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Eastern Front 1945 Triumph of the Soviet Air Force 1st
Edition William E. Hiestand Digital Instant Download
Author(s): William E. Hiestand
ISBN(s): 9781472857842, 1472857844
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 12.75 MB
Year: 2024
Language: english
 EASTERN FRONT
C A M P A I G N

1945
Triumph of the Soviet Air Force
A I R

W I L L I A M E . H I E S TA N D | I L LU S T R AT E D B Y J I M L AU R I E R
A I R C A M PA I G N

EASTERN FRONT 1945

Triumph of the Soviet Air Force

WILLIAM E. HIESTAND | I LLU S T R AT E D BY J IM LAURIE R

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION4

CHRONOLOGY7

ATTACKER’S CAPABILITIES 10

DEFENDER’S CAPABILITIES 22

CAMPAIGN OBJECTIVES 35

THE CAMPAIGN 38

AFTERMATH AND ANALYSIS 89

FURTHER READING 93

INDEX95
4 Introduction

INTRODUCTION
An Il-2M2 Shturmovik The Red Army launched a series of massive offensives across Poland and East Prussia in 1945,
ready for a mission. and after five months of brutal fighting ultimately fought its way into the ruins of Berlin.
The most produced and
famous Soviet aircraft The Soviet military machine that won these victories had become a true combined arms
of the war, the heavily force, using firepower and mechanization to smash through Axis defenses and launch deep
armored Il-2M2 provided exploitation operations that rivaled those of the early-war Wehrmacht. The Soviet Air Force,
powerful support to the
series of Red Army the Voyenno-vozdushnye sily (VVS), was a key component of this war machine. The VVS
offensives that drove the had suffered crippling losses in the early months of the war but had battled the Luftwaffe to
Wehrmacht to the Vistula a standstill in 1942 and 1943. Improved aircraft and aircrew allowed Soviet airmen to play
in late 1944. (Courtesy of
the Central Museum of the a vital role supporting the 1944 offensives that destroyed entire German army groups and
Armed Forces, Moscow drove the Wehrmacht from the USSR and the Balkans. In January 1945, the air armies of
via www.Stavka.photos) the VVS were poised on the Vistula River with the Red Army’s powerful fronts, ready for
the final assault into Germany.
The Luftwaffe, crippled by years of grinding attrition and forced to spread its dwindling
squadrons between multiple fronts, could only hope that its small but potent force of jet
fighters and other new technology weapons would stem the tide. Although German jet
operations against the USAAF and RAF receive much attention in postwar accounts of the
Luftwaffe’s last months, the vast majority of its sorties in 1945 would actually be flown on
the Eastern Front as aircraft and scarce fuel were shifted to face the final Soviet offensives.
German pilots, many still flying outdated Bf 109s and Ju 87s, would even briefly claw back
air superiority from the VVS in February before fighting to the end over Berlin.
This volume describes the final clashes of Soviet and German airmen as Zhukov’s, Konev’s,
and Rokossovsky’s fronts battled to the Oder in January 1945, cleared their northern and
southern flanks in February and March, and launched the final assault on Berlin in April.
The Red Army offensives of 1945 shaped the history of the second half of the 20th century,
securing Soviet dominance over Eastern Europe and sealing the division of the continent into
communist and free world alliances. Soon after the war, the USSR would begin to equip its
units with new jet fighters, long-range bombers, and nuclear weapons, and a decade later
 5

the Luftwaffe would be reborn as part of a new anti-communist

Western alliance. The Soviet doctrine for the aviation operations
that won the Battle for Berlin, now paired with nuclear weapons,
would threaten NATO forces for decades to come.

