By the beginning of the war, there were significantly more MiG-3 fighters in service than other aircraft. However, the “third” MiG was not yet sufficiently mastered by combat pilots, and the retraining of most of them was not completed.
Two MiG-3 regiments were quickly formed with a large percentage of testers familiar with them. This partly helped in eliminating piloting deficiencies. But still, the MiG-3 lost even to the I-6 fighters, common at the beginning of the war. While superior in speed at altitudes above 5,000 m, at low and medium altitudes it was inferior to other fighters.
This is both a disadvantage and at the same time an advantage of the “third” MiG. MiG-3 - high-altitude aircraft, that's all best qualities which appeared at altitudes above 4500 meters. It found use as a high-altitude night fighter in the air defense system, where its high ceiling of up to 12,000 meters and speed at altitude were decisive. Thus, the MiG-3 was mainly used until the end of the war, in particular, guarding Moscow.
In the very first battle over the capital, on July 22, 1941, Mark Gallay, a pilot of the 2nd Separate Air Defense Fighter Squadron of Moscow, shot down an enemy plane in a MiG-3. At the beginning of the war, one of the ace pilots, Alexander Pokryshkin, flew on the same plane and won his first victory.
Yak-9: the “king” of modifications
Until the end of the 30s, the design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev produced light, mainly sports aircraft. In 1940, the Yak-1 fighter, which has excellent flight qualities, was launched into production. At the beginning of the war, the Yak-1 successfully repelled German pilots.
Already in 1942, the Yak-9 began to enter service with our Air Force. The new Soviet vehicle had high maneuverability, allowing for dynamic combat close to the enemy at low and medium altitudes.
It was the Yak-9 that turned out to be the most popular Soviet fighter of the Great Patriotic War. It was produced from 1942 to 1948, in total almost 17 thousand aircraft were built.
The Yak-9's design used duralumin instead of heavy wood, making the aircraft lighter and leaving room for modifications. It was the Yak-9’s ability to upgrade that became its main advantage. It had 22 main modifications, of which 15 were mass-produced. This includes a front-line fighter, fighter-bomber, interceptor, escort, reconnaissance aircraft, special purpose passenger aircraft and training aircraft.
The most successful modification is considered to be the Yak-9U fighter, which appeared in the fall of 1944. Suffice it to say that his pilots called him “the killer.”
La-5: disciplined soldier
At the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, German aviation had an advantage in the skies of the USSR. But in 1942, a Soviet fighter appeared that could fight on equal terms with German aircraft - this is the La-5, developed at the Lavochkin Design Bureau.
Despite its simplicity - the La-5 cockpit did not have even the most basic instruments like an attitude indicator - the pilots immediately liked the plane.
Lavochkin's new plane had a strong design and did not fall apart even after dozens of direct hits. At the same time, the La-5 had impressive maneuverability and speed: turn time was 16.5-19 seconds, speed was above 600 km/h.
Another advantage of the La-5 is that, as a disciplined soldier, it did not perform the “spin” aerobatics without a direct order from the pilot, and if it got into a spin, it came out of it on the first command.
La-5 fought in the skies over Stalingrad and Kursk Bulge, the ace pilot Ivan Kozhedub fought on it, and it was on it that the famous Alexey Maresyev flew.
Po-2: night bomber
The Po-2 (U-2) aircraft is considered the most popular biplane in the history of world aviation. When creating a training aircraft in the 1920s, Nikolai Polikarpov did not imagine that there would be another, serious application for his unpretentious machine.
During World War II, the U-2 developed into an effective night bomber. Aviation regiments armed exclusively with U-2s appeared in the Soviet Air Force. It was these biplanes that carried out more than half of all Soviet bomber missions during the war.
“Sewing machines” - that’s what the Germans called the U-2s that bombed their units at night. One biplane could make several sorties per night, and given the maximum bomb load of 100-350 kg, the aircraft could drop more ammunition than a heavy bomber.
It was on Polikarpov’s biplanes that the famous 46th Guards Taman Aviation Regiment fought. Four squadrons of 80 pilots, 23 of whom received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. For their courage and aviation skill, the Germans nicknamed the girls Nachthexen - “night witches.” During the war years, the women's air regiment flew 23,672 combat missions.
In total, 11 thousand U-2 biplanes were produced during the war. They were produced at aircraft factory No. 387 in Kazan. Cabins for airplanes and skis for them were mass-produced at the plant in Ryazan. Today it is the State Ryazan Instrument Plant (GRPZ), part of KRET.
It was only in 1959 that the U-2, renamed Po-2 in 1944 in honor of its creator, ended its impeccable thirty-year service.
