Greetings Ernest,
A couple comments:
First, the RAF's decision to bomb at night was directly related to the losses it suffered during daylight raids. You have it backwards, it was harder to bomb during the day. RAF Bomber Command also lacked the type of aircraft and sufficient numbers to wage a meaningful campaign until 1943. This is a decent overview for understanding both RAF and USAAF bombing campaigns:
Second, regarding the Battle of Midway there are two kinds of aircraft losses: aircraft shot down, aircraft lost due to the loss of aircraft carriers. The US lost something like 150 planes in the battle, almost all of them were shot down in air to air combat or AA fire. The Japanese lost something like 230 aircraft, almost all due to the sinking of the carriers. These losses are not the same. Critics of the US strategy at Midway point out that the decision to send US carrier aircraft into combat in a disorganized manner was more likely to end in disaster than success. As the battle played out, the US suffered near total losses until the late arriving dive bombers struck and sank or disabled the first three Japanese carriers. Had the dive bombers missed finding the Japanese, Midway would be looked at as an epic disaster and major error in leadership.
Third, I believe that many of the things you describe like the shortage of training and artillery spotting aircraft are not issues of leadership but due to the circumstances of the war that the USSR and VVS were operating under. In a crisis, you are going to make the thing you need the most. If I'm short of both fighters and training aircraft and the enemy is controlling the combat zone which aircraft will I build first? Shortages of all kinds affected the USSR war effort. There are a ton of posts in this thread about how the USSR needed better aircraft and the lack of quality of existing aircraft. But, where is the time to design, test, and develop these aircraft? Where are there factories that are capable of sophisticated construction for these aircraft? The United States, which did not operate face the pressure of an invading force made several decisions to NOT introduce design changes to aircraft because it would interrupt production for months to retool factories. In some cases, such as the B-24 and B-29, the US simply built a second factory to rebuild new aircraft to maintain production. There is no way the USSR had that kind of capacity during the war.
Fourth, friendly fire incidents happened to everyone throughout the war. Given 1940's technology, close air operations come with such a risk. This is not a sign of incompetence.
The VVS is not the RAF or USAAF. It operated in a much more challenging environment and its pilots exhibited great courage fighting an uphill battle. As I've stated earlier, comparing the VVS to either the RAF or USAAF does the VVS a disservice.
1. The RAF could night bombing, so they are good AF. All AF, and the USAAC, suffered losses, but did not have this capability. Better AF, which has more possibilities of application. Return to logic from fairy tales about justice. Then and today, the ability to night boming belongs only to good AF. Otherwise, as we know, they missed the city, or the country.
2. The Battle of Midway was fought by two sides. Both sides made mistakes. One of them suffered heavy losses and did not carry out the plan. The rest is demagogy. Fighters, for example, should not increase the number of shot down, but perform the task. In this case, fighters protected aircraft carriers, and attack aircraft sought out and destroyed aircraft carriers. The result is clear to those who rely on analysis, and not on the drama of heroes.
3. Why is the lack of order to special aircraft not a disadvantage of VVS? In the USSR before the war and after 1942, a lot of aircraft were built. Gift the training aircraft to the USSR not refuse.
No, the logical conclusion: the VVS leaders presented combat operations in a special way. Didn't prefer pilot training and artillery support, for example.
We all know that infantry losses depend on VVS. And Soviet losses are an order of magnitude greater than in other countries. And they were also shot by their own.
Only a few pilots with good training showed success. So Kozhedub was a piloting instructor until 1943. He began fighting and achieved something (cannot be verified). Bad leadership of VVS does not make them better, as well as difficulties. I answer the question of the topic.
No, I avoid doing only the most obvious in difficult situations. But this is not about me. VVS is the largest on Earth. At any moment they were doing strange things, which are difficult to write clearly in a squabble. There are many planes, many pilots, even the speed, let's say, is good according to measurements, full cooperation of advanced countries, including France until the fall of 1939 and the US until 1940, Germany, where samples of combat aircraft and technologies were purchased until 1940, the UK and US since the summer of 1941. But even the expertise has not been established. Before the war, I repeat, in one year alone they built about 30 different new projects of single-seat fighters. Five only P-38 analogs in the USSR in 1940.
And design bureaus with the beginning of the war continued to design. You are in vain asserting that this is impossible. In the US they took a break for the whole of 1942, not in the USSR. The lack of time is explained not by the evil of Nazism, but by the fact, in particular, that in 1937 Stalin imprisoned and shot successful designers, figures of the VVS, army and industry. However, not for the first time. They demanded from the planes only what Stalin, who personally began to lead it, is able to understand. That is, without details, as in this forum: speed, sometimes range. In industry, there is another disaster - falsifications (pripiski). Directors of military factories are fired and shot systematically. Because the plans are not justified, but their implementation is the law. Where would quality and real success come from? When success were, it was in spite of the country's leadership and VVS.
And I know that the actions of the UK Air Ministry, the US President, RLM and Hitler can be criticized. But first, show me at least the executions of designers.
4. There are losses and Soviet losses. Not everyone has them, as you write for some reason. Perhaps the point is that it is difficult to fit such a thing into the mind. They rarely flew, had no experience, there was no communication between the branches of the armed forces. This is how the Germans acted against the Red Army until 1945. Not everyone.
5. I wrote that the RAF acted with tiny forces against LW and Italy at once. VVS on the contrary. RAF won, VVS disappeared. RAF and USAAC helped VVS recovery and conducted air offensive against Germany, Italy, France, Japan, but not vice versa. And perfection of Soviet aircraft - pripiski. Moreover, after the war the situation remained: over many poorly trained pilots who do not form useful VVS. They taught this to communist satellites too.
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You have no criterion of AF quality. You are about fairness and difficulties. The work of the best looks easy from the outside.
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