The Soviet Air Forces on the Eastern Front
If the Luftwaffe on the Eastern front is slippery to pin down, then the Soviet air forces make it look a model of clarity! A combination of limited and conflicting sources, massive early losses and constant replacements and attrition mean that this orbat is an approximation at best.
Summer 1941 saw a huge proportion of the Soviet air assets destroyed close to the border, with both Soviet and Luftwaffe orbats reduced to 20-33% of their initial strengths in 1941.

The Author’s storage box for the VVS is a faithful reproduction of the Soviet state of organisation days into the Axis invasion
It was normal for Soviet regiments to be operating at 1/3, or squadron strength. Depending on the scenario, you could either field the correct number of regiments at one strength point each (s1), or amalgamate them to 1/3 of the correct number of regiments.
See this link for a breakdown of forces : https://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/orders-of-battle-orbats/nqm-soviet-orbats/nqm-soviet-air-force/
For 1940 – 41 Boyd (1977) gives the following for the Western Military District :
3rd Air Army
9th Composite Air Division (fighters, bombers and Shturmovik regiments)
4th Air Army10th Composite Air Division
(fighters, bombers and Shturmovik regiments)
10th Air Army
11th Composite Air Division (fighters, bombers and Shturmovik regiments)
III GKO Air Corps
42nd Bomber Division
52nd Bomber Division
61st Fighter Division
Directly allocated as required to air armies from MD HQ:
12th Bomber Division
13th Bomber Division
43rd Fighter Division
59th Fighter Division
60th Fighter Division
By 1943 the Soviets distinguished between Air Armies directly supporting the Army Fronts, the Air DefenceForces (PVO) and Long Range Air Arm (ADD), which comprised ADD bombers, GVF transport and special GKO transports and was as I understand it part of the VVS.
The air armies were allocated as follow :
KARELIAN FRONT (7th Air Army) Gen Sokolov
LENINGRAD FRONT (13th Air Army) Gen Rybal’chenko
VOLKHOV FRONT (14th Air Army) Gen Zhuravlev
2ND BALTIC FRONT (15th Air Army) Gen Payatikhin
1ST BALTIC FRONT (3rd Air Army) Gen Gromov
WESTERN FRONT (1st Air Army) Gen Khudyakov
BRYANSK FRONT (16th Air Army) Gen Kondratyuk
1ST UKRANIAN FRONT (2nd Air Army) Gen Rudenko
2ND UKRANIAN FRONT (5th Air Army) Gen Smirnov
3RD UKRANIAN FRONT (17th Air Army) Gen Krasovski
4TH UKRANIAN FRONT (8th Air Army) Gen Khryukin
INDEPENDENT MARITIME ARMY (4th Air Army) Gen Naumenko
When compiling lists like these, you have to watch out for generals who move between armies, rather like the boy who always appeared at each end of those long school photos by running along the back.
Sources :
Boyd, A. (1977) The Soviet Air Force since 1918. London, Macdonald and Jane’s.
That’s all very well, but where is your list of toys? Loving the Fw189 – a converted P-38?
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Indeed it is Tim. Toy list to follow. For the record, I don’t have a spares box, it is more like a spares garage.
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