ORIGINS
In the spring of 1944, Hitler’s Germany could still nurse hopes of
averting ultimate defeat. The Wehrmacht held Western Europe,
much of Italy, and the Baltic States and Belorussia in the USSR.
In France, Hitler massed his ground forces in hopes of repelling
the expected Allied invasion across the Channel. The Luftwaffe
fielded 4,500 combat aircraft – roughly the number in the force
at the start of Operation Barbarossa in 1941 – and hoped that
the revolutionary Me 262 jet fighter and other new weapons
in development would allow it to regain its former competitive
edge. Under pressure to ward off the Allied bombing offensive,
the Luftwaffe starved the Eastern Front of aircraft, planning to
surge aircraft to prepared airfields in France when the Allies landed.
Instead, 1944 brought a series of disastrous defeats that dashed
German hopes. USAAF strategic bombers began a renewed daylight
assault on the Reich in the spring, this time with its bombers
escorted by long-range P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt
fighters that inflicted heavy attrition on the German fighter force.
The Allied invasion of France in 1944 rapidly overwhelmed what
opposition the Luftwaffe could offer, and the subsequent Allied breakout and drive to the Soviet aircraft over a tank
German border overran much of its air defense radar network. In the East, the Red Army column in 1943. By
1945, even the USSR was
destroyed Army Group Center in Belorussia and cut off and isolated Army Group North on running short of troops to
the Courland Peninsula. To the south, Soviet forces launched a series of offensives into the hurl unsupported at
Balkans that seized Rumania and Bulgaria, then turned north and in December encircled German machine guns,
and the Soviet army relied
and laid siege to Budapest. A US bomber offensive aimed at Germany’s synthetic oil plants heavily on firepower in
the form of artillery, air
support, and tanks to
improve its combat power
and limit infantry
casualties.(Print Collector
via Getty Images)

An Il-2M Shturmovik over

Budapest. Hitler paid great
attention to operations in
Hungary throughout the
last months of the war, and
two relief operations were
launched in attempts to
relieve the encircled city
before Budapest fell to
Soviet attack in February
1945. The 5th Air Army
under General Sergey
Goryunov supported the
2nd Ukrainian Front
throughout the campaign.
(Sovfoto/Universal Images
Group Editorial via
Getty Images)
6 Introduction

reduced monthly production from 175,000 tons early in the year to only 12,000 tons in
September 1944. With the loss of the Ploesti oilfields to the Soviet offensive in the Balkans,
Hitler’s military faced severe fuel shortages. In total, 1944 had cost Germany almost one-
and-a-half million casualties, and its Bulgarian, Rumanian, and Finnish allies had been
driven out of the war.
The autumn of 1944 brought a measure of German recovery. In the West, logistical
problems, weather, difficult terrain, and the Siegfried Line fortifications on the German
border bogged down the Allied advance. In the East, the Soviet offensive across Poland had
stalled at the Vistula, and German forces were able to brutally suppress the Warsaw Uprising
just across the river. Hitler, searching for a means to shake the Allied alliance, marshaled all
available reserves and struck the thin US line in the Ardennes Forest in December, the scene
of the Wehrmacht’s Blitzkrieg victory in May 1940. Within several weeks it was clear that
German forces would never cross the Meuse River and threaten the port of Antwerp. The
Luftwaffe had marshaled its limited fuel to support the offensive and launched Operation
Bodenplatte (Baseplate), a surprise attack by over 800 fighters against enemy airbases in the
West, in the early hours of January 1, 1945. Although it inflicted significant damage, the
Luftwaffe suffered heavily during the attack, especially to its dwindling ranks of experienced
pilots, while the Allies were able to rapidly replace their losses.
The Eastern Front was starved of reinforcements in early 1945 as Hitler sought success in
the West. Chief of the OKH General Staff General Heinz Guderian pressed the Fuhrer to
strengthen the vulnerable line on the Vistula with divisions withdrawn from the Courland
Peninsula, Norway, and the Western Front, but Hitler dismissed intelligence reports of a
Soviet buildup as “the greatest bluff since Ghenghis Khan.” Guderian was bluntly told the
Eastern Front would have to look after itself. In reality, Stalin and his General Staff were
completing a massive buildup and planning nothing less than an offensive designed to break
through German defenses, cross the Polish plain, and assault Berlin within weeks. Stalin
planned to attack on January 20, but in response to a request from Churchill to advance the
date to take pressure off the Allies in the Ardennes, agreed to begin eight days earlier despite
forecasts of poor flying weather.

German Army A-4 ballistic

missiles in launch position.
Hitler and his leaders
hoped that new
technology weapons
would turn the tide of war
in their favor in 1944 and
1945. Many of the
systems were never
fielded, and those that
were had less impact than
anticipated. Almost all,
with the exception of the
Mistel Composite bomber,
were used almost
exclusively against the
Western Allies. (Roger
Viollet via Getty Images)
 7

CHRONOLOGY
1944
Spring 1944 A renewed offensive by US heavy bombers,
now escorted by long-range fighters, cripples the
German fighter force.