IL-2: winged tank
Il-2 is the most produced combat aircraft in history; in total, more than 36 thousand aircraft were produced. Il-2 attacks brought huge losses to the enemy, for which the Germans nicknamed the attack aircraft “Black Death”, and among our pilots they called this bomber “humpbacked”, “winged tank”, “concrete plane”.
The IL-2 entered production just before the war - in December 1940. The first flight on it was made by the famous test pilot Vladimir Kokkinaki. These serial armored attack aircraft entered service at the beginning of the war.
The Il-2 attack aircraft became the main striking force of Soviet aviation. The key to excellent combat performance was a powerful aircraft engine, armored glass necessary to protect the crew, as well as high-speed aircraft guns and rockets.
The best enterprises in the country, including those that are part of Rostec today, worked on the creation of components for the most mass-produced attack aircraft in history. The leading enterprise for the production of ammunition for aircraft was the famous Tula Instrument Design Bureau. Transparent armored glass for glazing the Il-2 canopy was produced at the Lytkarino optical glass plant. The assembly of engines for attack aircraft was carried out in the workshops of plant No. 24, today known as the Kuznetsov enterprise. The propellers for the attack aircraft were produced in Kuibyshev at the Aviaagregat plant.
Thanks to modern technologies at that time, the IL-2 became a real legend. There was a case when an attack aircraft returned from a mission and was hit more than 600 times. After quick repairs, the “winged tanks” were sent into battle again.
During the Great Patriotic War the main striking force Soviet Union there was combat aviation. Even taking into account the fact that in the first hours of the attack of the German invaders, about 1000 Soviet aircraft, anyway, our country very soon managed to become a leader in the number of aircraft produced. Let's remember the five best aircraft on which our pilots defeated Nazi Germany.
On top: MiG-3
At the beginning of hostilities, there were much more of these aircraft than other combat air vehicles. But many pilots at that time had not yet mastered the MiG, and training took some time.
Soon, the overwhelming percentage of testers learned to fly the aircraft, which helped eliminate the problems that had arisen. At the same time, the MiG was in many ways inferior to other combat fighters, of which there were a lot at the beginning of the war. Although some aircraft were superior in speed at an altitude of more than 5 thousand meters.
The MiG-3 is considered a high-altitude aircraft, the main qualities of which are manifested at an altitude of more than 4.5 thousand meters. It has proven itself well as a night fighter in the air defense system with a ceiling of up to 12 thousand meters and high speed. Therefore, the MiG-3 was used until 1945, including for guarding the capital.
On July 22, 1941, the very first battle took place over Moscow, where pilot Mark Gallay destroyed an enemy plane in a MiG-3. The legendary Alexander Pokryshkin also flew the MiG.
“King” of modifications: Yak-9
Throughout the 1930s of the 20th century, the design bureau of Alexander Yakovlev manufactured mainly sports aircraft. In the 40s, the Yak-1 fighter was put into mass production, which had excellent flight qualities. When did the second one begin? World War, The Yak-1 successfully fought with German fighters.
In 1942, the Yak-9 appeared as part of the Russian air force. The new aircraft was distinguished by increased maneuverability, through which it was possible to fight the enemy at medium and low altitudes.
This aircraft turned out to be the most popular during the Second World War. It was manufactured from 1942 to 1948, in total more than 17,000 aircraft were produced.
The design features of the Yak-9 were also different in that duralumin was used instead of wood, which made the aircraft much lighter than its numerous analogues. The Yak-9's ability to undergo various upgrades has become one of its most important advantages.
Possessing 22 main modifications, 15 of which were mass-produced, it included the qualities of both a fighter-bomber and a front-line fighter, as well as an escort, an interceptor, a passenger aircraft, a reconnaissance aircraft, and a flight trainer. It is believed that the most successful modification of this aircraft, the Yak-9U, appeared in 1944. German pilots called him a “killer.”
Reliable soldier: La-5
At the very beginning of the Second World War, German aircraft had a significant advantage in the skies of the Soviet Union. But after the appearance of the La-5, developed at the Lavochkin design bureau, everything changed. Outwardly it may seem simple, but this is only at first glance. Even though this plane did not have such instruments as, for example, an attitude indicator, the Soviet pilots really liked the air machine.
The strong and reliable design of Lavochkin’s newest aircraft did not fall apart even after ten direct hits from an enemy shell. In addition, the La-5 was impressively maneuverable, with a turn time of 16.5-19 seconds at a speed of 600 km/h.
Another advantage of the La-5 was that it did not perform the “corkscrew” aerobatics without a direct order from the pilot. If he did end up in a tailspin, he immediately came out of it. This aircraft took part in many battles over the Kursk Bulge and Stalingrad; famous pilots Ivan Kozhedub and Alexey Maresyev fought on it.
