The over 15,000 fighters supplied to Russia by America and Great Britain played a vital role in Russia's survival and ultimate triumph in WW II. That total encompassed Hurricanes, Spits, P-39s, P-40s and P-63s along with small numbers of P-47s and -51s. The exploits of the VVS aces who flew lend-lease fighters are recounted in George Mellinger's latest Osprey volume, #74 in their 'Aircraft of the Aces' series.
Of the fighters supplied, Britain's fighters drew a mixed response. The Huricanes were viewed as rugged but slower than its Bf 109 opponents, poorly armed with .303 popguns, etc. Though the Russians demanded Spits, upon arrival, they found the Spitfire's landing gear wasn't up to the primitive airfields found on the Russian front. Nevertheless, pilots such as Sergei Kurzenkov, Yakov Bakharev, Sultan Amet-Khan and Vasilii Adonkin became aces flying ex-RAF machines.
The P-40 and, especially, the P-39 were well regarded by Soviet fliers. Early P-40 models were rated highly for their ruggedness, heavy armament, long range and tight-turning abilities. Pyotr Belyasnik, Aleksandr Matveyev, Aleksei Khlobystov and Stepan Novichkov - Russia's top P-40 ace with 19 kills - were among the Stalin Falcons who did well with lend-lease Tomahawks and Kittyhawks.
Though considered a dog in USAAF service, the P-39, christened 'Kobra' in VVS service, performed superably over the Eastern Front. Heavily armed, fast and maneuverable at the altitudes where most combats took place, VVS pilots swore by the Bell fighter. Russia's most highly regarded fighter leader and ace, Aleksandr Pokryshkin, was so enamored of the Kobra that he refused demands from his superiors that his unit re-equip with Soviet-made fighters! The combats waged by Pokryshkin, Grigorii Rechkalov, Nikolai Lavitskii, Boris and Dmitrii Glinka, Aleksei Smirnov, the legless ace Zakhar Sorokin, Aleksandr Klubov and other Kobra aces are well covered in Mellinger's book.
How important were lend-lease fighters to Russia? Well, by war's end, over 100 Soviet pilots were aces thanks to lend-lease fighters, many of them becoming Heroes of the Soviet Union.
Over 80 black and white photos and nine pages of color sideviews of Hurris, Spits, P-40s, Kobras, P-47s and even an A-20(!) in Soviet livery help illustrate this fascinating chapter of Russia's air war.