Summer–fall 1944 A series of Allied offensives from

the south, east, and west destroy whole army groups;
Allied forces drive to the German frontier in the West,
northern Italy in the south, and to the Vistula River in
Poland. Soviet forces overrun the Balkans, capturing the
Rumanian oilfields at Ploesti. US bombers attack and
cripple Germany’s synthetic oil plants.

December 16 The Ardennes counteroffensive begins.

Hitler sends his rebuilt strategic reserve into an attack
in the West, asserting that the reported buildup against
his forces on the Eastern Front is a “gigantic bluff.”
The Ardennes offensive soon loses momentum.

1945
The MiG-3 was an early war design that proved unsatisfactory
January 1 The Luftwaffe launches Operation due to its poor performance in the low-altitude engagements
Bodenplatte against Allied airfields in the West. The common on the Eastern Front. Numbers were retained for
attackers achieve surprise, but they suffer heavily while reconnaissance, sent to Naval Aviation, or retained by the
PVO Strany air defense forces where their good high-altitude
the Allies rapidly replace their losses. capabilities were more useful. (Courtesy of the Central Museum
of the Armed Forces, Moscow via www.Stavka.photos)
January 12–14 In response to a request from
Churchill, Stalin advances the start of the planned
Vistula–Oder offensive in the east from January 20 to January 17 Warsaw is taken by Soviet and Polish forces
the 12th. Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front attacks on the supported by the Polish 4th Mixed Air Division. After
12th and Zhukov’s 1st Belarussian Front two days later. the successful breakthrough on the Vistula, Stavka
Poor weather initially limits Soviet air support by the assigns more ambitious objectives to Zhukov and Konev,
attached 2nd and 16th Air Armies, but they soon add who are directed to seize bridgeheads over the Oder
their weight to the assault. Soviet forces penetrate the River and prepare for a February attack on Berlin.
thin German defensive lines and the advancing tank
armies, supported by Shturmoviks and fighters, rapidly January 17–February 2 The 1st Belarussian and 1st
exploit to the west. Ukrainian Fronts drive rapidly across Poland, led by tank
armies supported by fighters and Shturmoviks overhead.
January 13 Chernyakovsky’s 3rd Belarussian Front Zhukov clears Lodz and drives towards the Oder River,
attacks into East Prussia supported by the 1st Air Army while Konev takes Krakow and maneuvers the Germans
but encounters heavy resistance; Rokossovsky’s 2nd out of the Silesian industrial zone, capturing its network
Belarussian Front and attached 4th Air Army attack the of factories and mines largely intact. Soviet forces liberate
next day to Chernyakovsky’s south. Auschwitz on January 27. By February 2, the Soviets are
on the Oder and less than 100km from Berlin, although
January 16 With the clearing weather, the Soviets are VVS units have difficulty establishing forward bases and
able to launch large numbers of sorties, overwhelming keeping up with the advance.
the aircraft sent up by Luftflotte 6. Chernyakovsky
and Rokossovsky finally break through German January 20 Although Chernyakovsky has finally broken
resistance with heavy air support from their 1st and 4th through, reports of his initial slow progress lead the Soviet
Air Armies. high command to divert Rokossovsky’s 2nd Belarussian
8 Chronology

Front to strike north and cut off German forces in East German bridgeheads over the Oder at Kustrin and
Prussia, leaving Zhukov’s right flank uncovered. Frankfurt.

