraft on 12/01/1941 to 1700 aircraft on 12/31/1941. In January 1942, the number of German aircraft decreased further after the transfer of aircraft of the 5th Air Corps to Belgium (Note 29*)
- in 1942, Germany produced 8.4 thousand combat aircraft. According to other sources, the Germans produced only up to 160 aircraft monthly
- in 1943, Germany produced 849 fighters on average per month (Note 49*)
- 84,320 aircraft of all types were produced in Germany in 1941-45. (Note 24*) - in total, 57 thousand German aircraft of all types were destroyed during WW2
- 1190 seaplanes were produced by the German aircraft industry during WW2 (Note 38): of which 541 Arado 196a
- 2,500 Storch communications aircraft were built in total. According to other sources, 2871 Fi-156 "Storch" ("Stork") were produced, and in the summer of 1941 the Germans captured the plant producing its Soviet counterfeit copy of the OKA-38 "Stork" (Note 37*)
- the German Ju-88 bomber was produced with a total of 15,100 aircraft (Note 38*)
- 1433 Me-262 jets were produced in Germany during WW2 (Note 21*)
- a total of 5709 Ju-87 Stuka (Note 40*) and 14676 Ju-88 (Note 40* and 37*) were produced
- in 1939-45, 20,087 FW-190 fighters were produced, while production reached its peak at the beginning of 1944, when 22 aircraft of this type were produced daily (Note 37 * and 38 *)
- during WW2, 35 thousand German Bf-109 fighters were produced (Note 14* and 37*)
- having produced 3225 transport Ju-52 ("Auntie Yu") since 1939, the German aircraft industry was forced to stop its production in 1944 (Note 40*)
- during the war years, Czech airlines produced 846 “frames” - FB-189 fire spotters - for the Luftwaffe. In the USSR this type of aircraft was not produced at all.
- a total of 780 reconnaissance spotters Hs-126 (“Crutch”) were produced (Note 32*)
- German failed aircraft adopted by the Wehrmacht: 871 Hs-129 attack aircraft (1940), 6500 Bf-110 (6170 - Note 37*), 1500 Me-210 and Me-410 (Note 15*). The Germans retrained the failed Ju-86 fighter as a strategic reconnaissance aircraft (Note 32*). The Do-217 never became a successful night fighter (364 were produced, including 200 in 1943) (Note 46*). Produced in quantities of more than 1000 units (according to other sources, only 200 aircraft were produced, another 370 were in various stages of readiness, and parts and components were produced for another 800 aircraft - Note 38*) the German heavy bomber He-177 due to numerous accidents, often simply burned up in the air (Note 41*). The He-129 attack aircraft turned out to be extremely unsuccessful due to difficult controls, weak engine armor, and weak stern weapons (Note 47*)
- in 1945, the share of fighters out of all military aircraft produced in Germany was 65.5%, in 1944 - 62.3% (Note 41*)
- during WW2, the Germans produced 198 not entirely successful, heavy six-engine military transport aircraft Me-323 from converted "Giant" gliders, which at one time were intended for landing (they could transport 200 paratroopers or a certain number of tanks and 88mm anti-aircraft guns) to the territory England (Note 41* and 38*)
- in 1941, the losses of Ju-52 transports for the first time exceeded their production - more than 500 aircraft were lost, and only 471 were produced (Note 40 *)
- 273 Ju-87s operated against the USSR, while Poland was attacked by 348 Ju-87s (Note 38*)
- in 8 months (01.08.40 - 31.03.41) due to accidents and disasters, the Luftwaffe lost 575
aircraft and killed 1368 people (Note 32*)
- the most active Allied pilots flew 250-400 sorties in WW2, while similar figures for German pilots fluctuated between 1000 - 2000 sorties
- by the beginning of WW2, 25% of German pilots had mastered the skill of blind piloting (Note 32*)
- in 1941, a German fighter pilot, leaving flight school, had more than 400 hours of total experience
flight time, of which at least 80 hours - on a combat vehicle. After graduating from the reserve air group
added another 200 hours (Note 32*)
- during the Second World War there were 36 German pilots, each of whom shot down more than 150 Soviet aircraft and about 10 Soviet pilots, each of whom shot down 50 or more German aircraft (Note 9*)
- the ammunition of the Bf-109F fighter is enough for 50 seconds of continuous firing from machine guns and 11 seconds from the MG-151 cannon (Note 13*)
- the V-2 rocket consisted of 45 thousand parts; Germany was able to produce up to 400 rockets of this type maximum monthly