Night bomber: Po-2
The Po-2 (U-2) bomber is considered one of the most popular biplanes in world aviation. In 1920, it was created as a training aircraft, and its developer Nikolai Polikarpov did not even think that his invention would be used during the Second World War. During the battle, the U-2 turned into an effective night bomber. At that time, special aviation regiments appeared in the air force of the Soviet Union, which were armed with U-2s. These biplanes carried out more than 50% of all combat aircraft missions during World War II.
The Germans called the U-2 "Sewing Machines", these planes bombed them at night. One U-2 could carry out several sorties during the night and, with a load of 100-350 kg, it dropped more ammunition than, for example, a heavy bomber.
The famous 46th Taman Aviation Regiment fought on Polikarpov’s planes. The four squadrons included 80 pilots, 23 of whom had the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. The Germans nicknamed these women “Night Witches” for their aviation skills, courage and bravery. 23,672 combat sorties were carried out by the Taman air regiment.
11,000 U-2 aircraft were produced during World War II. They were manufactured in Kuban at aircraft plant No. 387. In Ryazan (now the State Ryazan Instrument Plant) aircraft skis and cockpits for these biplanes were produced.
In 1959, the U-2, which was renamed Po-2 in 1944, ended its brilliant thirty-year service.
Flying tank: IL-2
The most popular combat aircraft in Russian history is the Il-2. In total, more than 36,000 of these aircraft were produced. The Germans nicknamed the IL-2 “Black Death” for the huge losses and damage caused. And Soviet pilots called this plane “Concrete”, “Winged Tank”, “Humpbacked”.
Just before the war in December 1940, the IL-2 began to be mass-produced. Vladimir Kokkinaki, the famous test pilot, made his first flight on it. These bombers immediately entered service with the Soviet army.
Soviet aviation, represented by this Il-2, acquired its main striking force. An airplane is a collection powerful characteristics, providing the aircraft with reliability and long service life. This includes armored glass, rockets, high-speed aircraft cannons, and a powerful engine.
The best factories of the Soviet Union worked on the manufacture of parts for this aircraft. The main enterprise for the production of ammunition for the Il-2 is the Tula Instrument Design Bureau.
The Lytkarino Optical Glass Plant produced armored glass for the glazing of the Il-2 canopy. The engines were assembled at plant No. 24 (Kuznetsov enterprise). In Kuibyshev, the Aviaagregat plant produced propellers for attack aircraft.
With the help of the most modern technologies at that time, this aircraft turned into a real legend. Once, an Il-2 returning from battle was hit by more than 600 enemy shells. The bomber was repaired and sent back into battle.
After the invention of the first aircraft and structures, they began to be used for military purposes. This is how combat aviation appeared, becoming the main part of the armed forces of all countries of the world. This article describes the most popular and effective soviet planes who made their special contribution to the victory over the fascist invaders.
The tragedy of the first days of the war
Il-2 became the first example of a new aircraft design scheme. Ilyushin’s design bureau realized that this approach noticeably worsened the design and made it heavier. The new design approach provided new opportunities for more rational use of the aircraft's weight. This is how the Ilyushin-2 appeared - an aircraft that, due to its particularly strong armor, earned the nickname “flying tank”.
IL-2 created an incredible number of problems for the Germans. The aircraft was initially used as a fighter, but did not prove particularly effective in this role. Poor maneuverability and speed did not give the Il-2 the opportunity to fight fast and destructive German fighters. Moreover, the weak rear protection allowed the Il-2 to be attacked by German fighters from behind.
The developers also experienced problems with the aircraft. During the entire period of the Great Patriotic War, the armament of the Il-2 was constantly changing, and a seat for a co-pilot was also equipped. This threatened that the plane could become completely uncontrollable.
But all these efforts gave desired result. The original 20mm cannons were replaced with large-caliber 37mm ones. With such powerful weapons, the attack aircraft became feared by almost all types of ground troops, from infantry to tanks and armored vehicles.
According to some recollections of pilots who fought on the Il-2, firing from the guns of the attack aircraft led to the fact that the plane literally hung in the air from strong recoil. In the event of an attack by enemy fighters, the tail gunner covered the unprotected part of the Il-2. Thus, the attack aircraft actually became a flying fortress. This thesis is confirmed by the fact that the attack aircraft took several bombs on board.
All these qualities were a great success, and the Ilyushin-2 became simply an indispensable aircraft in any battle. It became not only a legendary attack aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, but also broke production records: in total, about 40 thousand copies were produced during the war. Thus, Soviet-era aircraft could compete with the Luftwaffe in all respects.
