[billmartin]

I'd like to make some missions for the 'Kursk' battle........

I have two sources for Russian Fighter Squadron organization.

One states that the squadron had 12 aircraft...... which was organized into

6 pairs. Another says that from 1943 on Russian squadrons had 10 aircraft,

organized into two flights of 5 aircraft each. One of the flights being led by the

squadron Co and the other flight led by the XO. This presumably was done to

make up for the rapid expansion of the Russian forces and the relative lack of

training the new pilots received.

Any ideas, sources?

Bill

[Boosher]

What are your sources? I recommend checking with Black Cross, Red Star, an excellent series of books, although a little encyclopedic at times, that deals with the air war over the Eastern Front. If you have any questions after that, I recommend you contact the person who runs this website:

http://lend-lease.airforce.ru/english/index.htm

Also, keep in mind that all data is relative. Combat reports by themselves are completely unreliable and have to be corroborated with more definitive sources, like loss reports, weather data, etc... in order to be accepted as true. That said, squadrons took different losses and therefore just because one group is supposed to operate one way doesn't necessarily mean they had the capability to do so. For example, as far as my own sources have told me, the 255 IAP, operating with a mix of different P-47D types in the Gulf of Leningrad after November, 1944, didn't fly according to VVS doctrine, but in groups of four against shipping targets. I believe they had 14 P-47's in total, a mix of D-22's and D-27's. They hated the plane, by the way.

[CzechTexan]

The VVS adopted the Luftwaffe flight formation of four fighters (schwarm?) by fall 1942. The four-fighter flight tactics would have been well indoctrinated by mid-43 at Kursk. An IAP (VVS Regiment) would be 20+ planes with two or three Eskadrilyas (squadrons) which would most likely have around 10-12 planes each. This all depends on losses and replacement planes and under the circumstances, during this time period, the turnover ratio would be high.
My source is the book Black Cross Red Star.

With 10 planes, a whole squadron could fly two flights of 4 plus a top cover of 2 planes (known as Pokryshkin's bookshelf formation) with each flight at a different altitude.
OR, you could have two flights of four but leaving 2 planes on the ground for maintenance etc.

[billmartin]

Thanks for the info...........

It seems that the Guards units had 12 ac....... and some number of 'regular' units had

usually 10 aircraft. But as its been said...... its such a huge conflict and so 'standard'

seems to be relative. Better to do the research and try to find information about the specific

units being represented, I think. What's interesting....... is the level of losses leading up to the

Kursk battle..... which had a profound effect not only on the number of ac but also the level

of training....... on both sides. Its becoming clear that there is much more to the effectiveness

of an aircraft than just its particular flying characteristics...... much more. Something to be

dealt with in the mission design I guess.

Bill