- of the 4,300 V-2 missiles, more than 2,000 exploded on the ground or in the air during launch or came out of
building during the flight. Only 50% of the missiles hit a circle with a diameter of 10 km (Note 27*). In total, 2,419 V-missile attacks were recorded on London, and 2,448 on Antwerp. Of those fired at targets, 25% of the missiles reached their target. A total of 30 thousand V-1 missiles were manufactured. In 1945, the speed of V-1 missiles reached about 800 km/h. (Note 9*)
- 06/14/1944 the first V-2 fell on London. Of the 10,492 V-2s fired at London, 2,419 reached the target. Another 1,115 rockets exploded in Southern England (Note 35*)
- by the end of 1944, 8696, 4141 and 151 V-2s were launched from the He-111 (N-22) carrier aircraft in Antwerp, London and Brussels, respectively (Note 35*)
US Air Force:
- after WW1, in November 1918, the United States had 1,172 “flying boats” in service (Note 41*)
- 09/01/1939 the United States had 1576 combat aircraft at the beginning of WW2 (Note 31*)
- during WW2, the US aviation industry produced over 13 thousand Warhawks, 20 thousand Wildcats and Hellcats, 15 thousand Thunderbolts and 12 thousand Mustangs (Note 42*)
- 13 thousand American B-17 bombers were produced in WW2 (Note 41*)
Royal Air Force:
- the most popular English bomber, MV 2 Wellington, was produced in the amount of 11,461 aircraft (Note 51*)
- 09/01/1939 England began WW2, having 1992 combat aircraft (Note 31*)
- already in August 1940 England was producing twice as many fighters every day as
Germany. Their total number subsequently exceeded the number of pilots so much that
soon made it possible to transfer some of the aircraft to conservation or transfer them to other countries under Lend-Lease (Note 31*)
- from 1937 to the end of WW2, more than 20 thousand British Spitfire fighters were produced (Note 41*)
Air forces of other countries:
- 09/01/1939 France began WW2 with 3335 aircraft (Note 31*): 1200 fighters, 1300 bombers, 800 reconnaissance aircraft, 110,000 personnel
- in 1942 Japan 3.2 thousand combat aircraft
- in total, the Polish Air Force had 1900 aircraft at the beginning of the war (Note 8*)
- Romanian Air Force as of June 22, 1941: 276 combat aircraft, of which 121 fighters, 34 medium and 21 light bombers, 18 seaplanes and 82 reconnaissance aircraft. Another 400 aircraft were in flight schools. It makes no sense to specify types of aircraft due to moral and physical obsolescence. Romanian 250 (205 combat-ready) aircraft allocated against the USSR were opposed by about 1,900 Soviet aircraft. On the eve of the war, the Germans retrained 1,500 Romanian aviation specialists and agreed to supply modern Bf-109u and He-110e to Romania. On the eve of the war, 3 squadrons were re-equipped with the new Romanian fighter IAR-80 (Note 7*)
OTHER:
- in the “Battle of England” the Germans lost 1,733 aircraft (Note 30*). According to other sources, losses amounted to 1,792 aircraft, of which 610 were Bf-109s. British losses amounted to 1,172 aircraft: 403 Spitfires, 631 Hurricanes, 115 Blenheims and 23 Defiants (Note 37*)
- more than 200 US P-36 fighters were manufactured for France before WW2 (Note 41*)
- in September 1944 there was a peak in the number of allied bombers in Europe - more than 6 thousand (Note 36 *)
- 250 million aircraft cartridges received under Lend-Lease were melted down (Note 9*)
- during the Second World War, the Finns (Air Force-PVO) claim 2,787, the Romanians - about 1,500, the Hungarians - about 1,000, the Italians - 150-200, the Slovaks - 10 downed Soviet aircraft. Another 638 shot down Soviet aircraft are listed in the combat accounts of the Slovak, Croatian and Spanish fighter squadrons. According to other sources, the German allies together shot down no more than 2,400 Soviet aircraft (Note 23*)
- about 3240 German fighters were destroyed on the Soviet-German front, of which 40 were accounted for by the allies of the USSR (VVS-Air Defense of the Poles, Bulgarians and Romanians since 1944, the French from Normandy-Niemen) (Note 23*)
- on 01/01/1943, 395 German daytime fighters operated against 12,300 Soviet aircraft, on 01/01/1944 - 13,400 and 473, respectively (Note 23*)
- after 1943, from 2\\3 to 3\\4 of all German aviation countered the aviation of the anti-Hitler coalition in Western Europe (Note 23*) The 14 Soviet air armies formed at the end of 1943 put an end to the dominance of German aviation in the skies of the USSR (Note 9* )