January–February In response to the Vistula–Oder February 4–10 Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill meet
offensive, the Luftwaffe high command strips much of at Yalta to arrange for the conclusion of the war and to
its force in the West and from the homeland air defenses settle the division of Germany.
to reinforce General Robert Ritter von Greim’s Luftflotte
6, the major formation on the Eastern Front. Some February 8–24 Stalin and his high command determine
650 fighters and 100 fighter bombers arrive to augment to clear the northern and southern flanks before launching
the defense of the Oder River. The bulk of Luftwaffe an offensive over the Oder against Berlin. From February
air operations for the rest of the war will be on the 8–24, Konev’s 1st Ukrainian Front and its supporting
Eastern Front. 2nd Air Army conduct the Lower Silesian Operation and
advance to the Neisse River southeast of Berlin. Breslau is
Soviet forces are diverted by the need to encircle and surrounded but holds out until May 6, with the Luftwaffe
eliminate a variety of cities designed as fortresses by Hitler. struggling to land and air-drop supplies.
Konigsberg survives its first siege by the 3rd Belarussian
Front, while four of Chuikov’s 8th Guards Army’s eight February 15–21 The Germans launch Operation
divisions take Posen on February 22. Sonnenwende (Solstice) against Zhukov’s weakly held
northern flank, uncovered due to Rokossovsky’s
Early February Logistical shortfalls, increased German diversion north to cut off East Prussia. The attack is
resistance, blizzards, and warming temperatures bring supported by elements of Greim’s Luftflotte 6, but soon
the Soviet offensive to a halt on the Oder. Luftflotte 6, bogs down.
now reinforced, is able to operate from well-equipped
permanent airbases in Germany and seizes temporary February 24–March 4 Zhukov and Rokossovsky are
air superiority over the front. The VVS struggles to ordered to attack into Pomerania to secure Zhukov’s
operate from improvised airfields reduced to quagmires northern flank. The 1st Belarussian Front reaches the
by the thaw. Luftwaffe fighter bombers, reinforced Baltic coast and secures the northern Oder, while the
by air defense fighters taken from the Reich, play a 2nd Belarussian Front attacks north and then east
major role in halting the Soviet offensive and retaining towards Danzig.

March 4 The Luftwaffe restricts fighter operations

against the Allied strategic bomber offensive to jets; fuel
reserves are now diverted to the Eastern Front.

March 15–31 Konev makes limited gains in a second

operation aimed at clearing Upper Silesia.

March 18–31 Tensions at Fuhrer conferences over

holding the Kustrin bridgehead on the Oder lead
to command changes. Hitler agrees to replace the
ineffective Himmler as commander of Army Group
Vistula with the capable General Henrici. Guderian,
however, is removed as Chief of the OKH staff ten
days later. Kustrin falls to a Soviet attack lasting from
March 28–31.
Marshal Zhukov, center, consults with Konev on the right
during the fighting around Kursk in 1943. As the Soviet forces
drove into central Europe the numerous front organizations March–April The Luftwaffe prioritizes flying supplies
were consolidated into fewer, more powerful units. Marshals into isolated fortresses and striking the bridges over the
Zhukov and Konev, the USSR’s leading military commanders Oder River. A sustained but largely unsuccessful assault
and fierce rivals, led the 1st Belarussian and 1st Ukrainian
Fronts during the drive from Warsaw to Berlin in the last on the Oder River bridges ensues, with most attacks
months of the war. (mil.ru/Wikimedia Commons) being made by Mistel composite bombers.
 9

March 31 The bridge at Steinau supplying Konev’s 1st

Ukrainian Front near Breslau is hit and severely damaged
by Mistel attack.

April 1 Concerned by the increased pace of Allied

advances in the West, Stalin calls his marshals to Moscow
to plan the capture of Berlin.

