Friday Update, June 01, 2012

[csThor]

Originally Posted by xpzorg

The killed 30 airplanes in month in first two years of war because vvs pilot training include only take off and landing, so veterans say non-fight casualties was far more extensive.
Try to imagine your chance to survive on ATAG after only some training hours of landing and take off.
I hear the voice of Western propaganda in your head.
So in second part of 1943 situation has dramatically changed.

Soviet pilot training was inadequate even before the war - and in late 1941 and 1942 it was abysmal (hence the "Take-off - Landing" designation for green pilots). Added to this, however, must be the lack of radios in most aircraft until late 1943, a totally whacky doctrine (which chained soviet pilots to a task/target and forced them to fight in any situation) and of course the fact that the Luftwaffe was very much the "elite" institution with regards to pilot training that it wanted to be itself at least until late 1942.

And even in late 1943 the major reasons the VVS loss rate went down considerably was the influx of many new units on their side and the withdrawal of most of the german fighter force after Kursk (back to Germany). The VVS learned much, mind you, but it still suffered far too many losses simply because of unimatinative tactics and a general stubborn adhesion to its inefficient doctrine.