In the spring of 1941 the VVS was the largest air force on Earth with a total of 20,500 aircraft, of which 10,500 were in the Western Districts or nearby.

The fighter force consisted of about 10,000 aircraft, of which 5,500 were in the Western Districts: The 8,000 old Polikarpovs were joined by about 2,000 modern MiG-1/3s, LaGG-3s and Yak-1s. The latter were all in the Western Districts.

The bomber branch was equipped with about 6,000 aircraft between ground attack and medium or long range bombers, of which about half were deployed in the Western Districts: 600 modern ground attack aircraft (Su-2s, IL-2s and Ar-2s) and 2,000 modern medium and heavy bombers (DB-3/Il-4s, Pe-2s, TB-7s and Yak-2/4s)

Finally, of the 1000 reconnaissance aircraft, 1000 transport aircraft, 1000 training aircraft and 1000 assigned to the navy, about half were available in the Western Districts.

The Axis air force that was on the attack line on June 22, 1941 had only 3,000 German and 300 Romanian aircraft, managed to destroy in a few days on the ground or in combat about 10,000 enemy aircraft.

The remnants of the VVS were used and destroyed in the Battle of Smolensk in a desperate attempt to contest the German bridgeheads on the Dnieper and deny control of the corridor that led to Moscow.

Thus, in just one month the most powerful air force on the planet was reduced to a few thousand aircraft and neutralized until the end of autumn.

How did the Luftwaffe achieve such a success while ensuring air supremacy against an enemy that on paper was three (five for fighters) times more numerous?

"On paper, the Luftwaffe was numerically insufficient to achieve the objectives of air supremacy and tactical support that had been assigned to it and the few hundred certainly not modern aircraft supplied by Romania and then by Finland, Hungary, Italy and Slovakia provided a meager contribution in numbers," explains Emanuele Santandrea, who adds "Let's think that in May 1940 during Fall Gelb each German aircraft had to support 1,300 friendly soldiers, faced 1,500 enemy soldiers and had to cover an area of ​​only 45km2. While, in June 1941, each German aircraft had to support 2,300 friendly soldiers and face the same number of enemies, over an area of about 500km2."

So what allowed the Luftwaffe not only to erase the VVS from the skies, destroying almost 15,000 aircraft, but also to successfully sustain the war effort for weeks on a 3,000km front for a depth of almost 1,000km?

"There are at least five reasons that allowed this incredible success" explains Emanuele Santandrea who adds "for the historian but also for players of military simulation games it is essential to understand which were the factors that guaranteed the success of the Luftwaffe.

Because - if it is true that a good part of the Soviet planes were obsolete - it should not be forgotten that the Axis also still used obsolete models."

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