Post by felix on Nov 5, 2016 17:40:05 GMT 10
Why il2 Sturmovik – Battle of Kuban?
Those of us interested in military history and World War 2 in particular will be well aware of the titanic battles at Stalingrad and Kursk in 1943. At this time the Axis forces were at their greatest expansion and Luftwaffe air supremacy appeared to be irreversible.
Just as important for the fortunes of the Soviet forces was the first significant victory for the VVS over the Luftwaffe over the skies of the Kuban region. Perhaps because this battle was between the great Soviet victories mentioned previously it has not received the attention it deserves.
The Kuban air triumph, it should be noted, coincided with the arrival of the Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobra on the Russian front. This surplus American fighter, considered obsolete by the British and the Americans, entered Russian service in the North Caucasus sector in late 1942. Durable and quite agile as an interceptor below 15,000 feet (typically the air combat zone on the Russian front), the P-39 became a timely and welcome addition to Soviet fighter units. Russian pilots, in particular renowned aces Aleksandr Pokryshkin and Grigoriy Rechkalov, found the P-39 to be an effective fighter against the Messerschmitt Bf-109, scoring forty-eight and fifty air victories, respectively.
The Soviet triumph in the skies of the Kuban cannot be explained solely through shipments of Lend-Lease aircraft (contributing roughly 11 percent of the Soviet wartime inventory), or even the impressive bravery of pilots such as Pokryshkin and Rechkalov. The reasons are much deeper, to be understood in the complex and often violent development of Soviet aviation under Stalin’s erratic leadership.
The timely arrival of the P-39s in the North Caucasus also gave the VVS an opportunity to develop techniques for radio communication. Lend-Lease shipments of modern radios provided the means for the VVS to perfect techniques for command and control. The newly organised air armies required effective air-to-ground and air-to-air communications, especially in sorties over the vast and diverse terrain of the North Caucasus. Prewar Soviet fighter aircraft, if rugged and agile, were legendary for their primitive instrumentation. When flying these austerely equipped aircraft, Soviet pilots typically used visual signals instead of radios.
Like the RAF at the start of the war, they too felt compelled to adopt the Luftwaffe's advanced techniques for air combat. The German tactic of an element leader and a wingman, operating in two (Rotte) and four (Schwarm) aircraft formations, allowed for maximum striking power, vertical maneuver, and defense. By contrast the prewar Soviet manuals on air combat tactics called for the use of three-aircraft formations, which had proven stilted and ineffectual against the enemy.
At the core of air combat, in Pokryshkin's mind, was a simple formula: ‘altitude, speed, maneuver, and fire." Pokryshkin deemed all these factors essential, but he considered vertical advantage the key to success and personal survival. Attacking from altitude gave the fighter pilot a distinct edge in any combat scenario, allowing for freedom of maneuver, observation of the enemy, and the element of surprise. At Kuban, Pokryshkin and his fellow pilots found a flexible context in which to forge these new tactics, which arrayed fighters in echelons by altitude and depth. Soviet pilots found the P-39 to be an effective fighter in this altered tactical setting to attack enemy bombers or to engage in air-to-air combat with the enemy.
Gunther Rall was a German veteran of the Kuban action and third-ranking ace of World War II with 275 victories, most of which were tallied on the Eastern Front.
Rall observed that Soviet fighter aviation displayed a new aggressive posture in late 1942 and early 1943, to the surprise of German air units grown accustomed to a more passive and ineffectual foe. He confirmed that Soviet fighter units now approached them in pair and 'finger four’ formations, showing boldness and greater coordination. German air units, both bombers and fighters, now routinely encountered spirited fighter interception over Soviet territory. At Kuban, as he remembered it, offered the first real challenge to the Luftwaffe in the Russian campaign.
Like most German fighter pilots. Rall expressed a certain disdain for P-39 Airacobra, observing that he and his squadron mates often joked about the Airacobra's automobile-style doors. Yet, he affirmed, such an aircraft in capable hands was a formidable challenge to German fighter pilots flying F and G models of the Messerschmitt Bf-109.
Il2 Battle of Kuban should provide us with exposure to a fascinating and innovative aircraft in the P39. An amazingly successful aircraft in VVS hands that has long lived in the shadows of more fancied models of the era. A story that contains as much myth and controversy as it does achievement.
