Voenno-vozdushniye Sily
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The Voenno-vozdushniye Sily (V-VS) (Soviet Air Force) was the name of the Russian air force in WWII. The air arm of the Red Army had the task of defending Soviet territory against incursions, performing reconnaissance and transport operations and giving air support to land forces.
It managed the Soviet airborne/paratroop units and mounted special operations, such as supporting partisan and guerrilla units, and sabotaging behind enemy lines. During the period of German-Russian Agreements of 1939, the V-VS received some aircraft, such as the Heinkel He 100 D-1 and materiel, making it theoretically a member of the Axis Powers alliance.
The Russian air force had only limited combat experience, gotten in the Spanish Civil War (1939), the Russian-Japanese Incidents of 1938-39, the Finnish-Russian War (1939), the Chinese-Japanese conflict during 1937-39 period, and against Poland in September 1939. This experience did not provide adequate knowledge about modern aerial warfare and it explains the surprise over modern flight techniques applied by the Axis Powers during the early stages of Operation Barbarrossa.[citation needed]
[edit] Units of Soviet Air Force
- Uhknowed Figther Unit,Soviet A.F.,Kowno,(Kaunas),Lithuania,June 1941
- DB-T Unit,Soviet A.F.,Smolensk,Central Area,Eastern Front,August 1941
- 12° IAP,(Moscow Region),Defense Figther Unit,Winter 1941-42.
- Interceptor Unit,Soviet A.F.,Leningrad Front,Spring 1942.
- TSh Unit,Soviet A.F.,Tula,Central Area,Eastern Front,March 1944.
- DB Unit,Soviet A.F. South Area Eastern Front,Autum 1944.
- 1° Czhec Regiment,Soviet A.F.,Balice,(near at Krakow),Poland,April 1945.
- 1°Escadrille,Normandie-Niemen,East Prussia,Germany,May 1945.
- BSh Unit, 1st Belorussian Front (Berlin Zone),May 1945
