The air force of the Third Reich (Luftwaffe) from the very beginning of the war with the Soviet Union had to experience the fury of the Soviet "falcons". Heinrich Goering, Reich Minister of the Reich Ministry of Aviation in 1935-1945, was forced to forget his boastful words that "No one will ever be able to gain air superiority over the German aces!"
On the very first day of the Great Patriotic War, German pilots encountered such a reception as an air ram. This technique was first proposed by the Russian aviator N. A. scout.
During the Great Patriotic War, an air ram was not provided for by the military regulations, any instructions or instructions, and Soviet pilots resorted to this technique not by order of the command. Soviet people were driven by love for the Motherland, hatred of the invaders and the fury of the battle, a sense of duty and personal responsibility for the fate of the Fatherland. As the Chief Marshal of Aviation (since 1944), twice Hero of the Soviet Union Alexander Alexandrovich Novikov, who was commander of the Soviet Air Force from May 1943 to 1946, wrote: “An air ram is not only lightning-fast calculation, exceptional courage and self-control. A ram in the sky is, first of all, a readiness for self-sacrifice, the last test of loyalty to one's people, to one's ideals. This is one of the highest forms of manifestation of the very moral factor inherent in Soviet people, which the enemy did not and could not take into account."
During the Great War, Soviet pilots made more than 600 air rams (their exact number is unknown, since research continues at the present time, new feats of Stalin's falcons are gradually becoming known). More than two-thirds of the rams fell on 1941-1942 - this is the most difficult period of the war. In the fall of 1941, a circular was even sent out to the Luftwaffe, which forbade the approach to Soviet aircraft closer than 100 meters in order to avoid air ramming.
It should be noted that the pilots of the Soviet Air Force used ramming on all types of aircraft: fighters, bombers, attack aircraft and reconnaissance aircraft. Air rams were carried out in single and group battles, day and night, at high and low altitudes, over their own territory and over the territory of the enemy, in any weather conditions. There were cases when pilots rammed a ground or water target. So, the number of ground rams is almost equal to air attacks - more than 500. Perhaps the most famous ground ram is a feat that was performed on June 26, 1941 on a DB-3f (Il-4, two-engine long-range bomber) by the crew of Captain Nikolai Gastello. The bomber was hit by enemy anti-aircraft artillery fire and committed the so-called. "Fire ram", striking the enemy mechanized column.
In addition, it cannot be said that an air ram would necessarily lead to the death of the pilot. Statistics show that approximately 37% of the pilots were killed in an air ramming attack. The rest of the pilots not only remained alive, but even kept the aircraft in a more or less combat-ready state, so many aircraft could continue air combat and made a successful landing. There are examples when pilots made two successful rams in one air battle. Several dozen Soviet pilots performed the so-called. "Double" battering rams, this is when it was not possible to shoot down the enemy plane from the first time and then it was necessary to finish it off with the second blow. There is even a case when the fighter pilot O. Kilgovatov, in order to destroy the enemy, had to make four ram attacks. 35 Soviet pilots made two rams each, N. V. Terekhin and A. S. Khlobystov - three each.
Boris Ivanovich Kovzan (1922 - 1985) - this is the only pilot in the world who made four air rams, and three times he returned to his home airfield on his plane. On August 13, 1942, Captain B. I. Kovzan made the fourth ram on the La-5 single-engine fighter. The pilot found a group of enemy bombers and fighters and entered into battle with them. In a fierce battle, his plane was shot down. An enemy machine-gun burst fell on the cockpit of the fighter, the instrument panel was smashed, shrapnel cut the pilot's head. The car was on fire. Boris Kovzan felt a sharp pain in his head and one eye, so he hardly noticed how one of the German planes launched a frontal attack on him. The machines were closing fast. “If the German can't stand it now and turns upwards, then it will be necessary to ram,” thought Kovzan. A pilot wounded in the head on a burning plane went to a ram.
