The Cold War Begins

The end of the Second World War brought tremendous changes to the strategic situation of the USSR.  The nation was no longer threatened from enemies in the east and west.  Nazi Germany had been defeated and for the first time since the Napoleonic wars a Russian army had advanced into the heart of Europe.  Russia's rival in the Far East had also been crushed. Nations on both fronts had been devastated by war and open to influence by the Red Army or Communist agents.

Only the United States remained strong enough to counter Soviet aims.  It could do this by relying on its powerful strategic air arm and the newly developed atom bomb.  Both of these advantages backed by the superior American industrial capacity could easily neutralize any Soviet armor advantage on the ground.  It also became clear that tactical air power would no longer be sufficient.  A new strategic air doctrine employing long range nuclear bombers and jet aircraft would have to be developed in order for Stalin to exploit the post-war situation in both Europe and Asia and keep the United States at bay.

The Post-War Soviet Air Force

Following the war the Soviet Union began a massive reduction in the size of its armed forces as people began to turn to the task of rebuilding their war ravaged nation.  The personnel strength of the Soviet air force fell dramatically.  The number of aircraft in inventory soon dropped from its wartime high to only 14,500 planes of all types.  These were all of wartime vintage and in danger of being outpaced by jet aircraft under development.

The most capable fighters in the Soviet inventory were the piston engined La-7 and Yak-9.  Both were very modern and carried heavy armament but did not compare favorably to their Western rivals.  They lacked the speed, altitude, and range of aircraft like the P-51 Mustang and P-47 Thunderbolt.  Attempts were made to address these deficiencies with the introduction of the La-9 and later La-11, but the West would retain its qualitative edge for several more years.

Lack of effective strategic air power was one of the major problems facing the Soviet air force following the war.  The two most promising designs had been the Pe-8 and Il-4 'Bob' bombers, but production of these ended with the war.  Neither had been produced in large numbers and many were converted to transport aircraft.  This left the Soviet Union with no equivalent to the long range bombers used by the United States.  In fact, the Soviets would have to wait until their technicians had reverse engineered an American B-29 (designated the Tu-4) to have an effective long range bomber.

Military airlift was another glaring weakness in the Soviet plan for the future.  Most transports were old Li-2 designs used during the war while others were obsolete bombers of the 1930's that had been converted into transports.  Still other aircraft were lend lease DC-3's from the United States.  Converted Pe-8 and Il-4 bombers were only a temporary measure that failed to adequately address the issue.

Organizational changes in the air force were also made during this time as the remaining assets were consolidated.  The first of these was made in 1946 when the People's Commissariat of the Armed Forces issued a decree that made the Soviet Air Force its own branch of service separate from the Army.  The air force was then further divided into Frontal Aviation whose function was to support the Army, and Long Range Aviation which would carry out strategic bombing missions.  New officers were appointed to oversee new developments in electronics, jet propulsion, and guided missile technology which could be used by the Soviet Air Force.

Into the Jet Age

Soviet interest in jet aircraft dated back to 1942 when it became clear that jet fighters could be reliable replacements for traditional piston engine planes.  Stalin ordered a crash program to develop a Soviet jet fighter.  At his order Soviet engineers began work on a jet fighter prototype in the last years of the war.  Their work was made easier as German factories, plans, designs, and engines fell into the hands of the Red Army.  These were all sent back to the Soviet Union to be incorporated into the jet program.

Of special interest were jet engines like the Jumo 004 and BMW-003.  They had much better performance than the native Soviet designs.  The engines were taken apart, copied, and put into production in Soviet factories by 1946.  The Jumo 004 engine was renamed the RD-10 and the BMW-003 became the RD-20.

The Soviets also gained a great deal of experience from German engineers living in parts of Europe that had fallen under Soviet control after the war.  In 1946 thousands of these scientists and engineers were rounded up and sent to live in the Soviet Union where they would be forced to work on Soviet aircraft designs.

