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AIRPOWER AFTER WORLD WAR II

The Soviet Union/Russia

The strategic situation around the Soviet Union had altered radically as a result of World War II. The occupied countries in eastern Central Europe offered a wide deployment area, and among the reduced number of superpowers the Soviet Union ranked second only to the United States.

Strenuous efforts had to be directed to providing the Soviet military establishment with means of waging an intercontinental nuclear war in the rapidly approaching jet and missile age and of defending the Soviet homeland against modern long-range offensive weapon systems. Tactical air power was no longer sufficient: the age of strategic air power had dawned.l4

Soviet planners considered the position of the Soviet Union vis-à-vis the United States in terms of air power at the end of World War II far from satisfactory, in spite of the progress made in the aviation industry and air force during the preceding decades. Soviet Union was behind the West in many fields that would determine the comparative strength and capabilities of the Soviet Air Force in the immediate post-war world. Future prospects were nevertheless promising.

The first project launched by Soviet air-power planners after World War II was to establish a modern air defence system to protect the homeland against possible air attack by the United States. This priority was dictated by the fact that the United States alone already had both an intercontinental bomber force and an atomic bomb. Concurrently, there was an increasingly important requirement to furnish the Soviet armed forces with their own long-range, intercontinental bombers that could deliver nuclear weapons effectively at great distances. The development of nuclear weapons had already become a program of the highest priority in the Soviet Union. Furthermore, great importance was attached to guided missiles, particularly surface-to-surface ballistic missiles. The Russians looked on the German rocket advances at first as providing new and more effective means of executing the role of artillery forces, but in time they came to regard them as the backbone of an intercontinental warfare system.l4

In accordance with high-level decisions reached in 1946, about the same time as the initiation of the first postwar Five Year Plan, the State Committee for Defence was abolished and its affairs were transferred to the Council of People’s Commissars, and People’s Commissariat (now Ministry) for the Armed Forces was established. As a result, all military air power was placed under the direction of a single administrative authority. This centralization at the ministerial level continued until 1950, when separate war and navy ministries were again set up. The latter step was taken at a time when the jet equipment programs were well under way and the build-up of naval capabilities was being given higher priority. It lasted only three years, however.

Under the new Ministry of the Armed Forces, the Air Force was elevated to the same level as the Navy and the Army Ground Forces, thus becoming one of the three basic branches. The autonomous status of Soviet Long Range Aviation within the Soviet Air Force was restored, and a new leadership was provided for the Air Force and for the aviation industry.

The manpower of the Soviet Air Force was markedly reduced at first after World War II, under a partial demobilization order, and the number of combat planes decreased to about 14,000 or 15,000. These changes were accompanied by a considerable regrouping and consolidating of forces, which nevertheless still remained very numerous as compared with those of the United States Air Force after demobilization.l4

By 1948 an increase in strength was again apparent, probably mainly because the new jet fighters and long-range conventional bombers were becoming available and the light jet bomber replacements for the Tu-2 and Pe-2 in the tactical air fleets were expected to arrive by 1951. The complement of the force also increased during the period 1948-50, in response to the requirements of Soviet foreign policy, which was becoming more and more evident to the West. The country’s aircraft strength was about 18,000 to 19,000 planes in from fifteen to eighteen armies. These included about 1,000 jet fighters.l4

Within the first two years after the war the Russians were producing two interim jet fighters based on two captured German turbojet engines, the Junkers JUMO-004 and BMW-003. Both of these engines were leaving the Soviet factories in 1946. The first jet fighter was the MiG9, which used two BMW-003s, now known as RD-20. This was an original design that had been started by the team of Mikoyan and Gurevich even before the end of the war. Next came the Yak-15, which was an adaptation of the basic airframe of the Yak-9 powered by a single JUMO-004B turbojet engine called the RD-10. This fighter project had also begun before the end of the war. It was later modified as the Yak-17, Yak-19 and Yak-23.

As a result of the successful testing of the MiG-15 late in 1947, the initial work of other designers in the jet fighter field was passed over. This was the fate of the Sukhoi Su-9, which resembled the Messerschmitt Me-262A, and the Lavochkin La160, reportedly the first Soviet jet fighter embodying wing sweepback. The Russians were more concerned at first with building up a nucleus of trained jet fighter pilots and establishing a ground organization, a base structure and early warning radar networks to support a sizable jet force than with attempts to develop a variety of jet fighter models with marginally better performance than their Western counterparts.l4

Thanks to the importation from the United Kingdom of 25 Rolls-Royce Nene I centrifugal-flow turbojet engines and thirty of the low-powered Derwent Vs in 1947 and 1948, the Soviet Union was able to take a tremendous step forward in its engine industry. These engines were considerably better than the 4,400 lbs engine based on a German design which had originally been selected to power the MiG-15. Both of the British engines were copied, improved and put into mass production in the Soviet

Union within a remarkably short time. The MiG fighters were developed through types MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 in the course of the 1950s and 1960s, and a very similar family of Sukhoi fighters was also produced.

