Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

SOVIET AIR FORCE
The VVS was not only getting more planes, but also getting better
ones. The Yak-9, which made its first appearance over Stalingrad in the
winter of 1942-43, was being used in 1944 not only as an interceptor, but
also as a ground attack plane and a fighter-bomber. In mid-1943 Yakovlev
increased its fuel capacity giving the Yak-9D (dal’niy, long-range) a range
of 870 miles. Its range was extended even further in 1944 as the Yak-9DD
(dal’nyy deystiya, long-range operations) could get from the Ukraine to
Italy, a distance of 1,120 miles. This plane was used as an escort for the
American B-24 and B-17 bombers in their shuttle-bombing runs. It had a
top speed of about 380 miles per ho~r.9~ The Petlyakov Pe-2 underwent
improvements throughout the war. When the new German Bf-109G
appeared on the Russian Front in early 1943, the Pe-2 was enhanced with a
M-1OSPF engine which could develop over 1,200 horsepower.yh
By 1944 the German bombers had to confine their activities to night
operations since they had practically no fighter cover for daytime activities.
The Yak-3 (replacing the Yak-1 on the production lines in the summer
of 1943) poured into the VVS inventory in 1944. A 400 mile-per-hour
fighter, it was a match for the Bf-109G and the Focke-Wulf FW-190. The
Lavochkin La-7, which went into series production in the summer of 1944,
had a top speed of 420 miles per hour and was especially designed to cope
with the FW-190.97
By early 1945 the Russians were poised to administer the coup de
grace to their Nazi foes. On the Soviet-German front they had 11 air armies
with a total of nearly 15,000 combat aircraft against the Luftwaffe’s 1,875
planes, the Russian inventory having nearly doubled in a year.9R The VVS’s
overwhelming edge over the Luftwaffe was dramatically illustrated when
Col. Gen. S. I. Rudenko’s 16th Air Army was increased to over 2,500 air-
The ubiquitous Yak-9 fighter served across the entire Eastern front.
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