Red Air Force generals thought very highly of the early jets and decreed that the Soviets should begin transitioning to an all jet force.  At the heart of this force would be a core of experienced jet pilots and ground crews.  They would operate from the many new air bases and early warning radar stations were constructed during this time as Stalin began rearming the Soviet military machine.

The decision to move to an all jet force would take some time to fully complete, and during this time advanced piston engined planes were still needed to fill out the ranks.  The La-11 'Fang' was entered service to meet this requirement.  It was only a temporary measure and was the last piston engined fighter to enter service with the Soviet Union 

In compliance with Stalin's rearmament plans new jet fighters continued to roll off the assembly lines.  Many of these designs were from the Yakovlev bureau: the Yak-17 'Feather', Yak-19, and Yak-23.  One was from the Lavochkin bureau: the La-15 'Fantail'.  All of these fighters built upon improvements of earlier designs and gradually approached the performance of Western jets.

In 1947 the Soviets finally surpassed the West with the introduction of a highly advanced swept wing fighter known as the MiG-15 'Fagot'.  It was a rugged heavily armed fighter, but suffered from an underpowered engine.  This fault was remedied later that year when the British government allowed the sale of 25 Rolls-Royce Nene engines to the Soviet Union.  They were rapidly reverse engineered and placed in MiG-15's as the RD-45 engine.

Other aircraft benefited from the British in 1948 when they sold 30 Derwent V jet engines to the Soviet Union.  These engines were copied, redesignated as the RD-500, and placed in the Yak-23 and Yak-30 fighters.  Even so the MiG-15 would remain the premier fighter of the day.

Strategic Bomber Developments

With the establishment of the Long Range Aviation force within the Soviet Air Force in 1946 the Soviet Union began to address its strategic bomber deficiency.  The focus of the program was on developing a long range aircraft that could carry the new Soviet atomic bomb that had been tested in 1947.  The aircraft designed to carry the new bomb was a Soviet copy of the American B-29 bomber known as the Tu-4 'Bull'.

Still, these bombers only had the range to strike targets in Europe and Stalin required a bomber that could reach the United States.  The project would be undertaken by both the Myasishchev and Tupolev design bureaus.  Myasishchev completed his design first in 1949.  It was a massive four-engined swept-wing jet bomber known as the Mya-4 'Bison'.  The Mya-4 would enter service in 1953, but had a troubled career and was eventually relegated to the reconnaissance role.

Military Airlift and Special Purpose Aircraft

By the late 1940's the Soviet air force began to make some progress towards the creation of an effective military airlift force.  The first step was made In 1946 with the introduction of the Il-12 'Coach' light transport and the An-2 'Colt' the following year.  Several hundred were made augmenting the variety of older aircraft.  Work on several other experimental and light transports was also carried out, but none were made in quantity.  The Il-14 'Crate' introduced in 1950 was the most successful design of the period and served well into the 1980's.

Eventually the effort to make a modern transport service was stalled as other projects were given higher priority.  This would prove to be a mistake as the largest aviation gap between the USSR and the United States would be in the area of air transport.

Despite the lack of Soviet interest in transports other types of aircraft did see advances.  Flying boats were one such type.  The Be-6 flying boat entered service in 1949.  It offered greater patrol range than earlier flying boats used by the Soviet air force.  The creator of the aircraft then turned their efforts to developing a jet powered flying boat, which would enter service in the late 1950's.

The Korean War

As the Soviet military buildup continued relations with the West worsened as Soviet backed Communist governments were established throughout Eastern Europe and China.  Events reached a flashpoint in 1950 when the Soviet backed North Korean army invaded South Korea after receiving assurances that South Korea was outside the US sphere of influence.

The North Koreans received extensive aid from the Soviets in the form of tanks, aircraft, and small arms.  Aircraft were of special interest as the Soviets wanted to see how they compared to Western designs.  Some 150 planes of Soviet design were in service with the North Korean air force when hostilities began.  These were older piston engined types like Yak-7, Yak-11, and even Il-10 'Sturmoviks'.