April 2–10 Marshal Aleksandr Vasilevsky’s 3rd

Belarussian Front storms and captures Konigsberg,
supported by a powerful aviation force including three
air armies and Baltic Fleet aviation controlled by VVS
commander Marshal Aleksandr Novikov. On April 7,
516 bombers of the 18th Air Army launch an unusual
daylight attack, escorted by 125 fighters, to smash the
VVS fighters at a field airstrip with camouflage netting covering
city center. some of the parking area. The Soviet military placed a major
emphasis on maskirovka – camouflage, concealment, and
April 16–18 The Berlin offensive begins. Zhukov’s deception – activities. (Nik Cornish at www.Stavka.photos)
1st Belarussian Front is stalled in front of Henrici’s
defenses on the Seelow Heights, while Konev’s 1st April 25 Berlin is fully encircled by Zhukov’s and Konev’s
Ukrainian Front rapidly crosses the Neisse River and forces. Elements of the Soviet 5th Guards Army and US 1st
exploits towards Berlin from the south over the next Army meet on the Elbe River near Torgau. The 16th Air
several days. Army launches two massive attacks on German positions in
Berlin, the first with 949 aircraft (463 bombers, 486 fighters)
April 16 The Luftwaffe launches a Mistel attack that and the second with 589 (267 bombers, 322 fighters).
damages the rail bridge at Kustrin; sporadic attacks on the
Oder bridges will continue until the end of the month. April 28 Tempelhof Airfield on the outskirts of Berlin is
taken by Soviet forces and rapidly used by VVS fighter
April 19 Zhukov’s 1st Belarussian Front breaks through units. The Luftwaffe is reduced to scattered supply drops
the German defenses on the Seelow Heights with the aid to Berlin and landings on improvised road strips by light
of intense air support from Rudenko’s 16th Air Army liaison planes.
and the 18th Air Army’s long-range bombers.
April 30 Hitler commits suicide and troops of the
April 20 Soviet forces reach Berlin’s suburbs. Soviet 150th Rifle Division raise the Red Banner over
Rokossovsky’s 2nd Belarussian Front begins its the Reichstag.
offensive to Zhukov’s north, with his attached 4th Air
Army playing a major role as his artillery is still in the May 2 The Soviets storm the Reich Chancellery and the
process of moving forward after the conclusion of the Berlin garrison surrenders.
Pomeranian operation.
May 4 German forces in northwest Germany, the
April 24 Luftflotte 6 commander General von Greim Netherlands, and Denmark surrender.
is called to Hitler’s bunker, promoted to field marshal,
and appointed commander of the Luftwaffe. Elements of May 6 Breslau surrenders.
the German 9th and 4th Panzer Armies are surrounded
to the southeast of Berlin and neutralized by sustained May 8–9 German forces surrender throughout Europe;
Soviet air attacks by elements from the 2nd and 16th Air the last scattered engagements between Luftwaffe and
Armies over the next week. Soviet aircraft take place on the 8th and 9th.

April 24–25 Berlin is struck by 111 bombers from the May 11 Fighting dies out in Prague.
18th Air Army on the 24th, followed the next day by a
raid by 563 bombers. July 17 The Potsdam Conference begins.
10 Attacker’s Capabilities

ATTACKER’S CAPABILITIES
The VVS on the brink of victory

Stalin famously called the The Soviet Air Force suffered shattering losses in the first weeks of the war with Germany,
Il-2M Shturmovik as and during 1942 had only been able to battle the qualitatively superior Luftwaffe by
necessary to the Red Army
“as air and bread,” and throwing in thousands of aircraft and poorly trained pilots to hold the line. The tide began
its low-level cannon, to turn in 1943 as improved Soviet aircraft and more capable pilots began to grind down
bomb, and rocket attacks their outnumbered and overextended opponents. The USSR produced 28,984 combat
on German forces were
the critical component of aircraft in 1943 and 32,649 the next year, with a heavy emphasis on fighters and Il-2M
the VVS’s air offensive Shturmoviks. By 1945, the VVS was a massive force ready to provide powerful support to
doctrine. (Courtesy of the Red Army offensives. In January, VVS frontal aviation consisted of 14,046 combat aircraft,
Central Museum of the
Armed Forces, Moscow 12,868 of which were newer models, including 3,330 bombers, 4,171 ground attack
via www.Stavka.photos) aircraft, 5,810 fighters, and 735 reconnaissance and artillery spotting aircraft. French and
Czech squadrons and a Polish air division were integrated into the force structure, and 200
now-allied Rumanian and Bulgarian aircraft flew with the Soviets south of the Carpathians.
Soviet Naval Aviation aircraft operated on the coastal axes, and the long-range bomber
force, reorganized in December 1944 as the 18th Air Army, operated a small number of
four-engine bombers and over 700 medium bombers. The Stavka high command held
an additional 575 aircraft in several reserve air corps, ready to be dispatched to the front
for major offensives.

The air offensive

The story of the VVS in the last years of the war is essentially the story of the air offensive –
the concentrated application of Soviet air power to support breakthrough and exploitation
operations by ground forces. During the entire war, 46.5 percent of air army combat sorties
were attacks on enemy forces on or near the battlefield, and a large portion of the remainder
were escort operations by covering fighter units or bomber raids on targets close to the front.
Unlike Western air forces, strategic bombing and deep interdiction operations were extremely
rare and there was little effort to conduct sustained attacks on enemy airbases or fighter
 11
The Soviet Air Offensive
Preparatory phase
1. Front and attached air army build up logistics
for offensive.
2. VVS conducts extensive reconnaissance of
3 enemy positions and planned axes for attack.
3. VVS fighters repel enemy recon or attempts
to attack buildup.
4. Soviet forces deploy for the assault.
2

4 1

Front Line

Breakthrough phase
1. Air army and, if attached, long-range bombers strike key targets the 3. Long-range bomber strikes interdict the approach of enemy reserves.
night before the offensive. 4. VVS fighters repel Luftwaffe attempts to support the defenses.
2. Shturmoviks and light bombers covered by fighters strike enemy 5. VVS strike aircraft and fighters support the exploitation force, usually
targets beyond the range of the initial artillery barrage. a tank corps or tank army.