Bombers
The bomber, from a tactical point of view, is an indispensable part of combat aircraft in any battle. Perhaps the most recognizable Soviet bomber of the Great Patriotic War is the Pe-2. It was developed as a tactical super-heavy fighter, but over time it was transformed into a dangerous dive bomber.
It should be noted that Soviet bomber-class aircraft made their debut precisely during the Great Patriotic War. The appearance of bombers was determined by many factors, but the main one was the development of the air defense system. Special tactics for using bombers were immediately developed, which involved approaching the target at high altitude, a sharp decline to the height of bomb release, the same sharp departure into the sky. This tactic yielded results.
Pe-2 and Tu-2
A dive bomber drops its bombs without following a horizontal line. He literally falls on his target and drops the bomb only when there are only 200 meters left to the target. The consequence of this tactical move is impeccable accuracy. But, as you know, an aircraft at low altitude can be hit by anti-aircraft guns, and this could not but affect the design system of bombers.
Thus, it turned out that the bomber had to combine the incompatible. It should be as compact and maneuverable as possible, and at the same time carry heavy ammunition. In addition, the design of the bomber was assumed to be durable, capable of withstanding the impact of an anti-aircraft gun. Therefore, the Pe-2 aircraft suited this role very well.
The Pe-2 bomber complemented the Tu-2, which was very similar in parameters. It was a twin-engine dive bomber, which was used according to the tactics described above. The problem with this aircraft was the insignificant orders of the model at aircraft factories. But by the end of the war the problem was corrected, the Tu-2 was even modernized and successfully used in battle.
Tu-2 performed a wide variety of combat missions. It served as an attack aircraft, bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, torpedo bomber and interceptor.
IL-4
The Il-4 tactical bomber rightly earned the title of the Great Patriotic War, making it difficult to confuse it with any other aircraft. The Ilyushin-4, despite its complicated controls, was popular in the Air Force; the aircraft was even used as a torpedo bomber.
The IL-4 is entrenched in history as the aircraft that carried out the first bombing of the capital of the Third Reich - Berlin. And this happened not in May 1945, but in the fall of 1941. But the bombing did not last long. In winter, the front shifted far to the East, and Berlin became out of reach of Soviet dive bombers.
Pe-8
During the war years, the Pe-8 bomber was so rare and unrecognizable that it was sometimes even attacked by its own air defenses. However, it was he who performed the most difficult combat missions.
Although the long-range bomber was produced back in the late 1930s, it was the only aircraft of its class in the USSR. The Pe-8 had the highest speed (400 km/h), and the fuel supply in the tank made it possible to carry bombs not only to Berlin, but also to return back. The aircraft was equipped with the largest caliber bombs, up to the five-ton FAB-5000. It was the Pe-8 that bombed Helsinki, Koenigsberg, and Berlin at a time when the front line was in the Moscow area. Because of its operating range, the Pe-8 was called a strategic bomber, and in those years this class of aircraft was just being developed. All Soviet aircraft of World War II belonged to the class of fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft or transport aircraft, but not to strategic aviation, only the Pe-8 was a kind of exception to the rule.
One of the most important operations performed by the Pe-8 was the transportation of V. Molotov to the USA and Great Britain. The flight took place in the spring of 1942 along a route that passed through Nazi-occupied territories. Molotov traveled on the passenger version of the Pe-8. Only a few such aircraft were developed.
Today, thanks to technological progress, tens of thousands of passengers are transported every day. But in those distant war days, every flight was a feat, both for pilots and passengers. There was always a high probability of being shot down, and a downed Soviet plane meant the loss of not only valuable lives, but also great damage to the state, which was very difficult to compensate.
Completing short review, which describes the most popular Soviet aircraft of the Great Patriotic War, it is worth mentioning the fact that all development, construction and air combat took place in conditions of cold, hunger and lack of personnel. However, each new car was an important step in the development of world aviation. The names of Ilyushin, Yakovlev, Lavochkin, Tupolev will forever remain in military history. And not only the heads of design bureaus, but also ordinary engineers and ordinary workers made a huge contribution to the development of Soviet aviation.
Combat aircraft - predator birds 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 the best aircraft during 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 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 main problem became the conviction of 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 the best modification Our pilots affectionately nicknamed 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 the Second World War.
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 best fighter 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”, or “flying tank,” the Germans most often called it “ 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 manufactured. 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.
And why did you ultimately lose?
Evert Gottfried (lieutenant, Wehrmacht infantry): Because a flea can bite an elephant, but not kill it.
Anyone attempting to study air warfare in the Great Patriotic War is confronted with a number of obvious contradictions. On the one hand, absolutely incredible personal accounts of the German aces, on the other, the obvious result in the form of the complete defeat of Germany. On the one hand, there is the well-known brutality of the war on the Soviet-German front, on the other, the Luftwaffe suffered the heaviest losses in the West. Other examples can be found.