- Soviet aviation losses in the first days of the war: 1142 (800 were destroyed on the ground), of which: Western District - 738, Kiev - 301, Baltic - 56, Odessa - 47. Luftwaffe losses in 3 days - 244 (of which 51 in first day of the war) (Note 20*)
- on June 22, 1941, the Germans allocated 3 bombers to attack each Soviet military airfield. The strike was carried out with 2-kilogram SD-2 fragmentation bombs. The radius of destruction of the bomb is 12 meters with 50-200 fragments. A direct hit from such a bomb was equivalent to a medium-power anti-aircraft shell (Note 22*) The Stuka attack aircraft carried 360 SD-2 bombs (Note 19*)
- in 1940, 21,447 aircraft engines were produced in the USSR, of which less than 20% were domestic developments. In 1940, the standard repair life of Soviet aircraft engines was 100-150 hours, in reality - 50-70 hours, while this figure in France and Germany was 200-400 hours, in the USA - up to 600 hours (Note 16*)
- at the beginning of the war in the European part of the USSR, the Soviet Air Force had 269 reconnaissance aircraft out of a total number of 8000 aircraft against German 219 long-range and 562 short-range reconnaissance aircraft out of a total number of 3000 aircraft (Note 10*)
- the Allied Air Force in the Mediterranean theater after the fall of Tunisia, estimated at 5,000 aircraft, was opposed by no more than 1,250 Axis aircraft, of which roughly half were German and half were Italian. Of the German aircraft, only 320 were suitable for action, and among them were 130 Messerschmitt fighters of all modifications (Note 8*)
- aviation of the Northern Fleet of the USSR in 1944: 456 combat-ready aircraft, of which 80 were flying boats. German aviation in Norway consisted of 205 aircraft in 1944 (Note 6*)
- the German Air Force in France lost 1401 aircraft, the French only lost fighters - 508 (257 fighter pilots died) (Note 5*)
The most mobile means by which the front commander influenced the course of the operation was aviation. The LaGG-3 fighter, which was put into service on the eve of the war, was inferior in flight characteristics to the main German Messerschmitt-109 fighter of modifications P and C. The LaGG was equipped with a more powerful engine, the design was lightened, some of the weapons were removed, the fuel supply was reduced and the aerodynamics were improved, thanks to which significantly increased the speed and rate of climb, and improved vertical maneuverability. The speed of the new LaGG-5 fighter in horizontal flight at sea level was 8 km/h greater than its predecessor, and at an altitude of 6500 m it was superior in speed
increased to 34 km/h, and the rate of climb was better. It was practically in no way inferior to the Messerschmitt 109. But most importantly, its simple design, lack of need for complex maintenance and unpretentiousness to take-off fields made it ideal for the conditions in which Soviet Air Force units had to operate 217. In September 1942, the LaGG-5 fighters were renamed La-5. In order to neutralize the actions of the Lavochkin, the Wehrmacht decided to mass produce the Focke-Wulf Fw-190 fighter 218 . By the beginning of the war, the MiG-3 was the most numerous new generation fighter in the Soviet Air Force. On the Soviet-German front throughout the war, air battles were fought mainly at altitudes up to 4 km. The high altitude of the MiG-3, which at first was considered its undoubted advantage, became a disadvantage, since it was achieved by deteriorating the aircraft’s flight qualities at low altitudes. Wartime difficulties in providing engines for armored Il-2 attack aircraft forced the end of 1941 to abandon the production of engines for the MiG-3 219 . In the first half of 1942, to improve flight characteristics, some of the weapons and equipment were removed from the Yak-1 aircraft. Since the summer of 1942, the Yak-1 began to be equipped with a more powerful engine, the pilot’s visibility was significantly improved by installing a teardrop-shaped canopy, and the armament was strengthened (instead of two ShKAS machine guns, one large-caliber BS was installed) 220. By the end of 1942, recommendations were introduced to improve the aerodynamics of the airframe. The Yak-7, according to its data, was very close to the Yak-1, but differed from it in better aerobatic qualities and more powerful weapons (two BS heavy machine guns).
