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Right. Brevity can cause confusion. The main thing about P-39s is that their relative uselessness up high made no difference in Russia because most of the fighting, including air-to-air fighting, was relatively low-altitude. Five of the 10 highest scoring Soviet aces logged the majority of their kills in P-39s.Beleive it or not, the P-39 wasn't used against AFVs - the 37mm was ideal against bombers, though.
They used types like the IL-2 and Pe-2 in that role.
Here is one (of many) good descriptions of what the P-39s were good for:
![vvsairwar.com](/forum/proxy.php?image=https%3A%2F%2Fvvsairwar.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F08%2Fp39.jpg&hash=414b0219bda570569d33a43e8f4ce2bf&return_error=1)
The Role of P-39s on the Eastern Front
Although many in the West believe that the Soviets used P-39s as “tank busters”, their main role was providing air cover for ground troops
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