1
2

3 5
XXX XXXX

Front Line

Exploitation phase
1. Shturmoviks and fighters provide constant air
3
support to the exploitation tank army; the attached
liaison elements call in air support as needed.
2. Air army elements reconnoiter the axis of advance.
3. Fighter units cover the columns, repel any
2 Luftwaffe attacks, and screen the exploitation
force’s flanks.
1

XXX XXXX

Front Line

ABOVE THE SOVIET AIR OFFENSIVE

12 Attacker’s Capabilities

sweeps in pursuit of theater-wide air superiority. The heavily

armored Il-2M Shturmovik ground attack aircraft and the
bombers of the air armies were primarily used as flying artillery
to attack targets near the front that were out of the range of
the ground forces’ heavy guns. Soviet fighter operations were
closely tied to escorting the ground attack and bomber force.
The VVS conducted Otoniki free hunter fighter operations
to seek out and engage enemy aircraft, as well as attacks on
enemy airfields but on a much smaller scale. This allowed the
Luftwaffe to remain a force in being able to contest air control
on select sectors even while heavily outnumbered in the last
years of the war.
By 1943, the VVS doctrine for the support of ground
operations was termed the “air offensive.” Each Soviet Front
was typically supported by a dedicated VVS frontal aviation air
army, whose operations were dictated by the front commander’s
plans for breakthrough and exploitation. Aviation was massed
to support the fronts selected for major offensives; in 1942–43,
70–75 percent of VVS airpower was allocated to major
offensives, and in the last two years of the war the percentage
rose to 90–95. The air armies involved were heavily reinforced
by the addition of reserve air corps dispatched by the high
command. The air offensive would begin with a preparatory
phase involving extensive photo reconnaissance flights over
the area selected for the breakthrough, while fighter screens
intercepted any Luftwaffe efforts to disrupt the build up of
A formation of Pe-2 light Soviet ground forces and logistics. The Soviets favored the use of maskirovka camouflage
bombers. Less well-known and deception operations, with the VVS establishing decoy airfields, mockups of fighters
that the Shturmovik, the
Pe-2 equipped most of the and bombers, and simulated radio traffic to deceive the Germans as to the primary axes
frontal aviation bomber of attack, and ideally lead them to expend effort attacking false positions. Night bombing
regiments during the war. attacks against select targets were usually launched in the early hours of an offensive. As
The aircraft was extremely
versatile, serving in level- the assault began, fighters would defend the Shturmovik ground attack aircraft and light
and dive-bombing roles, bombers as they launched low-level attacks against targets outside the range of the attacker’s
and as the dominant VVS artillery, including strongpoints, reserve units, and supporting artillery positions. If assigned
late-war reconnaissance
aircraft. (Courtesy of the to support the offensive, the medium bombers of long-range aviation would hit enemy
Central Museum of the headquarters, reserves, and some rail junctions to isolate the battlefield. These long-range
Armed Forces, Moscow aviation attacks, although at times characterized as deep interdiction by the Soviets, were
via www.Stavka.photos)
generally still within a few kilometers of the front line. As the Soviet forces broke through,
fighters and Shturmoviks directly attached to the exploiting tank and mechanized forces
would strike targets ahead of the advancing columns and protect their flanks.

Overall Soviet organization

The USSR’s aviation assets were operated by five organizations. The Soviet Air Force, the
VVS, was the primary aviation element and was almost totally dedicated to supporting
ground force operations at the front. Until December 1944, the few available four-engine
bombers, along with larger numbers of two-engine medium bombers, were formed into a
separate command, Long-Range Aviation (LRA), and directly subordinated to the Stavka
high command. In December, LRA was reorganized as the 18th Air Army and placed
under VVS control. The Soviet Navy had its own naval aviation force, VVS-VMF, with
each of its four fleets controlling a number of aviation fighter, ground attack, bomber, and
 13

reconnaissance regiments. Apart from small numbers of maritime patrol aircraft, Soviet naval
aviation predominantly used the same aircraft as the VVS and operated from land airfields
on coastal axes. A separate organization, Forces of Air Defense (PVO), controlled fighter
units along with radars, searchlights, and antiaircraft guns organized to defend Soviet cities,
but was not heavily engaged in the 1945 battles. Finally, the civilian air fleet (GVF) was
dedicated to the war effort as of 1941 and contributed transport aircraft.

