Planes that just were not needed

[Just Schmidt]

What about Polikarpov I-153?

 

[Shortround6]

What about Polikarpov I-153?

Every Air Force needed a little comic relief.

Seriously, aside from a confused doctrine that thought they needed both maneuverable Bi-planes and fast mono-planes the I-153 did provide the Russians with a relatively easy to fly aircraft for it's less than well trained pilots. The I-16 being rather more tricky to fly.

 

[parsifal]

I-153 ended production in 1941, and at the time it was in main production (1938-40) it was about as good as the purge ravaged Soviet aero industry could reasonably hope to achieve. it also managed to fill a gap as the front line stuff, the Yak-1 and Lagg-3 programmes were well behind schedule through to most of 1942.

There was talk of restoring or continuing production of the armoured version into 1942, as the type had proven effective in the ground support role.

Despite the heavy attrition, the VVS found keeping some challenges over the battlefield an effective way of attrition-ing the LW as the weather closed in. Whilst combat losses remained low for the LW, their overall loss rates went through the roof over the winter. I-153s fitted with skis I think were likely to have a lower attrition rate, though the poor serviceability of the m-82 must have caused avoidable losses