The mass of a second salvo of the Yak-7 was more than 1.5 times higher than that of other Soviet fighters, such as the Yak-1, MiG-3 and La-5, as well as the best German fighter at that time, the Messerschmitt-109 ( Bf-109G). In the Yak-7B aircraft, instead of wooden wing spars, metal ones were installed in 1942. The weight gain was more than 100 kg. A. S. Yakovlev's new aircraft, the Yak-9, was close in speed and rate of climb to the best German aircraft, but surpassed them in maneuverability 222. The first vehicles of this series took part in the defensive battles of Stalingrad. At the beginning of the war, almost all Soviet fighters were inferior to German ones in terms of firepower, since they were mainly armed with machine guns, and German fighters, in addition to machine guns, used cannon weapons. Since 1942, the Yak-1 and Yak-7 began to use ShVAK 20 mm cannon armament. Many Soviet fighters decisively switched to air combat using vertical maneuver. Air battles were conducted in pairs, sometimes in flights, and radio communications began to be used, which improved aircraft control. Our fighters were increasingly reducing the opening fire distance 223 . In the spring of 1943, the La-5F fighter with a more powerful M-82F engine began to arrive at the front, and visibility from the pilot’s cockpit improved. The plane showed a speed of 557 km/h at sea level and 590 km/h at an altitude of 6200 m - 10 km/h more than the La-5. The rate of climb increased noticeably: the La-5F climbed to 5 thousand in 5.5 minutes, while the La-5 gained this altitude in 6 minutes. In the next modification of this aircraft, the La-5FN, all measures were taken to further improve the aerodynamics, the weight of the structure was reduced and a new, more powerful M-82FN engine was installed (from 1944 - ASh-82FN), and the controls were modernized. Almost everything that could be achieved without significant changes in the design was squeezed out of the layout. The aircraft's speed reached 685 km/h, while the experimental La-5FN reached 650 km/h. The armament consisted of two synchronized 20-mm ShVAK 224 cannons. In terms of combat effectiveness, the La-5FN in 1943 became the strongest air combat fighter on the Soviet-German front. During the modification of the Yak-9 (Yak-9D), to increase the flight range, two gas tanks were additionally placed in the wing consoles, due to which the maximum flight range increased by more than a third and amounted to 1,400 km. The Yak-9T was equipped with such formidable weapons as the NS-37 cannon of 37 mm 225 caliber.
At the beginning of 1943, the Germans had the Messerschmitt-109G (Bf-109G) fighter with a high-power engine 226, but the Soviet troops also began to receive the Yak-1 and Yak-7B with powerful engines that compensated for the advantage of the Germans. Soon, the Messerschmitt-109G6 (Me-109G6) used a device for short-term injection of a water-methyl mixture, which briefly (10 minutes) increased the speed by 25–30 km/h. But the new La-5FN fighters were superior to all Me-109Gs, including those with a water-methyl mixture injection system. Since 1943, the Germans began to widely use FockeWulf-190A (FW-190A-4) fighters on the eastern front, which developed a speed of 668 km/h at an altitude of 1000 m, but they were inferior to Soviet fighters during horizontal maneuvering and when exiting a dive . At the same time, the Red Army fighters were inferior in terms of ammunition (the Yak-7B had 300 rounds, the Yak-1, Yak9D and LaGG-3 - 200 rounds, and the Me-109G-6 - 600 rounds). In addition, the hexogen explosive of 30-mm German shells made it possible to have a lethal effect, like a 37-mm shell from Soviet cannons.
