Soviet Long Range Aviation during the war

[Vitellius]

Hi, there!

I'd like to know exact composition of Soviet LRA (Dalnaya Aviatsiya) forces during 1941-45 time period. Unfortunately up to now I only found it was equipped mainly with Pe-8, Yer-2 and Il-4 (DB-3) bombers and was rather marginal part of Soviet war effort exactly as on the German side. However Red LRA carried out some strategic air rides over Germany and other Axis countries in limited scope and its bombers participated in frontline operations, too. Also Soviets had quite clever concept of bomber's propulsion i.e. diesel engines which theoretically could give them much improved flight parameters.

Do you know something about all that issues?

[Juha]

Other main bomber types of DA were B-25 and Li-2 (DC-3). Its exact composition varied over the time and the sources I have on it are all in Finnish, one being based on a German wartime study on DA. So if you can read German you should find info on the subject, if not otherwise at least in DDR they published material on DA.

Juha

[Dénes Bernád]

Originally Posted by Vitellius

...was rather marginal part of Soviet war effort

I disagree with this statement. During the first months of war, the DBA did carry out almost daily attacks on the Southern flank of the Eastern Front, against Rumania proper, with varying success. You can read the details also in both volumes of the book I co-authored, titled: 'From Barbarossa to Odessa'.

[yogybär]

The Diesel engines used in the Yer-2 and some Pe-8 were highly unreliable, and therefore the first type was not used so much and the latter was equipped mainly with other engines because of this issue.

You can find exact OOBs of the soviet ADD (Long Range Aviation) here:
http://ilpilot.narod.ru/vvs_tsifra/gl_3/3.118.html

Concerning their contribution to the soviet victory: I think it is not very high. In the 2nd half of the war, a lot of night attacks were flown against railway targets, depots, airfields. Success was "highly mixed", especially if you take into account the high number of "2-mots". So at least it can be said that their efficiency in 1944/45 was bad.
But how was the effect of the RAF's night offensive on allied victory? I think, only secondary by attracting Nachtjägergeschwader who might have been used as Kampfflieger otherwise.

Dénes, I really enjoyed reading your books! But, do you really think that the attacks described in your books had a great impact on the overall development of that campaign?

[Vitellius]

Originally Posted by yogybär

You can find exact OOBs of the soviet ADD (Long Range Aviation) here:
http://ilpilot.narod.ru/vvs_tsifra/gl_3/3.118.html

Many thanks!

That is exactly what I was looking for. I only ask you for small explanation about data found in this table: what do both numbers exactly mean (1339-321, 688-174, etc.)? Is that number of total aircrafts available and battle ready aircrafts? Yet aren't such differences too high?

***EDIT***

OK, those second numbers are inoperable planes so amount of battle-ready bomber equals 1339-321=1018 for example!

{2} В знаменателе показаны в том числе неисправные самолеты.

[Dénes Bernád]

Originally Posted by yogybär

Dénes, I really enjoyed reading your books! But, do you really think that the attacks described in your books had a great impact on the overall development of that campaign?

Thanks for your kind words related the books I wrote or co-authored.
As for your question, I would not say the VVS' long-range bomber aviation's activity had a "great" impact. However, it certainly had an impact, measurable by the losses caused by the bombs (see, for example, the raid successful carried out against oil depots on 13 July 1941). Another impact was indirect, namely significant resources had to be redirected by the Axis to further defend the oilfields around Ploesti.

[Vitellius]

Well, Soviet LRA lacked four-engine heavy bombers except deplorable numbers of Pe-8 and funny TB-3 junk. So LRA air raids couldn't be very deadly. Well, later they introduced several hundreds completetely outdated DC-3 Dakotas (top speed - 300 km/h) into LRA to increase its numerical strength.

[lingodog]

[quote=yogybär;85091]
But how was the effect of the RAF's night offensive on allied victory? I think, only secondary by attracting Nachtjägergeschwader who might have been used as Kampfflieger otherwise.


I disagree with this statement. It also was not a view shared by Albert Speer.