I think that you gentlemen should look deeper into total warfare. First off, the Soviet Union aimed for local air superiority for the span of time that equalled that of the assault - we all know that.
However, in terms of pilot ability and tactical finesse; the Luftwaffe remained superior throughout the entirety of the war.
which tactical advantages exactly had the Luftwaffe over VVS in 1944? Which tactical skills had the Luftwaffe and which Russian units hadn't? From technical point of view, the organisation of the Luftwaffe and the VVS was virtually indentical by 1944.
as for pilot abilites, I beg to differ - while leading aces on both sides continued to score kills, the general level of the Luftwaffe pilots has dropped every month to all time low in early 1945 - but you can't really compare achievments of the aces on one side to achievments of the aces on the other side, let's compare the overall level of the airforces.
Secondly, the Luftwaffe suffered more on the Western front simply because the RAF and USAAF were the ones that damaged, disrupted and destroyed the Luftwaffe before it even got into the air. The VVS met the aircraft and pilots that managed to slip through the Western bombardment. And as the war dragged on more and more aircraft were being sent against the western bomber streams and tactical strike aircraft - which bombarded the Luftwaffe in the air and ground.
I think I didn't quite get this one
- until late 1943 the number of the Luftwaffe units deployed on Eastern or on Western front was roughly even. There were quite a lot of JGs and KGs, which were pretty decimated on the Eastern Front and sent to the Western.
And Ramirezz, almost every single operation against the Germans was won through sheer brute force with numbers providing the majority of that beef. Whether it's in the air or on the ground, the Germans remained tactically superior to the Soviets every step of the way.
No, they weren't. Not always, I mean, by far not always.
Russians had the numerical superiority on the earlier stages of war - that didn't seem to help them a lot. Then again, as you know, the numerical superiority is the key element of every strategy, even the one of Germans - you can overwelm your enemy with 5 to 1, but at one important point the enemy will overrun you with 7 to 1, and that would be enough to achieve a victory.
I can name you at least six or eight major operations, almost all of them in 1944-1945, where the wehrmacht performed rather poor in strategical, operational
and tactical point of view. Generally speaking, the late german command beginning at regimental or divisional level was often characterised by slow reaction, unnecessary defending of the tactically unimportant points etc. etc. The quality of the german command , especially in infantry units, was by far not the as same as even in 1943.
Ex RAF Bell Airocobras where sent to the Ussr VIa the Arctic Convoys.These planes were unloved by British pilots , but the Russians loved them put them to good use. During this phase of the war my father was in chargeof a section of personell ( Including many WAAFs), whose job it was to dismantle Airocobras prepare them for shipping to Russia. He said they were sent with bent broken fixtures fittings, Sheard off round headed nuts bolts phillips head screws.He told me it as a wonder the Russians evr managed to re assemble them.
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