Germany also continued to develop new fighters with piston engines. In this sense, the Dornier-335 (Do-335), structurally unusual (thrust was provided by two propellers, one of which was in the nose and the second in the tail of the aircraft), showed itself quite well during its first flight in October 1943. a promising car, managing to reach a speed of 758 km/h; as weapons it had one 30-mm cannon and two 15-mm machine guns. Despite the strange layout, the Do-335 could have been a good combat aircraft, but this project was canceled the following year 227. In 1944, a new La-7 fighter entered testing. It became possible to install metal spars and reinforced armament on the aircraft, which consisted of three new 20-mm B-20 cannons. It was the most advanced fighter of S. A. Lavochkin’s design bureau and one of the best combat aircraft of the Second World War. The Yak-9DD, which was put into service in 1944, had an even greater flight range - up to 1800 km 228. The designers showed literally miracles of skill by placing another 150 kg of fuel in the wing and fuselage. Such ranges were in demand in bomber escort operations at the end of the war, when the relocation of airfields could not keep up with the rapid advance of our troops. The Yak-9M fighter had a unified design with the Yak-9D and Yak-9T. At the end of 1944, the Yak-9M began to be equipped with a more powerful VK-105PF-2 engine, which increased speed at low altitudes.
The most radical modification of the Yak-9 aircraft, the Yak-9U, appeared at the front in the second half of 1944. An even more powerful engine was installed on this aircraft. In the middle of the summer of 1944, the Yak-3 229 began to enter the troops, based on the Yak-1 fighter, while the wing dimensions were reduced, new, lighter metal spars were installed, and aerodynamics were improved. The effect of reducing weight by more than 200 kg, reducing drag, and installing a more powerful modification of the engine provided an increase in speed, rate of climb, maneuverability and acceleration characteristics in the altitude range where air battles were fought, which enemy aircraft did not possess. In 1944, Soviet fighters ensured superiority over German fighters in all ranges of air combat. These were the Yak-3 and La-7 with more powerful engines. At the beginning of the war, the Germans used higher quality C-3 gasoline. But in 1944–1945. they experienced a shortage of this gasoline and thus were even more inferior in engine power to our fighters. In terms of aerobatic performance and ease of control, our Yak-1, Yak-3, La-5 fighters in the second period of the Great Patriotic War had equal capabilities with the German ones. In 1944–1945 The aerobatic qualities of the Soviet fighters Yak-7B, Yak-9 and especially the Yak-3 were significantly improved. The effectiveness of Soviet fighters in the summer of 1944 became so great that the Germans transferred the Yu-88 (Ju-88) and Xe-111 (He-111) to work at night. The Xe-111 had powerful defensive weapons and was inferior in speed to the Yu-88, but was quite effective in defense. High bombing accuracy was also ensured by good sighting equipment.
The appearance of the La-7 with three 20-mm B-20 cannons provided superiority in firepower, but these aircraft were few in the overall fighter fleet. It must be admitted that practically in terms of firepower throughout the war, German fighters in their mass either exceeded or were equal to the Soviet ones. It should be admitted that Nazi Germany was ahead of the Soviet Union in the creation of a new generation of aviation. During the war years, the Germans created and began to produce three jet aircraft: Messerschmitt-262 (Me-262), Heinkel-162 (He-162) and Messerschmitt-163 (Me-163). The turbojet Me-262 was capable of reaching speeds of up to 860 km/h at an altitude of 6 thousand m with an initial rate of climb of 1200 m per minute. “With a combat range of up to 480 km, it represented a giant leap in aircraft technology, since it surpassed in its characteristics most aircraft with piston engines... (although it must be remembered that the British were also completing the development of a jet fighter, the first of which, the Gloster Meteor, began to arrive to the flight squadrons at the end of July 1944)" 230. The USSR also worked on creating a jet fighter. Already in May 1942, tests were carried out on the world's first jet fighter BI-1, designed by V. F. Bolkhovitinov. But the Soviet Union was unable to create a reliable jet engine. I had to start copying captured equipment, fortunately several copies of German jet engines were exported from Germany. In the shortest possible time, documentation was prepared for the production of “clones” under the designations RD-10 and RD-20. Already in 1946, the MiG-9 fighter with a turbojet engine, created by a team of scientists under the leadership of A. I. Mikoyan and M. I. Gurevich 231, was put into serial production. On the eve of the war, the design bureau of S.V. Ilyushin created a special type of aircraft - the Il-2 attack aircraft, which had no analogues in the world.