To resolve these contradictions, historians and publicists are trying to build various kinds of theories. The theory must be such as to link all the facts into a single whole. Most people do it pretty poorly. To connect the facts, historians need to invent fantastic, incredible arguments. For example, the fact that the Red Army Air Force crushed the enemy in numbers - this is where the large numbers of aces come from. The large German losses in the West are allegedly explained by the fact that the war in the air on the Eastern Front was too easy: Soviet pilots were primitive and frivolous opponents. And most ordinary people believe in these fantasies. Although you don’t need to rummage through the archives to understand how absurd these theories are. It is enough to have some life experience. If those shortcomings that are attributed to the Red Army Air Force were in reality, then no victory over Nazi Germany would have happened. There are no miracles. Victory is the result of hard and, most importantly, successful work.
The beginning of the war in the East and personal accounts of German aces
The pre-war theory of air combat was based on the requirement to achieve a decisive victory in air combat. Each battle had to end in victory - the destruction of the enemy aircraft. This seemed to be the main way to gain air supremacy. By shooting down enemy planes, it was possible to inflict maximum damage on him, reducing the size of his aircraft fleet to a minimum. This theory was described in the works of many pre-war tacticians both in the USSR and in Germany.
It is impossible to say with certainty, but, apparently, it was in accordance with this theory that the Germans built the tactics of using their fighters. Pre-war views required maximum concentration on victory in air combat. The focus on destroying the maximum number of enemy aircraft is clearly visible from the criteria that were taken as the main ones when assessing the effectiveness of combat operations - the personal account of downed enemy aircraft.
The very accounts of the German aces are often called into question. It seems incredible that the Germans managed to achieve such a number of victories. Why such a huge gap in the number of victories compared to the allies? Yes, in the initial period of World War II, German pilots were better trained than their American, British or Soviet colleagues. But not at times! Therefore, there is a great temptation to accuse German pilots of banal falsification of their accounts for the sake of propaganda and their pride.
However, the author of this article considers the accounts of German aces to be quite truthful. Truthful - as far as possible in the military confusion. Enemy losses are almost always overestimated, but this is an objective process: in a combat situation it is difficult to accurately determine whether you shot down an enemy plane or only damaged it. Therefore, if the accounts of German aces are inflated, then not by 5-10 times, but by 2-2.5 times, no more. This doesn't change the essence. Whether Hartman shot down 352 planes or only 200, he was still too far behind the pilots of the anti-Hitler coalition in this matter. Why? Was he some kind of mystical cyborg killer? As will be shown below, he, like all German aces, was not much stronger than his colleagues from the USSR, USA or Great Britain.
Indirectly, the fairly high accuracy of the aces' accounts is confirmed by statistics. For example, 93 of the best aces shot down 2,331 Il-2 aircraft. The Soviet command considered 2,557 Il-2 aircraft lost to fighter attacks. Plus, some of the “unknown cause” numbers were probably shot down by German fighters. Or another example - one hundred of the best aces shot down 12,146 aircraft on the eastern front. And the Soviet command considers 12,189 aircraft shot down in the air, plus, as in the case of the Il-2, some of the “unidentified” ones. The figures, as we see, are comparable, although it is obvious that the aces still overestimated their victories.
If we take the victories of all German pilots on the Eastern Front, it turns out that there are more victories than the Red Army Air Force lost aircraft. Therefore, of course, there is an overestimation. But the problem is that most researchers pay too much attention to this issue. The essence of the contradictions does not lie in the accounts of aces and the number of downed aircraft. And this will be shown below.
The day before
Germany attacked the USSR, having a significant qualitative superiority in. First of all, this concerns pilots who had rich combat experience of the war in Europe. German pilots and commanders have behind them full-scale campaigns with the massive use of aviation: France, Poland, Scandinavia, the Balkans. Soviet pilots have only local conflicts limited in scope and scale - Soviet-Finnish war and... and, perhaps, that's all. The remaining pre-war conflicts are too small in scope and massive use of troops to be compared with the war in Europe in 1939-1941.
The German military equipment was excellent: the most popular Soviet fighters I-16 and I-153 were inferior to the German Bf-109 model E in most characteristics, and the F model absolutely. The author does not consider it correct to compare equipment using tabular data, but in this particular case there is no need to even go into details air battles to understand how far the I-153 is from the Bf-109F.
