| Soviet Air Force |
Article Index for Soviet Air |
Shopping Soviet |
Website Links For Soviet |
Information AboutSoviet Air Force |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT SOVIET AIR FORCES | |
| soviet air force | |
|
The Soviet Air Force, also known under the abbreviation '''VVS''', transliterated from s of the Soviet Union . The other was the Soviet Anti-Air Defense . HISTORY The VVS was founded as the "Workers' and Peasants' Air Fleet" in 1918 , succeeding the Imperial Russian Air Force . After being placed under control of the Red Army , with the official denomination VVS in 1930 , its influence on aircraft design became greater. After the creation of the Soviet state many efforts were made in order to modernize and expand aircraft production. Domestic aircraft production increased significantly in the early years of the 1930s and towards the end of the decade the Soviet Air Force was able to introduce I-15 and I-16 fighters and SB-2, SB-2 BIS and DB-3 bombers. One of the first big tests of the VVS came in 1936 with the Spanish Civil War , where the latest aircraft designs were put to the test by up-to-date German aircraft. Early victories by the I-16 fighter were squandered because of the limited use of that fighter. German Bf-109 s arriving later in the war secured Air Superiority for the Spanish Nationalist cause. World War Two At the outbreak of had said in 1931 that Soviet industry was "50 to 100 years behind" 1 the Western powers. By the end of the war, Soviet Aircraft production outstripped that of Nazi Germany - Soviet Aircraft production is estimated to have risen to an impressive 4,700 Aircraft at this time. In 1939 , the VVS used its Bombers to attack Finland in the Winter War , but the losses inflicted on them by the relatively small Finnish Army showed the shortcomings of these forces, mainly due to the Great Purge in the 1930s . The main reason of the great number of Aircraft lost was not the lack of modern Tactics , but time to improve them was short, because the German offensive of 1941 ( Operation Barbarossa ) pushed the air force into a defensive position, while being confronted with more modern German Aircraft . In the early days of Operation Barbarossa the Luftwaffe destroyed some 2000 Soviet Aircraft , at a loss of only 35 Aircraft (of which 15 were non-combat-related).Ratley, III, Maj. Lonnie O. (March-April 1983). A Lesson of History: The Luftwaffe and Barbarossa . ''Air University Review''. As with many allied countries in World War II the Soviet Union received western Aircraft by Lend-lease . There was Soviet Volunteer Group in China before 1941. Cold War During the Cold War , the Soviet Air Force was rearmed, strengthened and modern air doctrines were introduced. At its peak in the 1980 s, it could deploy approximately 10,000 aircraft, and at the beginning of the 1990s the Soviet Union had an air force that in terms of quantity and quality fulfilled superpower standards. During the (''Dal'naya Aviatsiya'' or 'DA'), focused on long-range Bomber s; Frontal Aviation (''Frontovaya Aviatsiya'' or 'FA'), focused on battlefield air defense, Close Air Support , and Interdiction ; and Military Transport Aviation (''Voenno-Transportnaya Aviatsiya'' or 'VTA'), which controlled all transport aircraft. The Air Defense Forces (''Voyska protivovozdushnoy oborony'' or '' Voyska PVO ''), which focused on air defense and Interceptor Aircraft , was then a separate and distinct service within the Soviet military organization. A list of units and bases can be found Here . On September 1 , 1983 the Soviet Air Force shot down Korean Air Flight 007 after they correctly believed that the civilian airliner had illegally crossed into restricted Soviet airspace but mistook it for a spy plane. Previously Korean Air Flight 902 had once crossed into Murmansk airspace, and had to make an emergency landing when a Soviet Air Force Su-15 fired on it. Soviet government officials finally admitted their mistake much to the anger of the South Korean and the United States governments. The Russian Navy has its own independent air arm, Naval Aviation ('' Aviatsiya Voenno Morskogo Flota '' or 'AV-MF'). Soviet Air Armies in the last years of the Soviet Union included:
1980s Fighter Programs In the 1980 s the Soviet Union acknowledged the development of the Advanced Tactical Fighter in the USA and began the development of an equivalent fighter in order to maintain its position as a superpower. Two programs were initiated, one of which was proposed to directly confront the United States' then-projected Advanced Tactical Fighter (that was to lead to the development of the F-22 Raptor / YF-23 ). This future fighter was designated as ''Mnogofounksionalni Frontovoi Istrebitel'' (''MFI'') (Multifunctional Frontline Fighter) and designed as a heavy multirole aircraft, with air-supremacy utmost in the minds of the designers. In response to the American X-32 / F-35 project, Russia began the ''LFI'' program, which would develop a fighter reminiscent of the X-32/F-35 with a single engine, without the capabilities of a true multirole aircraft. Russia would later change the designation of the ''LFI'' project to ''LFS'', making it a multirole aircraft, primarily emphasising ground attack capability. During the 1990 s the Russian military cancelled the ''LFS'' projects and continued with the ''MFI'' project, with minimal funding, believing that it was more important than the production of a light fighter-aircraft. Most recently the 'PAK FA' was planned, no advanced fighter successor to the Su-27 and MiG-29 family has entered service. Sukhoi won the latest PAK FA competition in 2002 . Breakup of the Soviet Union Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in December 1991 the aircraft and personnel of the Soviet VVS were divided among the newly independent states. Russia received the plurality of these forces, approximately 40% of the aircraft and 65% of the manpower, with these forming the basis for the new Russian Air Force . INVENTORY 1987 Soviet Air Force ;165 strategic bombers, : 150 Tupolev Tu-95 :15 Myasishchev M-4 ;550 medium :260 Tupolev Tu-16 :135 Tupolev Tu-22 ;2780 :1570 MiG-23 :105 MiG-25 :260 Su-15 :20 Tu-128 :20 Yak-28 :275 MiG-29 :30 MiG-31 :10 Su-27 ;2835 attack aircraft : 130 MiG-21 :830 MiG-27 :895 Su-7 / Su-17 :770 Su-24 :210 Su-25 ;50 tankers : 30 Myasishchev M-4 'Molot' :20 Tupolev Tu-16 ;658 tactical :195 MiG-25 :165 Su-17 :65 Su-24 :195 Yak-28 ;260 strategic reconnaissance and ECM aircraft : 115 Tupolev Tu-16 :15 Tu-22 :4 Tu-95 :102 Yak-28 :24 MiG-25 3050 Helicopter s 1500 trainers and training helicopters ;576 transport aircraft : 55 Antonov An-22 'Antey' :210 Antonov An-12 :310 Ilyushin Il-76 :2935 civilian and other transport aircraft, usually Aeroflot aircraft which were easily converted SEE ALSO REFERENCES |
|
|