An attack aircraft is a low-speed aircraft compared to a fighter, optimized for flight at extremely low altitude - low level flight. The plane had a well-armored body. The Luftwaffe only used the Junkers 87 (Ju-87) dive bomber "stuka" (Sturzkampflugsaig - dive combat aircraft) as a battlefield aircraft. The appearance of the armored Il-2 attack aircraft at the front came as a complete surprise to the enemy, who, as a result of serious losses and demoralizing effects, soon nicknamed it the “Black Death” 232 . And Soviet soldiers dubbed it a “flying tank.” A varied composition of weapons (two 7.62 mm machine guns, two 20 mm or 23 mm cannons, eight 82 mm or 132 mm rockets and 400–600 kg of bombs) ensured the destruction of a wide variety of targets: columns of troops, armored vehicles, tanks , artillery batteries, infantry, means of communication and communication, warehouses, trains, etc. The combat use of the Il-2 also revealed its major drawback - vulnerability from fire from enemy fighters attacking the attack aircraft from the rear unprotected hemisphere. The S.V. Ilyushin Design Bureau modified the aircraft, and in the fall of 1942, the Il-2 appeared at the front for the first time in a two-seat version. The air-to-ground missiles adopted by the Il-2 in 1942 played a major role in increasing the firepower of the attack aircraft when attacking ground targets. The high survivability of the Il-2 attack aircraft should also be noted. When it hit the gas tank, the plane did not catch fire and did not even lose fuel - it was saved by the fiber from which the gas tank was made. Even after several dozen bullet hits, the gas tank retained fuel. Neither the Henkel-118 nor the Henschel-129 anti-tank aircraft, which appeared in 1942, were able to rise to the level of the Il-2 attack aircraft 233 . Since 1943, the IL-2 was produced with a more powerful engine. To improve the stability characteristics, the wing of the attack aircraft was given a slight sweep. As the main striking force of Soviet aviation, the Il-2 attack aircraft played an outstanding role in the war and had a significant influence on the course of hostilities on the Soviet-German front. This combat vehicle successfully combined powerful weapons and reliable armor protection for the cockpit, engine, and fuel tanks.
The constant increase in the combat capability of the Il-2 was largely determined by the continuous improvement of its weapons in the interests of increasing the effectiveness of the fight against enemy tanks and assault guns. In 1943, the Il-2 began to be equipped with two 37 mm cannons under the wing. Equipping these guns with 37-mm armor-piercing incendiary shells BZT-37 and NS-37 aircraft guns made it possible to disable any German tank. In addition, the creation in 1943 of the anti-tank cumulative action bomb PTAB-2.5-1.5 designed by I. A. Larionov using the ADA bottom fuse significantly expanded the capabilities of the Il-2 attack aircraft in the fight against tanks and other armored vehicles. When such bombs were dropped by one attack aircraft from a height of 75–100 m, almost all tanks in a 15x75 m zone were hit, and the PTAB bomb penetrated armor up to 70 mm thick. Since the summer of 1943, Il-2KR aircraft equipped with photographic equipment and a more powerful than usual radio station 234 were used to adjust artillery fire and reconnaissance. The successful operations of the Il-2 attack aircraft at the front gave a powerful impetus to the further expansion of development work on aircraft of this class. The work proceeded in two directions.
The first came down to enhancing the bomber properties of the aircraft and enhancing its armor protection: such a heavy attack aircraft was built (Il-18), but its testing was delayed, and it was not mass-produced. The second direction implied a sharp improvement in flight performance with the same artillery and small arms armament and armor protection as the Il-2. The Il-10, which was built in 1944, became such an attack aircraft. Compared to the Il-2, this aircraft had smaller dimensions, significantly better aerodynamics and a more powerful AM-42 liquid-cooled engine. Four guns were installed on the aircraft: at the first stage - 20 mm caliber, later - 23 mm caliber, eight RS-82 rockets were located on the wing beams.