--------------------------------------------------------
PS The P39 also served with the RAAF in WW2.
Those of us interested in military history and World War 2 in particular will be well aware of the titanic battles at Stalingrad and Kursk in 1943. At this time the Axis forces were at their greatest expansion and Luftwaffe air supremacy appeared to be irreversible.
Just as important for the fortunes of the Soviet forces was the first significant victory for the VVS over the Luftwaffe over the skies of the Kuban region. Perhaps because this battle was between the great Soviet victories mentioned previously it has not received the attention it deserves.
The Kuban air triumph, it should be noted, coincided with the arrival of the Lend-Lease Bell P-39 Airacobra on the Russian front. This surplus American fighter, considered obsolete by the British and the Americans, entered Russian service in the North Caucasus sector in late 1942. Durable and quite agile as an interceptor below 15,000 feet (typically the air combat zone on the Russian front), the P-39 became a timely and welcome addition to Soviet fighter units. Russian pilots, in particular renowned aces Aleksandr Pokryshkin and Grigoriy Rechkalov, found the P-39 to be an effective fighter against the Messerschmitt Bf-109, scoring forty-eight and fifty air victories, respectively.
The Soviet triumph in the skies of the Kuban cannot be explained solely through shipments of Lend-Lease aircraft (contributing roughly 11 percent of the Soviet wartime inventory), or even the impressive bravery of pilots such as Pokryshkin and Rechkalov. The reasons are much deeper, to be understood in the complex and often violent development of Soviet aviation under Stalin’s erratic leadership.
The timely arrival of the P-39s in the North Caucasus also gave the VVS an opportunity to develop techniques for radio communication. Lend-Lease shipments of modern radios provided the means for the VVS to perfect techniques for command and control. The newly organised air armies required effective air-to-ground and air-to-air communications, especially in sorties over the vast and diverse terrain of the North Caucasus. Prewar Soviet fighter aircraft, if rugged and agile, were legendary for their primitive instrumentation. When flying these austerely equipped aircraft, Soviet pilots typically used visual signals instead of radios.
Like the RAF at the start of the war, they too felt compelled to adopt the Luftwaffe's advanced techniques for air combat. The German tactic of an element leader and a wingman, operating in two (Rotte) and four (Schwarm) aircraft formations, allowed for maximum striking power, vertical maneuver, and defense. By contrast the prewar Soviet manuals on air combat tactics called for the use of three-aircraft formations, which had proven stilted and ineffectual against the enemy.
At the core of air combat, in Pokryshkin's mind, was a simple formula: ‘altitude, speed, maneuver, and fire." Pokryshkin deemed all these factors essential, but he considered vertical advantage the key to success and personal survival. Attacking from altitude gave the fighter pilot a distinct edge in any combat scenario, allowing for freedom of maneuver, observation of the enemy, and the element of surprise. At Kuban, Pokryshkin and his fellow pilots found a flexible context in which to forge these new tactics, which arrayed fighters in echelons by altitude and depth. Soviet pilots found the P-39 to be an effective fighter in this altered tactical setting to attack enemy bombers or to engage in air-to-air combat with the enemy.
Gunther Rall was a German veteran of the Kuban action and third-ranking ace of World War II with 275 victories, most of which were tallied on the Eastern Front.
Rall observed that Soviet fighter aviation displayed a new aggressive posture in late 1942 and early 1943, to the surprise of German air units grown accustomed to a more passive and ineffectual foe. He confirmed that Soviet fighter units now approached them in pair and 'finger four’ formations, showing boldness and greater coordination. German air units, both bombers and fighters, now routinely encountered spirited fighter interception over Soviet territory. At Kuban, as he remembered it, offered the first real challenge to the Luftwaffe in the Russian campaign.
Like most German fighter pilots. Rall expressed a certain disdain for P-39 Airacobra, observing that he and his squadron mates often joked about the Airacobra's automobile-style doors. Yet, he affirmed, such an aircraft in capable hands was a formidable challenge to German fighter pilots flying F and G models of the Messerschmitt Bf-109.
Il2 Battle of Kuban should provide us with exposure to a fascinating and innovative aircraft in the P39. An amazingly successful aircraft in VVS hands that has long lived in the shadows of more fancied models of the era. A story that contains as much myth and controversy as it does achievement.
--------------------------------------------------------
PS The P39 also served with the RAAF in WW2.