When the planes collided in the air, Kovzan was thrown out of the cockpit from a sharp impact, since the belts simply burst. He flew 3500 meters without opening the parachute in a semi-conscious state, and only already above the ground, at an altitude of only 200 meters, he woke up and pulled the exhaust ring. The parachute was able to open, but the impact on the ground was still very strong. The Soviet ace came to his senses in a Moscow hospital on the seventh day. He had several wounds from shrapnel, his collarbone and jaw, both arms and legs were broken. The doctors could not save the pilot's right eye. Kovzan's treatment continued for two months. Everyone well understood that only a miracle saved him in this air battle. The verdict of the commission for Boris Kovzan was very difficult: "You can't fly anymore." But it was a real Soviet falcon, who could not imagine life without flights and the sky. Kovzan has been pursuing his dream all his life! At one time they did not want to take him to the Odessa Military Aviation School, then Kovzan attributed a year to himself and begged the doctors of the medical commission, although he did not get 13 kilograms of weight to the norm. And he achieved his goal. He was driven by a strong confidence, if you constantly strive for a goal, it will be achieved.
He was wounded, but now he is healthy, his head is in place, his arms and legs have been restored. As a result, the pilot got to the Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force A. Novikov. He promised to help. Received a new conclusion of the medical board: "Suitable for flights on all types of fighters." Boris Kovzan writes a report with a request to send him to the belligerent units, receives several refusals. But this time he achieved his goal, the pilot was enrolled in the 144th Air Defense Division (Air Defense) near Saratov. In total, during the years of World War II, the Soviet pilot flew 360 sorties, took part in 127 air battles, shot down 28 German aircraft, 6 of them after being seriously wounded and being one-eyed. In August 1943 he received the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Boris Kovzan
During the Great Patriotic War, Soviet pilots used various aerial ramming techniques:
A blow with an airplane propeller on the tail unit of the enemy. The attacking aircraft enters the enemy from behind and strikes with a propeller on its tail unit. This blow led to the destruction of the enemy aircraft or loss of control. This was the most common aerial ramming technique during the Great War. If executed correctly, the pilot of the attacking aircraft had a fairly good chance of surviving. In a collision with an enemy aircraft, only the propeller usually suffers, and even if it failed, there were chances to land the car or jump with a parachute.
Wing kick. It was carried out both with a head-on approach of aircraft, and when approaching the enemy from behind. The blow was inflicted by the wing on the tail or fuselage of an enemy aircraft, including the cockpit of the target aircraft. Sometimes this technique was used to complete a frontal attack.
Fuselage impact. It was considered the most dangerous type of air ram for a pilot. This technique also includes a collision of aircraft during a frontal attack. Interestingly, even with this outcome, some of the pilots survived.
Airplane tail blow (I. Sh. Bikmukhametov's ram). The ramming by Ibragim Shagiakhmedovich Bikmukhametov on August 4, 1942. He went out into the forehead of the enemy aircraft with a slide and a turn, struck with the tail of his fighter on the enemy's wing. As a result, the enemy fighter lost control, fell into a tailspin and died, and Ibragim Bikmukhametov was even able to bring his LaGG-Z to the airfield and land safely.
Bikmukhametov graduated from the 2nd Borisoglebsk Red Banner Military Aviation Pilot School. VP Chkalov, in the winter of 1939 - 1940 he took part in the war with Finland. The junior lieutenant participated in the Great Patriotic War from the very beginning, until November 1941 he served in the 238th Fighter Aviation Regiment (IAP), then in the 5th Guards IAP. The regiment commander noted that the pilot was "brave and decisive."