The USSR approached the beginning of the war in the stage of rearmament and transition to new equipment. The samples that have just begun to arrive have not yet been mastered to perfection. The role of rearmament is traditionally underestimated in our country. It is believed that if an aircraft leaves the factory gates, it already counts towards the total number of aircraft in the Air Force. Although it still needs to arrive at the unit, the flight and ground crew must master it, and the commanders must delve into the details of the combat qualities of the new equipment. A few Soviet pilots had several months to do all this. The Red Army Air Forces were distributed over a vast territory from the border to Moscow and were unable to repel attacks in a coordinated and concentrated manner in the first days of the war.
The table shows that 732 pilots could actually fight on the “new” types of aircraft. But for the Yak-1 and LaGG-3 there were not enough aircraft for them. So the total number of combat-ready units is 657. And finally, you need to think carefully about the term “pilots retrained.” Retrained - this does not mean that they have mastered the new technique perfectly and are equal in their ability to lead air battle with German opponents. Think about it for yourself: aircraft of the Yak-1 and LaGG-3 types began to reach troops in 1941, i.e. In the months remaining before the war, the pilots simply physically could not have time to gain sufficient and full-fledged combat experience on the new aircraft. This is simply unrealistic in 3-4 months. This requires at least a year or two of continuous training. With the MiG-3 the situation is a little better, but not significantly. Only aircraft that entered service with the troops in 1940 could be more or less efficiently mastered by their crews. But in 1940, only 100 MiG-1 and 30 MiG-3 were received from industry. Moreover, it was received in the fall, and in winter, spring and autumn in those years there were known difficulties with full-fledged combat training. There were no concrete runways in the border districts; they only began to be built in the spring of 1941. Therefore, one should not overestimate the quality of pilot training on new aircraft in the fall and winter of 1940-1941. After all, a fighter pilot must not only be able to fly - he must be able to squeeze everything out of his machine to the limit and a little more. The Germans knew how to do this. And ours have just received new planes, there can be no talk of any equality. But those of our pilots who have already long and firmly “grown” into the cockpits of their aircraft are pilots of the outdated I-153 and I-16. It turns out that where a pilot has experience, there is no modern technology, and where there is modern technology, there is no experience yet.
Blitzkrieg in the air
The first battles brought severe disappointment to the Soviet command. It turned out that destroying enemy aircraft in the air with the existing military equipment extremely difficult. The high experience and skill of the German pilots, plus the perfection of technology, left little chance. At the same time, it became obvious that the fate of the war was being decided on the ground, by ground forces.
All this pushed us to fit the actions of the Air Force into a single, global plan of action. armed forces generally. Aviation could not be a thing in itself, operating in isolation from the situation at the forefront. It was necessary to work precisely in the interests of ground forces who decided the fate of the war. In this regard, the role of attack aircraft sharply increased, and the Il-2, in fact, became the main striking force of the Air Force. Now all aviation actions were aimed at helping their infantry. The nature of the war that began quickly took the form of a struggle precisely above the front line and in the near rear of the parties.
The fighters were also reoriented to solve two main tasks. The first is the protection of their attack aircraft. The second is to protect the formations of our ground troops from retaliatory strikes by enemy aircraft. Under these conditions, the value and meaning of the concepts of “personal victory” and “shooting down” began to fall sharply. The criterion for the effectiveness of fighters was the percentage of losses of protected attack aircraft from enemy fighters. It doesn’t matter whether you shoot down a German fighter or simply shoot on course and force it to evade the attack and go to the side. The main thing is to prevent the Germans from shooting accurately at their Il-2s.
Nikolai Gerasimovich Golodnikov (fighter pilot): “We had a rule that “it’s better not to shoot down anyone and not lose a single bomber than to shoot down three and lose one bomber.”
The situation is similar with enemy attack aircraft - the main thing is to prevent them from dropping bombs on their own infantrymen. To do this, it is not necessary to shoot down the bomber - you can force it to get rid of the bombs before approaching the targets.
From NKO Order No. 0489 of June 17, 1942 on the actions of fighters to destroy enemy bombers:
“Enemy fighters, covering their bombers, naturally strive to pin down our fighters, to prevent them from approaching the bombers, and our fighters go along with this enemy trick, get involved in an air duel with enemy fighters and thereby enable enemy bombers to drop bombs on our troops with impunity or to other targets of attack.
Neither the pilots, nor the regiment commanders, nor the division commanders, nor the commanders of the air forces of the fronts and air armies understand this and do not understand that the main and main task of our fighters is to first of all destroy enemy bombers, not to give them the opportunity to drop their bomb load on our troops, on our protected facilities.”
These changes in the nature of the combat work of Soviet aviation led to post-war accusations from the losing Germans. Describing the typical Soviet fighter pilot, the Germans wrote about the lack of initiative, passion, and desire to win.