Unfortunately the North Koreans proved to be poor pilots and the aircraft suffered terrible losses during the early days of the war.  By July 1950 the North Korean air force had been reduced to only 18 serviceable aircraft.  In addition to this, they were suffering serious reverses on the ground at the hands of United Nations forces.  Stalin had not expected United Nations forces to intervene as quickly as they did, but when they pushed the North Koreans almost to the Yalu river the Soviets were prepared to take greater risks to aid their faltering allies.

The aid came when the Communist Chinese invaded Korea and pushed UN forces back across the demilitarized zone.  As the UN forces retreated the Soviets began a covert program to send jet pilots and MiG-15's into the region.  The Soviet pilots entered Korea under false Chinese names and were given specific orders not to fly over regions where they may be shot down or captured.  The pilots also began to train numbers of Chinese and North Korean pilots to fly the MiG-15, but until these pilots were trained United Nations aircraft would rule the skies over Korea.  Offensive air operations by Communist forces were confined to midnight raids by pilots flying aging Po-2 'Mule' aircraft.

When the Soviet pilots and their MiG-15's began flying they quickly made their presence known.  They were far superior to the older piston aircraft used by the United Nations pilots as well as many of the early straight wing jets.  Only the F-86 Sabre was capable of meeting the MiG-15 as an equal in the Korean skies.  The Sabre proved to be the most effective aircraft against the MiG, and shot down ten MiG-15's for every loss of their own.

The majority of jet pilot losses were Chinese and North Korean pilots who tended to have a lower level of training than their Soviet counterparts.  Tactics against the Sabre showed gradual improvement as the war progressed, especially among the Russian pilots, but only slowly in Chinese or North Korean units.  The Communist pilots of all nations also showed far less initiative than their Western counterparts.  Further compounding matters was the fact that the Soviet pilots were only kept in Korea for short tours before being rotated home.  The average pilot served only 3-4 months in the the region and was unable to make use of the lessons he learned before he was replaced by a new pilot.

Jet combat over Korea intensified over the next two years with some 2,000 sorties being flown by MiG-15's alone between November 1950 and 1952.  By late 1952 the Soviets had sent some 1300 jet aircraft and 800 piston engined types to their Chinese and North Korean allies.

Operations were further increased in the final year of the war as the MiG-15's began intercepting American B-29 and B-26 bombers.  They were very successful and forced the United Nations forces to abandon daylight bombing for a time.  Night bomber intercepts were also stepped up as the MiG's coordinated their efforts with ground based radar and searchlights.

As successful as the Soviet involvement was in the Korean War they did not wish to widen the conflict into a global war which they were unprepared for.  It was because of this that they did not deploy the Il-28 'Beagle' to the Korean theatre, but sent them to East Germany instead.

When the war ended in 1953 the Soviets had learned a great deal about the methods used by the United States and its allies.  Soviet air force jet pilots had managed to acquire a degree of combat experience and bring these lessons home.  Existing pilot training programs were changed to reflect the lessons of the war.

The Soviets also learned more about the value of strategic bombing, as the North Korean factories were quickly destroyed by US heavy bombers early in the campaign.  Other lessons included improvements to the MiG-15 that would lead to the MiG-17 in 1953.  The use of helicopters also caught the interest of air force generals and work began on developing military designs.  It was also learned that ground stations alone were ineffective for directing intercepts, aircraft carrying their own intercept radar would be needed.

The Khrushchev Era

With the death of Stalin and end of the Korean war the Soviet military was reorganized at its upper levels.  All branches were centralized under the Ministry of Defense in 1953.  This made applying  policy changes to the various branches of the military much more efficient.  These changes began in 1955 when Nikita Khrushchev rose to power.  He put an end to the massive Stalinist military buildup in favor of a smaller military that would rely on nuclear weapons as a deterrent.

