A Critical Analysis of the RAF Air Superiority Campaign in India, Burma and Malaya in 1941-45

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That is a hell of an assumption based on those numbers, I think you'd need a much broader analysis and more data (like perhaps, total claims by type instead of the number of aces with a certain threshold of victories) to draw even preliminary or tentative conclusions. I'd be very surprised indeed if Soviet Hurricane pilots claimed more air to air victories than Yak 1 and 7 pilots did.

The Soviet pilots themselves certainly didn't believe the Hurricane was a better fighter than a Yak 1 or Yak 7. Let alone a Yak 1b or Yak 9 which also had quite light armament.

Similarly, the 109F-2 had very light armament compared to a Hurricane IIB or IIC, but does anyone believe the Hurricane was a better fighter?
 
Number of Hurricanes sent to the USSR according to the Wiki...

The British archives file AIR 22/310 reports 218 mark IIA sent to Russia or handed over, 22 lost before arrival, 1,884 mark IIB sent or handed over, 278 lost before arrival, 1,182 mark IIC sent or handed over, 46 lost before arrival, 117 rejected, 60 IID sent or handed over, 14 rejected, 30 mark IV handed over, total 3,374 Hurricanes sent or handed over, 346 lost before delivery, 2,897 accepted by the Russians, 131 rejected
 
Comparing the Yak to the Hurricane is a bit of a challenge though, to be fair to the Hurri, it's more of a generalist whereas the Yak is highly specialized for the Russian conditions. I think the Yak, even the early Yak -1, so long as you got a decently built one (big if) was better for the Soviet -German War where the Soviet fighter pilots were mainly trying to defend the airspace over the battlefield and protect their bombers and ground attack aircraft from being destroyed by predatory Luftwaffe fighters. They did not fight bombers that much and most of the bombers they did encounter were Stukas.

The Hurricane was able to saw down fight fleets of level bombers in the BoB, shoot down tactical and anti-shipping bombers in the Med, take out level bombers and dive bombers in Burma and the Pacific and so on. To shoot down a larger bomber like an He 111 or a G4M I'd rather have a Hurricane IIC than a Yak -1. To survive an encounter against a Bf 109F or Fw 190 though I think I'd rather be in the Yak. Either way you are probably in trouble!

Yak vs. say, a Ki-43 is an interesting proposition. Probably go with the Ki-43 though it would be a tough call. How do their speeds compare under 10,000 ft?
 
fubar57 said:
According to the book, Soviet Hurricanes shot down 281 aircraft.
Click to expand...
The early part of the war on the Eastern Front makes for some pretty grim reading not just on the ground but also in the air. Reading those 'aces' books gives the clues as to how the Germans racked up so many victories. So 2800 Hurricane II/b/c required to log up 281 victories. 15100 Yak-1/7's to generate 55 aces? So what's the overall totals for all Yak-1/7 pilots, 1500?
 
But there were definitely more than 55 Soviet pilots who made Ace flying the Yak. A lot more.






Glory to the experten!

However I do agree, circumstances for the Soviet pilots in the first two years of the war were indeed very grim. For one thing the pilot flying a Yak was very lucky, most pilots in action weren't even flying fighters, there were a ton of obsolete bombers and biplane "utility aircraft" and so on getting whacked right and left. Those who were in fighters mostly flew I-153, I-16, LaGG-3, or Mig-3 ... or something even more obscure. A few had Hurricanes which the Soviets considered marginally better than a LaGG-3 I think. A few had Tomahawks or Kittyhawks. The P-39s and Spitfires weren't available until later. And the Spitfires got chewed through pretty quickly in the Kuban.



Loss rates were astronomically high in most parts of the front through Stalingrad, right up to Kursk. Then it started to shift a little. The much improved Yak-1B & Yak 7b, the Yak-9, the La -5, and the P-39s started to make a difference. Tactics improved. The Germans started feeling the strain of constant combat and getting ready for their third Winter was a little too much.

Most of the successful Soviet fighters still didn't have a lot of guns though even by 1944, especially compared to late war German or British fighters.
 
Its interesting to note that the RAF never thought any P-40 was good enough for service in Northern Europe. They kept their Hurricane IIs till mid 42 , after which they were replaced by Typhoons. In the DAF the Hurricanes were kept in front line service till the Spring of 43 after which they were replaced by Spitfires. In the Burma theater the Hurricanes excellent ground attack abilities and servicability kept in in front line service in large numbers till late 44, after which it was largely replaced by Thunderbolts.
 
Yak vs. say, a Ki-43 is an interesting proposition. Probably go with the Ki-43 though it would be a tough call. How do their speeds compare under 10,000 ft?
Click to expand...

To contrast soviet vs japanese fighters are interesting as both were engine HP limited and resource limited. The both made light fighters designed to be flown off average airstrips. Both were also limited to light armanents due to weight and space limitations. Somehow the USSR was able to use small wings for speed and still have landing ability on rough forward strips. The Japanese planes did have a much longer range ability that the USSR never did.

A Ki-43 with a Yak size wing would have been interesting, but would have definately reduced its range due to factors of wing loading and fuel tank space.
 
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