Soviet Air Force Archives

Soviet Air Force

Lilya Litvak: The Red Air Force’s Female Fighter Ace

By Michael D. Hull

When German panzer and infantry columns rumbled across the frontier into Russia on June 22, 1941, the Soviet Air Force was woefully unready for war. Read more

Russian women pilots originally flew the antiquated Polykarpov PO-2, which was made of wood covered with fabric.

Soviet Air Force

Red Air Force Heroines: The Night Witches

By George Tipton Wilson

Ignoring a nonaggression pact between Hitler and Stalin, Nazi Germany launched Operation Barbarossa, an invasion of the Soviet Union, on June 22, 1941. Read more

In September 1944, Red Army soldiers wade through a marshy area during a patrol. Such terrain played an important role on the Taman Peninsula as both armies had to contend with mobility issues.

Soviet Air Force

Breaching the Blue Line: The Soviet Army at the Taman Peninsula

By Victor Kamenir

The charred remains of men and machines scattered through the Kursk salient in July 1943 signified the death knell of the last attempt by the German Wehrmacht to regain the initiative on the Eastern Front. Read more

Soviet Air Force

Innovative Soviet Fighter Ace

By Christopher J. Chlon

According to contemporary Soviet news sources, fighter Ace Alexander Pokryshkin was the most famous pilot in the Red Air Force during World War II. Read more

Soviet Air Force

The Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik: The Soviet’s Deadly Tank Killer

By Phil Zimmer

Vasily Emelianenko led an Ilyushin Il-2 Sturmovik, or “Storm Bird,” flight in late June 1942 against a German-held airfield near Artemovsk in eastern Ukraine, flying low up a deep ravine to avoid detection. Read more

Soviet Air Force

The Demyansk Pocket: Disaster For Germany’s Scandinavian Volunteers

By Henrik Lunde

On the surface it may seem odd that men of conquered nations would eagerly sign up to fight for their masters, but that is exactly what happened in Scandinavia in the 1940s. Read more

Soviet Air Force

Operation Bagration: Soviet Triumph in the East

By Henrik Lunde

Operation Bagration, the largest operation of World War II, has never been adequately acknowledged in the West to the same extent as a number of smaller campaigns. Read more

In Yak Attack, by artist Roy Grinnell, Roland de la Poype shoots down a German FW-190 over Russia on October 23, 1944. This was Poype’s 15th aerial victory, and the 182nd for the Normandie-Niemen Squadron.

Soviet Air Force

French Aces on the Eastern Front: The Normandie-Niemen Squadron

By Andre Bernole and Glenn Barnett

The world was understandably shocked when France capitulated to Nazi Germany in June 1940, but not all Frenchmen accepted their country’s humiliation. Read more

Soviet Air Force

Able Archer 83: Did a NATO Exercise Almost Escalate to Nuclear War?

By Todd Avery Raffensperger

On the night of November 20, 1983, Armageddon went prime time. Over 100 million Americans tuned in to the ABC television network to watch the two-hour drama The Day After. Read more

T-34 medium tanks and Red Army infantrymen attack across an open plain in the Ukraine. The T-34 proved to be one of the most outstanding armored vehicles of World War II and spearheaded the Soviet advance into the Third Reich.

Soviet Air Force

Death of the Ternopil Garrison

By Pat McTaggart

The city of Ternopil, located on the eastern bank of the Seret River, was founded in 1540 as a Polish military stronghold. Read more

Soviet Air Force

The Red Air Force Night Witches: Flight of the Rodina

by George Tipton Wilson

During the last weekend of September 1938, the attention of the world’s capitals was transfixed by the diplomatic pas de deux Adolf Hitler and Neville Chamberlain were enacting to determine the fate of Czechoslovakia and ultimately the world. Read more

From Around the Network

Leclerc: Free France’s Greatest General

Divided Nation, Leyte Gulf, and Age of Empires III

“A Bloody Miracle” at Dunkirk

The First Edged Weapon: The Knife