These policies had little effect of the Soviet jet fighter force which concentrated on modernizing its stable of aircraft.  This began with the introduction of the MiG-17 in 1953.  It featured a better engine and gun radar, both of which had been found on its old rival the F-86 Sabre.  The MiG-17 still lacked its own internal radar and had to be guided by ground stations to intercept targets.  The twin engined Yak-25 'Flashlight' introduced in 1954 filled this gap.  It was the first all-weather interceptor in the Soviet air force and like the MiG-15 it compared well to Western aircraft of the day such as the F-94 Starfire.

The first supersonic jet known as the MiG-19 entered service in 1955.  It was a powerful fighter that also compared well to its Western equivalent, the F-100 Super Sabre.  This was followed by the a Mach 2 fighter in 1957 called the MiG-21 'Fishbed'.  Supersonic interceptors with also came into service with the introduction of the Su-9/11 'Fishpot' in the late 1950's.  These aircraft were made in huge numbers and would give the Soviets a massive quantitative advantage over the NATO alliance.

Building on the the lessons of the Korean war the Soviet air force began to build up its strategic air arm.  Large numbers of Il-28 'Beagle' and Tu-16 'Badger' were manufactured.  The Tu-4 'Bull' was phased out of service to make way for more advanced heavy bombers, two of which were introduced in the mid-1950's.  The first was a new jet bomber known as the M-50 'Bounder' which was intended to replace the Mya-4 'Bison', but fell far short of expectations.  A more successful bomber was the massive Tu-95 'Bear' bomber.  It was a large swept wing piston engined aircraft comparable to the jet powered B-52 used by the United States.  It gave the Soviets what they had long desired, the ability to strike at the mainland of the United States.

These advances were mitigated by Nikita Khrushchev's shift towards ballistic missiles in 1956.  His programs fundamentally altered the nature of the Soviet strategic bomber force.  No longer would the force depend on slow moving bombers which were vulnerable to interception as the moved to overfly their targets.  The newer jet bombers Khrushchev desired would use cruise missiles that could be launched far from their destination.

It would take time to implement the changes Khrushchev wanted.  Many older bombers like the Tu-16 'Badger' would be modified to carry guided missiles until the newer bombers were completed.  The only aircraft that was not converted to the guided missile mission was the Tu-95 'Bear' that was retained as a component of the Soviet nuclear triad.

The use of helicopters by United Nations forces during the Korean war greatly impressed the Soviets.  While the first Soviet military helicopter known as the Mi-1 'Hare' had flown in 1948 it was ill suited for combat operations.  This situation rapidly changed with the introduction of two early designs.  The first of which was the Mi-4 'Hound' in 1953.  It was comparable to the Sikorsky S-55 in use by the United States and had the ability to carry 14 soldiers or a GAZ-69 truck.  The Yak-24 'Horse' followed in 1955.  It was a larger twin-rotor helicopter capable of carrying 30 passengers.  It was first seen in public as the Tushino air show in 1955.  Development on larger more capable helicopters continued with the introduction of the Mi-6 'Hook' in 1957.  At the time of its introduction it was the largest helicopter in the world and had the ability to carry its five man crew in addition to sixty five troops.

Military airlift also made many advances during the post-Korean era as the Soviets saw the need to rapidly move troops and supplies over large distances.  The first of the new planes to enter service after the war was the Il-14 'Crate' which had first been flown in 1950.  It entered squadron service in 1953.  By the end of the decade larger cargo aircraft began rolling off the production lines.  Among these were the An-8, An-10 and Il-18 in 1957.

Another important development occurred in 1956 as the Soviets also began experiments in mid-air refueling.  This was accomplished by converting bombers and transports into flying tankers.  The favored system was the probe-and-drogue system originally developed by the British, but adopted by the Soviets.  In future years this research would alter the strategic balance as Soviet bombers would be capable of flying missions over an even greater range.

The end result of these developments was to transform the Soviet air force from a tactical support service subordinate to the army into an independent modern service capable of undertaking a variety of missions.  It would also set the stage for the faster jet bombers and fighters of the 1960's that would menace the West in the Vietnam war.