On August 4, 1942, six single and single-engine LaGG-Z fighters of the 5th Guards IAP, led by Guards Major Grigory Onufrienko, flew out to cover the ground forces in the Rzhev area. The flight commander Ibragim Bikmukhametov was also part of this group. Behind the front line, Soviet fighters met 8 enemy Me-109 fighters. The Germans were on a parallel course. A fleeting air battle began. It ended with the victory of our pilots: 3 Luftwaffe aircraft were destroyed. One of them was shot down by squadron commander G. Onufrienko, two other "Messerschmitts" I. Bikmukhametov. The first Me-109 pilot attacked on a combat turn, hitting him with a cannon and two machine guns, the enemy plane went to the ground. In the heat of battle, I. Bikmukhametov late noticed another enemy aircraft, which entered the tail of his car from above. But the flight commander was not taken aback, he energetically made a hill and with a sharp turn went to the German. The enemy could not stand the attack head-on and tried to turn his plane away. The enemy pilot was able to avoid meeting with the propeller blades of the machine of I. Bikmukhametov. But our pilot contrived and, sharply turning the car back, struck a strong blow with the tail of his "iron" (as the Soviet pilots called this fighter) on the wing of the "Messer". The enemy fighter fell into a tailspin and soon fell into the thicket of a dense forest.
Bikmukhametov was able to bring the heavily damaged car to the airfield. It was the 11th enemy aircraft shot down by Ibragim Bikmukhametov. During the war, the pilot was awarded 2 Orders of the Red Banner and the Order of the Red Star. The brave pilot died on December 16, 1942 in the Voronezh region. During the battle with the superior forces of the enemy, his plane was shot down and during a forced landing, trying to save the fighter, the wounded pilot crashed.
LaGG-3
The first rams of the Great Patriotic War
Researchers are still arguing about who committed the first ram on June 22, 1941. Some believe that it was a senior lieutenant. Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov, others call the author of the first ram of the Great Patriotic War, junior lieutenant Dmitry Vasilyevich Kokorev.
I. I. Ivanov (1909 - June 22, 1941) served in the ranks of the Red Army in the fall of 1931, then was sent on a Komsomol ticket to the Perm Aviation School. In the spring of 1933 Ivanov was sent to the 8th Odessa Military Aviation School. Initially he served in the 11th Light Bomber Regiment in the Kiev Military District, in 1939 he took part in the Polish campaign to liberate Western Ukraine and Western Belarus, then in the “Winter War” with Finland. At the end of 1940 he graduated from the courses for fighter pilots. He was appointed to the 14th Mixed Aviation Division, deputy squadron commander of the 46th IAP.
Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov
At dawn on June 22, 1941, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Ivanov took to the skies on a combat alert at the head of the I-16 flight (according to another version, the pilots were on the I-153) to intercept a group of enemy aircraft that were approaching the Mlynov airfield. In the air, Soviet pilots found 6 twin-engine He-111 bombers from the 7th squadron of the KG 55 "Grif" squadron. Senior Lieutenant Ivanov led a flight of fighters to attack the enemy. A link of Soviet fighters dived into the lead bomber. Bomber shooters opened fire on Soviet aircraft. Coming out of the dive, the I-16s repeated the attack. One of the Heinkels was hit. The rest of the enemy bombers dropped their bombs before reaching the target and began to go west. After a successful attack, both of Ivanov's slaves went to their airfield, since, avoiding enemy fire, maneuvering, they used up almost all the fuel. Ivanov, letting them go to the landing, continued pursuit, but then, he also decided to land, because the fuel ran out, and the ammunition ran out. At this time, an enemy bomber appeared over the Soviet airfield. Noticing him, Ivanov went to meet him, but the German, firing machine-gun fire, did not turn off the course. The only way to stop the enemy was the ram. From the impact, the bomber (the Soviet plane cut off the tail of the German car with a screw), which was led by non-commissioned officer H. Volfeil, lost control and crashed into the ground. The entire German crew was killed. But I. Ivanov's plane was also badly damaged. Due to the low altitude, the pilot could not use the parachute and died. This ram took place at 4 hours 25 minutes in the morning near the village of Zagoroshcha, Rivne district, Rivne region. On August 2, 1941, Senior Lieutenant Ivan Ivanovich Ivanov posthumously became a Hero of the Soviet Union.