Walter Schwabedissen (Luftwaffe General): “We must not forget that the Russian mentality, upbringing, specific character traits and education did not contribute to the development of individual wrestling qualities in the Soviet pilot, which were extremely necessary in air combat. His primitive and often stupid adherence to the concept of group combat made him lacking initiative in individual combat and, as a result, less aggressive and persistent than his German opponents.”
From this arrogant quote, in which a German officer who lost the war describes Soviet pilots of the period 1942-1943, it is clearly visible that the halo of a superman does not allow him to descend from the heights of fabulous “individual duels” to everyday, but very necessary in war, massacre. We again see a contradiction - how did the stupid collective Russian principle prevail over the individually unsurpassed German knightly principle? The answer here is simple: the Red Army Air Force used the tactics that were absolutely correct in that war.
Vitaly Ivanovich Klimenko (fighter pilot): “If an air battle broke out, then by agreement we had one couple leave the battle and climb up, from where they watched what was happening. As soon as they saw that a German was approaching ours, they immediately fell on top of them. You don’t even have to hit it, just show the route in front of his nose, and he’s already out of the attack. If you can shoot him down, then shoot him down, but the main thing is to knock him out of the attack position.”
Apparently, the Germans did not understand that this behavior of the Soviet pilots was completely conscious. They did not try to shoot down, they tried to prevent their own people from being shot down. Therefore, having driven the German interceptors away from the guarded Il-2s to some distance, they left the battle and returned. IL-2 could not be left alone for a long time, because they could be attacked by other groups of enemy fighters from other directions. And for every lost IL-2 they will ask harshly upon arrival. For abandoning attack aircraft over the front line without cover, one could easily have been sent to a penal battalion. But for an unbroken messer - no. The main part of the combat sorties of Soviet fighters was to escort attack aircraft and bombers.
At the same time, nothing changed in German tactics. The aces' scores continued to grow. Somewhere they continued to shoot down someone. But who? The famous Hartman shot down 352 aircraft. But only 15 of them are IL-2. Another 10 are bombers. 25 attack aircraft, or 7% of the total number shot down. Obviously, Mr. Hartman really wanted to live, and really did not want to go to the defensive firing installations of bombers and attack aircraft. It’s better to hang around with fighters, who may never get into an attack position during the entire battle, while an IL-2 attack is a guaranteed fan of bullets in the face.
The majority of German experts have a similar picture. Their victories include no more than 20% of attack aircraft. Only Otto Kittel stands out against this background - he shot down 94 Il-2s, which brought more benefit to his ground forces than, for example, Hartman, Nowotny and Barkhorn combined. True, Kittel’s fate turned out accordingly - he died in February 1945. During an Il-2 attack, he was killed in the cockpit of his plane by the gunner of a Soviet attack aircraft.
But the Soviet aces were not afraid to attack the Junkers. Kozhedub shot down 24 attack aircraft - almost as many as Hartman. On average, in total number wins among the first ten Soviet aces attack aircraft make up 38%. Twice more than the Germans. What was Hartman doing in reality, shooting down so many fighters? Did he repulse their attacks by Soviet fighters on his dive bombers? Doubtful. Apparently, he knocked down the attack aircraft guards, instead of breaking through this guard to main goal- stormtroopers killing Wehrmacht infantrymen.
Vitaly Ivanovich Klimenko (fighter pilot): “From the first attack, you need to shoot down the leader - everyone is guided by him, and bombs are often thrown “at him.” And if you want to personally shoot down, then you need to catch the pilots who fly last. They don’t understand a damn thing; they’re usually young people there. If he fights back, yeah, it’s mine.”
The Germans guarded their bombers completely differently from the Soviet Air Force. Their actions were proactive in nature - clearing the sky along the route of the strike groups. They did not carry out direct escort, trying not to hamper their maneuver by being tied to the slow bombers. The success of such German tactics depended on the skillful counteraction of the Soviet command. If it allocated several groups of interceptor fighters, then the German attack aircraft were intercepted with a high degree of probability. While one group pinned down German fighters clearing the skies, another group attacked the unprotected bombers. This is where the large numbers of the Soviet Air Force began to show, even if not with the most advanced technology.
Golodnikov Nikolai Gerasimovich: “The Germans could have gotten involved in battle when it was not at all necessary. For example, when covering their bombers. We took advantage of this throughout the war; one group got involved in battle with cover fighters, distracted them, while the other attacked the bombers. The Germans are glad that there is a chance to shoot down. “Bombers” are immediately on their side and they don’t care that our other group is hitting these bombers as best they can. ... Formally, the Germans covered their attack aircraft very strongly, but they only got involved in battle, and that’s all - cover on the side, they were quite easily distracted, and throughout the entire war.”