In the bomber field, the first major work was carried out by the Tupolev organization in copying the United States B-29 four engine conventional medium bomber within a space of only two years. This aircraft, called Tu-4, was in mass production by 1948, and the first individuals had been delivered to Long Range Aviation units to become the carriers of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bombs. The Russians recognized the necessity of developing a turbojet bomber to supersede the Tu-4, however, and in 1948 Ilyushin came up with a four-engined prototype, the Il-16, but this was under-powered, as it depended on the JUMO 004 for its power. Limited production of a later tactical jet bomber designed by Tupolev for the Soviet Navy, the two-engine Tu-14, began in 1952. By then Ilyushin’s two-engine light jet bomber, the Il-28, was being produced in quantity as a successor to their prototype Il-26, and from then on Tupolev concentrated more on longer range bombers and transport aircraft.

The introduction of the MiG-23, Su-24 and Su-17 series of tactical aircraft, replacing the previous generation which had dominated Soviet deployments in the 1960s, improved the range/ payload characteristics of major Soviet tactical aircraft in the 1970s and meant that air strikes against mobile targets could be accomplished throughout the depth of the theater. At the same time, the development of mobile surface-to-air missiles and high performance radar-guided AAA which were organic to the Soviet defence had the effect of reducing the demands placed upon Frontal Aviation for the air defence of Soviet divisions when maneuvering, at rest, or in second echelon holding areas.14

Bombers such as the Tu-95 Bear, Tu-22 Blinder and Tu22M Backfire are examples of the offensive equipment of 1960s and 1970s. A major reorganization of Soviet Air and Air Defence Forces took place between 1978 and 1980, including Frontal Aviation, Long-Range Aviation, interceptor aircraft of the National Air Defence (IA-PVO) and Ground Force Troops of the Anti-Aircraft Defence (PVO Voysk). Prior to the reorganization, Frontal Aviation was organized into sixteen tactical armies, each subordinate to the local commander of a military district in the Soviet Union or the commander of the Group of Soviet Forces deployed outside the Soviet Union. These numbered armies were disbanded and the majority of their assets became Air Forces subordinated directly to the Military Districts and Groups of Soviet Forces or Fronts in wartime. Some of these assets, together with bombers of Long-Range Aviation, also went to make up what is known as the Air Armies of the Supreme High Command. The overall purpose of the reorganization was to create a strategic and operational structure to provide integrated air support in the Theater of Military Operations (TVD).26

Each Air Force of a Military District or Group of Soviet Forces included tactical bombers, fighter-bombers, fighters, reconnaissance planes and army planes. The Theaters of Military Operations were designated as NorthWestern, Western, SouthWestern, Near Eastern and Far Eastern. In addition to these there was the National Reserve. The Military District in the north was that of Leningrad.27

An Air Force subordinated to a front in wartime could be as large as 300 aircraft, as had been the case with the old 16th Air Army assigned to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany. One hundred and twenty-six aircraft were normally assigned to each fighter/ground attack division. Each regiment in turn was usually composed of three squadrons, depending upon type. Three flights were assigned per squadron. Air logistic functions were provided by the Aviation Technical Unit attached to each air force.26

Not surprisingly, the bulk of Soviet air assets were deployed against NATO, including those assigned to the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany, the Group of Soviet Forces in Poland, and to the Carpathian, Baltic and Belorussian Military Districts in the USSR. As the NATO area represented the major diplomatic and military interest of the Soviet Union, it had deployed forces there to support that commitment.

The total number of tactical combat aircraft in the various Theaters of Military Operations in the late 1980s was about 8,000, the total air assets of the various military organizations being deployed as follows:27

Air Defence

  • 1,210 interceptors: MiG-23 Flogger 420, MiG-25 Foxbat 305,
  • Su-15 Flagon 240, Su-27 Flanker 5, Tu-28/-128 Fiddler 80,
  • Yak-28 Firebar 65, MiG-31 Foxhound 95
  • 8 airborne warning and control aircraft: Tu-126 Moss 7, Il-76 Mainstay 1