Command and control

Soviet aviation command and control improved steadily during the war. As air–ground
integration was paramount, VVS air army commanders and staffs were typically collocated
with the front commanders their aircraft supported. Similarly, aviation staffs were assigned to
combined arms army or tank army headquarters, and aviation liaison elements were attached
to exploiting tank and mechanized brigades once the front was broken to call in aviation
support as needed. Ground and air planning was fully integrated and addressed targets,
aircraft lanes, and bomb lines. Many VVS aircraft lacked radios or had only receiver sets early
in the war, but from 1943 fighters were equipped with full RSI-3 or RSI-4, and bombers with
RSB-3bis radio sets. Soviet commanders were now able to use their networks of Redut and
Pegmantit radars and RAF, RAT, and RSB radio relay stations to orchestrate air activities and
vector aircraft against enemy activity. Particularly large-scale operations involving multiple
VVS air armies were often controlled by a special staff group drawn from Air Force high
command and led by the VVS commander-in-chief, Marshal Aleksandr Novikov.

Pilot and crew training

Pilot and crew training had been a major VVS weakness during the first years of the war.
The pressure to keep forward units manned with aircrew despite the heavy losses in 1941
and 1942 led to pilots arriving at front-line units with very few hours in their logbooks. The
trainees mostly practiced taking off and landing, and any maneuvering or gunnery skills
would have to be picked up with the unit should the novice pilot survive long enough. By
the later period of the war, the situation had reversed, with large numbers of experienced

Pilot mission planning

before a sortie. VVS
leadership and command
and control improved
steadily throughout the
war, and by 1945 was
extremely capable of
orchestrating its fighter,
ground attack, and
bomber forces in support
of Red Army offensives.
(Courtesy of the Central
Museum of the Armed
Forces, Moscow via
www.Stavka.photos)
14 Attacker’s Capabilities

VVS fighter pilots facing a Luftwaffe fighter arm primarily manned by novice pilots with
only a few hours of training and more of a danger to themselves than the enemy when aloft.

Aircraft roles and capabilities

Fighters
After its huge losses during the first months of the war, the Soviets battled the Luftwaffe
by fielding large numbers of fighters and poorly trained pilots, but the flexible finger-four-
schwarm tactics of the veteran Luftwaffe pilots, flying Bf 109 fighters superior to the VVS’s
I-16s, I-153s, LaGG-3s, and MiG-3s, inflicted heavy losses. By 1943, the tide in the air
started to turn as improved Soviet fighter designs joined the force and, by 1945, VVS fighter
regiments were equipped with the latest Yak-3s, Yak-9s, La-5FNs, and La-7s. Over 36,000
Yak fighters of all models were produced during the war, 16,769 of them various models of
the Yak-9. Most Yak-9s were armed with a 20mm cannon and two 12.7mm machine guns
and were able to deliver a 200kg bomb load. A total of 3,921 of the later Yak-9P/U versions
were produced through the summer of 1945. The Yak-3 was a pure interceptor with excellent
dogfighting capabilities below 5,000 meters, where most aerial combat on the Eastern Front
took place. The Yak-3 was one of the most maneuverable fighters of the war and had one
of the highest kill-to-loss ratios of any Soviet fighter. When the famous French-manned
Normandie-Niemen Squadron was offered its pick of fighter types, it chose the Yak-3, and
after the war returned to France with the surviving 42 aircraft. The Lavochkin La-5FN gave
Soviet pilots an aircraft able to match the Bf 109 G in 1943. Losses of all La-5 types fell from
1,460 in 1943 to 825 in 1944. With the La-7, the VVS had a fighter superior to anything
it would face on the Eastern Front, and about 400 had joined the VVS at the front in early
1945. The VVS flew numbers of P-39 Aircobras received via lend-lease until the end of the
war, being the recipient of almost half of the aircraft produced. The aircraft was withdrawn
from service in the West due to its poor high-altitude performance, but was favored by the
Soviets for its firepower and maneuverability in the low-level air engagements typical of
the air war on the Eastern Front. As was the case with most Western aircraft, Soviet pilots
liked the P-39’s roomy cockpit and excellent radios. The second-highest-ranking VVS ace,
Aleksandr Pokryshkin, scored most of his 59 victories flying the aircraft that the Soviets
dubbed the Kobra.

