Axis Luftwaffe The directive issued to the Luftwaffe for Barbarossa ordered that
Luftflotte 2, under the command of
Albert Kesselring was to be the strongest Air Fleet. Kesselring was assigned to supporting
Army Group Centre, which was to capture
Minsk,
Smolensk and
Moscow. Kesselring was given
Fliegerkorps VIII (a specialised ground attack Corps, commanded by tactical specialist
Wolfram Freiherr von Richthofen),
Fliegerkorps II (commanded by
Bruno Loerzer) and the 1st Anti-Aircraft Corps (1st AA Corps under
Walther von Axthelm).
Army Group South was supported by
Luftflotte 4, containing
Fliegerkorps V (under
Robert Ritter von Greim) and
Fliegerkorps IV (under
Kurt Pflugbeil). The Air Fleet and Army Group were responsible for capturing
Kiev, the
Crimea and the
Caucasus oilfields.
Army Group North was supported by
Luftflotte 1, and
Luftflotte 5. Luftflotte 5 conducted operations in the
Arctic near
Murmansk. Luftflotte 1 supported operations in the
Baltic Sea,
Baltic States and near, in and over
Leningrad. Luftflotte 1 contained
Fliegerkorps I under the command of
Helmuth Förster.
Other Axis air forces The
Royal Romanian Air Force was considered weak by the OKL, and therefore unlikely to play a great role in the ground fighting. Far more attention was given by the OKW to training and preparing the
Romanian Army. Hitler, on 18 June 1941, declared that the primary mission of the Romanian air arm was to defend Romania and the Romanian oilfields. Only when those forces were sufficient, could they divert the remaining forces to ground support operations for
Barbarossa. On 21 June 1941, it possessed a balanced fleet of 53 Squadrons; 11 bomber (five modern), 17 fighter (nine modern), 15 reconnaissance, six liaison, two
flying boat, one transport and one air ambulance unit. On the 22 June, there was 160 fighters and 82 bombers in service. Total strength amounted to 380 aircraft. Only 30 of the Romanian fighters were Bf 109s, of the E model. However, this small force did not remain inferior in numbers for along. Despite a weak inter-war economy, the aircraft industry was run very efficiently, and they were able to produce some very capable aircraft; such as the
IAR 37,
IAR 39 and
IAR 80. Unlike the army that stagnated, it was able to garner the cream of the Romanian officer corps. With the right support, organisation and modern equipment, it was able to grow in number and match its enemies in quality. In air defence and ground support operations it performed well, but failed in strategic bomber and naval operations owing to a lack of doctrine. Within a few weeks of
Barbarossa beginning, it was able to put up 1,061 aircraft, including 400 trainers. The modern combat aircraft were focused into one unified
Air Combat Group, or GAL (Gruparea Aerienă de Luptă), while the obsolete types were given the
Romanian Fourth Army, operating under the German
Army Group South.
Soviet Organisation Since 1935, Soviet military aviation had been divided between the army (VVS KA) and the navy (VVS VMF). The VVS KA had been split into four different organisations owing to faulty conclusions drawn from the
Winter War. Owing to a lack of coordination in close support operations with the
Red Army, the entire VVS KA was subordinated to the field armies. The existence of too many different branches under separate commands in Soviet air power caused coordination problems (made worse by Axis bombing during
Barbarossa). Most Soviet bomber units could not coordinate with fighter aviation, consequently they did not have fighter escort for long periods. The total strength of the VVS amounted to 61 divisions; 18 fighter, nine bomber and 34 mixed. Five brigades were also included. The Front Air Forces were divided into Districts (later 'Fronts') and the home defence, the PVO. This element had 40.5 per cent of the Soviet air strength. The Army Air Forces comprised 43.7 per cent of the VVS' strength. The liaison squadrons were a collection of individual squadrons assigned to different army corps of the ground army (KAE). They comprised only 2.3 per cent. • VVS Baltic Special Military District, later the
VVS North-Western Front • 8 SAD • 15 IAP • 31 IAP • 61 ShAP. • 57 IAD • 42 IAP • 49 IAP • 54 SBAP • 7 SAD • 10 IAP • 9 SBAP • 46 BAP • 241 SBAP • 6 SAD • 21 IAP • 31 SBAP • 40 BAP • 148 IAP • 4 SAD • 38 IAP • 35 SBAP • 50 SBAP • 53 SBAP The total strength of the front was 1,211 aircraft. ====Odessa Front and
Long Range Aviation==== • VVS Odessa Military District, later the
VVS Southern Front • 146 RAP • 317 RAP • 20 SAD (
Beltsy and
Tiropol) • 4 IAP • 45 SBAP • 55 IAP • 211 SBAP • 21 SAD (
Bolgrad-Vorms) • 5 BAP • 69 IAP • 67 IAP • 168 IAP • 299 ShAP The total strength of the front was 950 aircraft. bomber. • DBA (Long-range Strategic Bomber Aviation) • 1 BAK (Bomber Aviation Group) (
Novgorod) • 40 DBAD • 53 DBAD • 200 DBAD • 7 TDBAP • 2 BAK (
Kursk) • 35 DBAD • 100 DBAD • 219 DBAD • 223 DBAD • 48 DBAD • 51 DBAD • 220 DBAD • 221 DBAD • 222 DBAD • 3 BAK (
Smolensk) • 52 DBAD • 3 TBDAP • 98 DBAD • 212 DBAD • 42 DBAD • 1 TBDAP • 96 DBAD • 207 DBAD • 4 BAK (
Zaporozhye) • 22 DBAD • 8 DBAD • 11 DBAD • 21 DBAD • 50 DBAD • 81 DBA • 299 DBAP • 231 DBAP • 228 DBAP • 18 DBAD (Independent Division) (
Skomorokhy and
Boryspil) • 14 TDBAP • 90 DBAP • 93 DBAP The total strength of the front was 1,332 aircraft; 1,122 DB-3s, 20 TB-3s, and nine TB-7s. ==Notes==