Bombers, Transports, and Naval Aviation

The third volume of this four-part series examines the bombers, transports, and maritime aircraft supplied to the Soviet Union under the Lend-Lease programme. Drawing on extensive Soviet and Western archival sources, aviation historian Vladimir Kotelnikov provides the most detailed analysis yet of how these aircraft were delivered, adapted, and employed in combat across the Eastern Front and in Soviet naval operations. Central to this volume are the American Douglas A-20 Boston and North American B-25 Mitchell, which gave the Soviet Air Force a versatile and modern tactical bombing capability. Kotelnikov explores their delivery in large numbers, the training of Soviet crews, and the way they were integrated into existing units and doctrines. He analyses the missions flown-low-level strikes, interdiction, and close support-and assesses their performance in the face of formidable German defences. Equally important were the thousands of Douglas C-47 Skytrains (Dakotas), which became the backbone of Soviet transport aviation. The book considers their role in supplying the front, supporting partisan warfare, and enabling strategic mobility in a theatre where logistics often determined the outcome of campaigns. The study also highlights the contribution of Allied aircraft to Soviet naval aviation. From PBY Catalinas and other flying boats used in Arctic waters, to long-range patrol and convoy escort operations, these machines extended Soviet maritime reach at a critical stage of the war. Illustrated with colour profiles, hundreds of rare photographs, maps, and technical tables, this volume offers a richly detailed portrait of how Allied bombers, transports, and maritime aircraft shaped Soviet combat power. It demonstrates their essential role in sustaining the Red Air Force and Navy in the struggle against the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine, and in laying the groundwork for postwar Soviet aviation development. AUTHOR: Vladimir Kotelnikov was born in Moscow on 9 December 1951. He graduated from the Moscow Aviation Institute (University) in 1975 and was engaged in research and development in the area of high-temperature strength. Vladimir defended the academic degree of the Candidate of Science in 1981 and read lectures on aircraft piston engine design at the Moscow Aviation Institute. Since the 1980s Kotelnikov has conducted archive research on the history of Russian aviation of the inter-war and Second World War periods. In addition, he paid specific attention to the history of foreign aircraft testing and operations in Russia. As the result of his work he published several hundred articles and dozens of books in Russia, Ukraine, Poland, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States, among them Lend-Lease and Soviet Aviation, Americans in Russia, Russian Piston Aero Engines, Early Russian Jet Engines, Air War Over Khalkhin Gol, Le Petlyakov Pe-2 and others. Being an aviation historian, he received a diploma as a professor of the Academy of Aviation and Aeronautics Science and currently acts as a consultant on piston aero engine design to Russian aviation museums as well as to different aircraft restoration groups. From 2003 Vladimir held the post of an editor of the Aviakollektsiya aviation history journal, published in Moscow. He passed away in 2022. 221 b/w photos, 8pp colour profiles, 1 b/w map