Air Forces

  • 165 long-range strategic bombers: Tu-95 Bear 150, Mya-4 Bison 15, Tu-160 Blackjack in development
  • 550 medium-range bombers: Tu-22M Backfire 155, Tu-16 Badger 260, Tu-22 Blinder 135
  • 2,780 tactical counter-air interceptors: MiG-21 Fishbed 490, MiG-23 Flogger 1,570, MiG-25 Foxbat 105, Su-15 Flagon 260, Tu-128 Fiddler 20, Yak-28 Firebar 20, MiG-29 Fulcrum 275, MiG-31 Foxhound 30, Su-37 Flanker 10
  • 2,835 ground attack aircraft: MiG-21 Fishbed 130, MiG-27 Flogger 830, Su-7/-17 Fitter 895, Su-24 Fencer 770, Su-25 Frogfoot 210
  • 50 tanker aircraft: Mya-4 Bison 30, Tu-16 Badger
  • 20 685 tactical reconnaissance and electronic countermeasures aircraft: MiG-21 Fishbed 65, MiG-25 Foxbat 195, Su17 Fitter 165, Su-24 Fencer 65, Yak-28 Brewer 195
  • 260 strategic reconnaissance and ECM aircraft: Tu-16 Badger 115, Tu-22 Blinder 15, Tu-95 Bear 4, Yak-28 Brewer 102, MiG-25 Foxbat 24
  • 3,050 attack assault helicopters, including Mi-8 Hip and Mi-24 Hind
  • 1,500 training aircraft, including 800 fixed-wing and 700 rotary-wing aircraft
  • 575 military air transports assigned to Transport Aviation (VTA): An-22 Cock 55, An-12 Cup 210, Il-76 Candid 310
  • 1,300 transports in other elements of the armed forces, 1,635 civil aviation transports assigned to Aeroflot

Naval Aviation

  • 340 strike and bomber aircraft: Tu-22M Backfire 120, Tu-16 Badger 190, Tu-22 Blinder 30
  • 145 fighter and fighter-bomber aircraft: Su-17 Fitter 75, Yak-38 Forger 70
  • 70 tankers: Tu-16 Badger
  • 200 reconnaissance and electronic warfare aircraft, including Tu-16 Badgers, Tu-95 Bear Ds, Tu-22 Blinders, An-12 Cups, and others
  • 480 anti-submarine aircraft: Tu-142 Bear F 60, Mi-14 Haxe A 100, Ka-27 Helix 60, Ka-25 Hormone A 115, Be-12 Mail 95, I1-38 May 50
  • 465 transport and training aircraft

Ground Forces

  • 4,260 combat and support helicopters: Mi-2 Hoplite 675, Mi-4 Hound 20, Mi-6 Hook 450, Mi-8 Hip 1,950, Mi-24 Hind 1,100, Mi-26 Halo 50, Mi-10 Harke 15, Mi-28 Havoc and Ka-50 Hokum in development

The Air Defence Air Force (PVO Strany) became an independent branch in the area of air defence and antiaircraft systems in 1948. Its organization was:28

Command System

  • Headquarters in Moscow
  • Air Defence Districts

    Radio Technical Troops

    Fighter Regiments

    Anti-Aircraft Troops

The anti-aircraft units belonging to the army made up the Army Air Defence Troops (PVO-SV) and were not integrated into the national air defence system. The Army Air Defence Troops were subordinate to the Military Districts and Groups of Forces in peace-time and to the Front and Army Staffs in wartime.

PVO Strany was reorganized in 1981 and its name was changed to Voyska PVO (Air Defence Troops), but it maintained its status as an independent branch, and the main body of army air defence troops, including the military schools, were annexed to it. The anti-aircraft aspect of the army was organized as a subordinate branch called the Air Defence of Troops (Voyskovaya PVO). Although the Soviet Army anti-aircraft troops seem to be subordinated to Voyska PVO, the dependence is probably more administrative logistic and technical than operative. The Voyska PVO lost its separate command and control system in the reorganization and about half of the fighters and the majority of the flying training system was transferred to the Air Force.

Voyska PVO consists of:28

  • Anti-Ballistic Missile Troops, Voyska PVO PRO
  • Space Defence Troops, Voyska PVO PKO
  • Air Defence Air Force, Aviatsia PVO
  • Air Defence of Troops, voyskovaya PVO
  • Air Defence Districts

The first two of these report via Air Force Headquarters to the General Staff. Their equipment in the late 1980s consisted of:27

  • 9,000 strategic surface-to-air missile launchers: SA-1 2,300, SA-2 2,675, SA-3 1,135, SA-5 2,030, SA-10 860
  • 4,445 tactical SAM launchers: SA-4 1,350, SA6 850, SA-8 765, SA-9 500, SA-11 180, SA-13 800, SA-X-12 in development
  • 100 anti-ballistic missile launchers ABM-1B Galosh
  • 7000 warning systems, including early warning and ground control intercept radars and satellites.

The next major phase of change in the Russian air system occurred in the early 1990s, when the Soviet Union disintegrated and various limitations imposed by international agreements began to come into effect, at the same time as the country's faltering economy started to have its effect on the modernization plans.

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