The bomb bay and external suspension allowed the use of different-caliber bombs with a total weight of up to 600 kg. At maximum horizontal speed, the IL-10 outperformed its predecessor by 150 km/h. Several air regiments armed with the Il-10 took part in the combat operations of the final stage of the Great Patriotic War. Subsequently, the IL-10 was widely used in the war with Japan. In Germany, since 1944, an assault version of the FW-109F fighter was used, which was significantly inferior in combat effectiveness to the Il-2. At the same time, it should be noted that German attack aircraft had a fairly high efficiency of bomb and cannon strikes (a more powerful bomb salvo and higher accuracy from a dive). The main Soviet front-line bomber from the beginning of the war was the Pe-2, but it had a rather weak bomb load - only 600 kg, since it was converted from a fighter. German front-line bombers Yu-88 and Xe-111 could take on board up to 2-3 thousand kg. The Pe-2 used mostly small caliber bombs of 100–250 kg and a maximum caliber of 500 kg, while the Yu-88 could lift a bomb up to 1800 kg. In 1941, the Pe-2 reached a speed of 530 km/h and was superior to German bombers in this regard. Repeated armoring and reinforcement of armament, as well as skin sheets, which were supplied from rolled stock, with a thickness of 1–1.5 mm, made the aircraft’s structure heavier (before the war, 0.8 mm rolled stock was supplied), and this led to the fact that the real maximum speed did not exceed 470 –475 km/h (like the Yu-88). In July 1941, a decision was made to adopt a new front-line dive bomber, the 103U. In terms of speed at medium and high altitudes, flight range, bomb load and the power of defensive weapons, it was significantly superior to the Pe-2 dive bomber that had just been launched into production. At altitudes of more than 6 km, the 103U flew faster than almost all production fighters, both Soviet and German, second only to the domestic MiG-3 fighter. However, in the conditions of the outbreak of war and the large-scale evacuation of aviation enterprises, the aircraft had to be converted to use different engines.
Testing of a new version of the aircraft, called 10ZV, and then Tu-2 236, began in December 1941, and already in 1942 it began to enter service with the troops. Front-line pilots rated the new bomber extremely highly. They liked its good aerobatic qualities, the ability to fly confidently on one engine, a good defensive fire pattern, a large bomb load, and the increased survivability of air-cooled engines. To support future offensive operations, the Tu-2 was an indispensable aircraft. The first vehicles appeared at the front in September 1942. The Tu-2, despite its lighter weight than the Yu-88 and Xe-111 (11,400–11,700 kg versus 12,500–15,000 kg), had the same bomb load. In terms of flight range, the Tu-2 was also at the level of German bombers and was twice as long as the Pe-2.
The Tu-2 could take 1 thousand kg of bombs into the bomb bay, while the Yu-88 and Xe-111 could only be carried on an external sling. Produced from the end of 1943, the Tu-2 with more powerful engines, enhanced defensive weapons and a simplified design was superior to all bombers used on the Soviet-German front. Tu-2 front-line dive bombers of the second edition have participated in battles since 1944. In June of this year they were used in the Vyborg operation. The air division of Colonel I.P. Skok, armed with the Tu-2, flew during the day, worked perfectly and had no losses 237. Despite its relatively modest contribution to the defeat of the enemy, the Tu-2 nevertheless remained in history as one of the outstanding aircraft of its time. Among other similar aircraft, both allied and enemy, the Tu-2 did not stand out for any record performance. Its superiority lay in an exceptionally successful combination of the main components of combat effectiveness, such as speed, flight range, defensive capability, bomb load and the ability to throw bombs of one of the largest calibers of that time. This determined its very high combat effectiveness. The main bomber aircraft of Nazi Germany in 1941 were single-engine Yu-87 and twin-engine Yu-88 and Xe-111 238. Do-17s also fought in 1941.