The defeat failed
So, having managed to rebuild tactics and received new equipment, the Red Army Air Force began to achieve its first successes. The “new types” of fighters received in sufficiently large quantities were no longer inferior to German aircraft as catastrophically as the I-16 and I-153. It was already possible to fight with this technology. The process of introducing new pilots into combat was established. If in 1941 and early 1942 these were, indeed, “green” aviators who had barely mastered takeoff and landing, then already at the beginning of 1943 they were given the opportunity to carefully and gradually delve into the intricacies of air warfare. Newcomers are no longer thrown straight into the fire. Having mastered the basics of piloting at the school, the pilots entered the ZAPs, where they passed combat use, and only then went to the combat regiments. And in the regiments they also stopped thoughtlessly throwing them into battle, allowing them to understand the situation and gain experience. After Stalingrad, this practice became the norm.
Vitaly Ivanovich Klimenko (fighter pilot): “For example, a young pilot comes. Finished school. He is allowed to fly around the airfield for a bit, then a flight around the area, and then eventually he can be paired up. You don’t let him into battle right away. Gradually... Gradually... Because I don’t need to carry a target behind my tail.”
The Red Army Air Force managed to achieve its main goal - to prevent the enemy from gaining air supremacy. Of course, the Germans could still achieve dominance at a certain time, over a certain section of the front. This was done by concentrating efforts and clearing the sky. But, on the whole, they failed to completely paralyze Soviet aviation. Moreover, the volume of combat work increased. The industry was able to establish mass production, albeit not of the best aircraft in the world, but in large quantities. And they are very slightly inferior in terms of performance characteristics to the German ones. The first bells rang for the Luftwaffe - continuing to shoot down as many planes as possible and increasing the counters of personal victories, the Germans were gradually leading themselves to the abyss. They were no longer able to destroy more aircraft than the Soviet aviation industry produced. The increase in the number of victories did not lead to real, tangible results in practice - the Soviet Air Force did not stop combat work, and even increased its intensity.
1942 is characterized by a surge in the number of Luftwaffe combat missions. If in 1941 they made 37,760 sorties, then already in 1942 - 520,082 sorties. This looks like a commotion in the calm and measured mechanism of the blitzkrieg, like an attempt to put out a blazing fire. All this combat work fell on the very small German aviation forces - at the beginning of 1942, the Luftwaffe had 5,178 aircraft of all types on all fronts. For comparison, at the same moment the Red Army Air Force already had more than 7,000 Il-2 attack aircraft and more than 15,000 fighters. The volumes are simply incomparable. During 1942, the Red Army Air Force made 852,000 sorties - a clear confirmation that the Germans had no dominance. The survivability of the Il-2 increased from 13 sorties per 1 aircraft killed to 26 sorties.
During the entire war, the Soviet command reliably confirmed the death of approximately 2,550 Il-2s due to the actions of the Luftwaffe IA. But there is also a column “unidentified reasons for loss.” If you make a big concession German aces and assume that all “unidentified” aircraft were shot down exclusively by them (and in reality this could not have happened), it turns out that in 1942 they intercepted only about 3% of Il-2 combat sorties. And despite the continued growth of personal accounts, this rate rapidly fell further, to 1.2% in 1943 and 0.5% in 1944. What does this mean in practice? That in 1942, IL-2s flew to their targets 41,753 times. And 41,753 times something fell on the heads of German infantrymen. Bombs, NURSs, shells. This, of course, is a rough estimate, since Il-2s were also killed by anti-aircraft artillery, and in reality not every one of the 41,753 sorties ended with bombs hitting the target. Another thing is important - German fighters could not prevent this in any way. They shot down someone. But on the scale of a huge front, on which thousands of Soviet Il-2s worked, it was a drop in the ocean. There were too few German fighters for the Eastern Front. Even making 5-6 sorties a day, they could not destroy the Soviet Air Force. And nothing, everything is fine with them, the bills are growing, crosses with all sorts of leaves and diamonds are awarded - everything is fine, life is wonderful. And so it was until May 9, 1945.
Golodnikov Nikolai Gerasimovich: “We are covering the attack aircraft. German fighters appear, circle around, but do not attack, they believe that there are few of them. The “Ilas” are processing the front line - the Germans are not attacking, they are concentrating, pulling fighters from other areas. The “silts” move away from the target, and this is where the attack begins. Well, what's the point of this attack? The “silts” have already “worked out.” Only for “personal account”. And this happened often. Yes, it happened even more interesting. The Germans could have “scrolled” around us like this and not attacked at all. They are not fools, intelligence worked for them. “Red-nosed” “cobras” - 2nd GIAP of the KSF Navy. Why should they, completely headless, get involved with an elite guards regiment? These can shoot down. It’s better to wait for someone “simpler.”
To be continued…
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