Ground attack
Soviet ground attack units flew the legendary Il-2M Shturmovik. Designed by Ilyushin in
1939 for low-level attack runs, the aircraft had an armored shell as an integral part of the
airframe protecting the pilot, engine, and fuel tanks, and from 1944 the use of metal wings
made the aircraft even more survivable. Over 36,000 of all versions left the factories. Soviet
aircraft weaponry was excellent during the war, and the Il-2M was typically outfitted with
two ShVAK 20mm cannon and two ShKAS 7.62mm machine guns. Initial models only
carried a pilot and lost heavily to enemy attack from behind, but a rear gunner manning
a UBT 12.7mm machine gun was added in the Il-2M version that entered production in
September 1942. Il-2Ms used RS-82 rockets and could carry and deliver 280 PTAB cluster
bombs in its internal bomb bays, each carrying a high-explosive antitank warhead able to
penetrate the upper armor on German tanks. Il-2Ms often employed a circle formation when
on the attack, with each aircraft able to protect the tail of the one ahead and allowing Il-2Ms
to peel off one-by-one to execute attacks on the ground target below.
In October 1944, production of the Il-10 – the Il-2’s replacement – began and large
numbers joined the VVS in February 1945. The Il-10 strongly resembled its predecessor
but was an all-metal design, and with a top speed of 550km/h at 2,300 meters was some
140km/h faster than the Il-2. It carried a heavier armament, with two 7.62mm machine guns
 15

Soviet Yak fighters. By

1945, the VVS was almost
completely equipped with
modern fighters, including
the Yak-3, -9 and La-5FN
and La-7, that matched or
outclassed their Luftwaffe
counterparts in most key
performance criteria.
(Courtesy of the Central
Museum of the Armed
Forces, Moscow via
www.Stavka.photos)

and up to four 23mm cannon, along with the rear gunner’s 12.7mm heavy machine gun.
A total of 785 Il-10s were produced before the end of the war, the figure rising to almost
5,000 with postwar production.

Light bombers
The USSR started the war with a force largely composed of obsolete bombers that were slow,
poorly armed, and equipped with antiquated avionics. The exception was the Pe-2, an extremely
versatile aircraft originally designed to serve as a twin-engine fighter but soon used in dive-
bomber, level bomber, and reconnaissance roles. Overshadowed by the Shturmovik, the Pe-2
became the dominant Soviet light tactical bomber of the war, able to carry 1,000kg of bombs,
rockets, and armed with mixes of 20mm cannon and 7.62mm or 12.7mm machine guns. In
total, 11,247 Pe-2s were produced. The Tu-2 was a capable four-seat light bomber that made
a less profound contribution to the Soviet war effort. Development was lengthy, and the Pe-2
remained in the force in large numbers even as the Tu-2 began to be fielded. The production
version, known as the Tu-2S, finally entered service in 1944, and 1,100 were produced during
the war, equipping several air army bomber divisions during the last months of the conflict.
Another 1,427 were produced after the end of the war. The Tu-2 was typically used for level
bombing and had a maximum 1,500kg bomb load. The bomber was fast, with a maximum
speed of 550km/h, and carried mixes of 20mm and 23mm cannon and machine guns.
Soviet light bombers were typically used against targets on or near the front line. Bombing
was during daylight hours, with only a few elite crews assigned night missions. The bomber
force lacked precision navigation aids and tended to launch their attacks based on landmark
identification. Pe-2s could dive at a sharp angle, Tu-2s at angles not exceeding 60 degrees,
but both types more typically used level bombing. At times, dive-bombing attacks were used
against enemy antiaircraft positions to clear the way for larger level bombing formations.
Bomber raids varied with the importance of the target, with divisional-sized raids of up to
50–100 bombers for critical missions.

Long-range bomber force

The USSR launched small-scale strategic bombing raids against a variety of targets, including
Berlin and the Ploesti oilfields, in 1941. Moscow organized its four-engine and medium
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