The Yu-88 could dive at an angle of 80 degrees, which ensured high bombing accuracy. The Germans had well-trained pilots and navigators; they bombed mainly with precision rather than in areas, especially since they used bombs of 1000 and 1800 kg caliber, which each aircraft could carry no more than one. The weak point of Soviet aviation in the Great Patriotic War was radio communications. In the first half of 1942, 75% of flights were made without the use of radios, and by the end of the year the vast majority of fighters did not have radio communications. The lack of communication dictated dense battle formations.
The inability to warn each other led to great losses. The planes had to be within line of sight, and the commander set the task - “do as I do.” In 1943, only 50% of the Yak-9s were equipped with communications, and on the La-5 radio stations were installed only on command vehicles. All German fighters have been equipped with high quality radio communications since pre-war times. The Il-2 attack aircraft also lacked reliable radio equipment; until 1943, radio stations were installed only on command vehicles. All this made it difficult to organize large groups; IL-2s most often flew in threes, fours or eights.
In general, the quantitative and qualitative growth of the Soviet Air Force and the expansion of its combat capabilities were one of the main factors that contributed to the development of the domestic military strategy and the achievement of victory in the war. The increase in the combat effectiveness of aviation was facilitated by equipping aircraft with radio stations and more advanced small arms and cannon weapons. Most of the new types of aircraft had a clear advantage over the Luftwaffe in a number of important indicators. British sources noted that “the Luftwaffe... was hopelessly behind the enemy, and not only numerically. While Soviet technologies were constantly being improved when new types of aircraft were put into operation, the Germans, in pursuit of increasing production volumes, currently had to sacrifice quality for quantity - instead of presenting advanced design solutions, constantly modernize existing models, increasing their armament, increasing survivability and increasing engine power, which ultimately led them to a dead end. Maintaining air superiority in such conditions became completely impossible, and since aviation could no longer guarantee this, ground troops became vulnerable and ultimately doomed to defeat.”
Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. In 12 volumes. T. 7. Economy and weapons
war. - M.: Kuchkovo pole, 2013. - 864 pp., 20 l. ill., ill.
The Great Patriotic War began at dawn on June 22, 1941, when Nazi Germany, violating the Soviet-German treaties of 1939, attacked the Soviet Union. Romania, Italy took her side, and a few days later Slovakia, Finland, Hungary and Norway.
The war lasted almost four years and became the largest armed conflict in human history. On the front, stretching from the Barents to the Black Sea, from 8 million to 12.8 million people fought on both sides at different periods, from 5.7 thousand to 20 thousand tanks and assault guns, from 84 thousand to 163 thousand guns and mortars were used , from 6.5 thousand to 18.8 thousand aircraft.
LaGG-3 was one of the new generation fighters adopted by the USSR just before the war. Among its main advantages was the minimal use of scarce materials in the design of the aircraft: LaGG-3 for the most part consisted of pine and delta wood (plywood impregnated with resin).LaGG-3 - fighter made of pine and plywood
LaGG-3 was one of the new generation fighters adopted by the USSR just before the war. Among its main advantages was the minimal use of scarce materials in the design of the aircraft: LaGG-3 for the most part consisted of pine and delta wood (plywood impregnated with resin).
Il-2 - Soviet "flying tank"
The Soviet attack aircraft Il-2 became the most popular combat aircraft in history. He took part in battles in all theaters of military operations of the Great Patriotic War. The designers called the aircraft they developed a “flying tank,” and German pilots nicknamed it Betonflugzeug — “concrete airplane” — for its survivability.
Junkers-87 - a symbol of fascist aggression
From the first day of the war, "Junkers" took part in the bombing of the USSR, becoming one of the symbols of the blitzkrieg. Despite its low speed, vulnerability and mediocre aerodynamics, the Yu-87 was one of the most effective weapons of the Luftwaffe due to its ability to drop bombs during a dive.
I-16 - the basis of fighter aircraft of the USSR
The I-16 is the world's first serial high-speed low-wing aircraft with retractable landing gear. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the aircraft was outdated, but it was it that formed the basis of the USSR fighter aviation. Soviet pilots called it “donkey”, Spanish pilots called it “mosca” (fly), and German pilots called it “rata” (rat).
A video announcing a series of infographics about military aircraft of the 1940s,