I-16
Around the same time, a junior lieutenant rammed Dmitry Vasilievich Kokorev (1918 - 1941-12-10). A native of Ryazan, he served in the 9th mixed aviation division, in the 124th IAP (Western Special Military District). The regiment was stationed at the Vysoko Mazovetsk border airfield, near the town of Zambrov (Western Ukraine). After the war began, the commander of the regiment, Major Polunin, instructed the young pilot to reconnoiter the situation in the area of the state border of the USSR, which has now become the line of contact between Soviet and German troops.
At 4:05 in the morning, when Dmitry Kokorev was returning from reconnaissance, the Luftwaffe made the first powerful blow at the airfield, since the regiment interfered with the flight inland. The fight was fierce. The airfield was badly damaged.
And then Kokarev saw the Dornier-215 reconnaissance bomber (according to other information, the Me-110 multipurpose aircraft) leaving the Soviet airfield. Apparently, it was a Hitlerite reconnaissance officer who monitored the result of the first strike on the fighter aviation regiment. Anger blinded the Soviet pilot, abruptly jerking the MiG high-altitude fighter into a combat turn, Kokorev went on the attack, in a fever he opened fire ahead of time. He missed, but the German shooter hit right - a line of breaks pierced the right plane of his car.
Enemy aircraft at maximum speed went to the state border. Dmitry Kokorev went on the second attack. He reduced the distance, not paying attention to the frantic shooting of the German shooter, approaching the range of the shot, Kokorev pressed the trigger, but the ammunition was over. For a long time, the Soviet pilot did not think, it was impossible to let go of the enemy, he sharply increased speed and threw the fighter at the enemy vehicle. The MiG slashed with its propeller near the Dornier's tail.
This aerial ramming occurred at 4:15 am (according to other sources - at 4.35 am) in front of the infantrymen and border guards who defended the city of Zambrov. The fuselage of the German plane snapped in half, and the Dornier crashed to the ground. Our fighter went into a tailspin, its engine stalled. Kokorev came to his senses and was able to pull the car out of the terrible rotation. I chose a clearing for landing and landed successfully. It should be noted that Junior Lieutenant Kokorev was an ordinary Soviet private pilot, of whom there were hundreds in the Air Force of the Red Army. Behind the shoulders of the junior lieutenant was only a flight school.
Unfortunately, the hero did not live to see Victory. He made 100 sorties, shot down 5 enemy aircraft. When his regiment fought near Leningrad, on October 12, intelligence reported that a large number of enemy Junkers had been found at the airfield in Siverskaya. The weather was bad, the Germans did not take to the air in such conditions and did not wait for our planes. It was decided to strike at the airfield. A group of 6 of our Pe-2 dive bombers (they were called "Pawns"), accompanied by 13 MiG-3 fighters, appeared over the "Siverskaya" and came as a complete surprise to the Nazis.
Low-altitude incendiary bombs hit right on target, machine-gun fire and fighter rockets completed the rout. The Germans were able to lift only one fighter into the air. The Pe-2s had already been bombed and were leaving, only one bomber lagged behind. Kokorev rushed to his defense. He shot down the enemy, but at this time the air defense of the Germans woke up. Dmitry's plane was shot down and crashed.
The first …
Ekaterina Ivanovna Zelenko (1916 - September 12, 1941) became the first woman on the planet to carry out an aerial ram. Zelenko graduated from the Voronezh Aero Club (in 1933), the 3rd Orenburg Military Aviation School named after V. I. K. E. Voroshilov (in 1934). She served in the 19th Light Bomber Aviation Brigade in Kharkov, was a test pilot. Within 4 years, she mastered seven types of aircraft. This is the only female pilot who participated in the "Winter War" (as part of the 11th Light Bomber Aviation Regiment). She was awarded the Order of the Red Banner - she flew 8 combat missions.
She participated in the Great Patriotic War from the first day, fighting as part of the 16th mixed aviation division, was deputy commander of the 5th squadron of the 135th bomber aviation regiment. She managed to make 40 sorties, including night ones. On September 12, 1941, she made 2 successful reconnaissance sorties in a Su-2 bomber. But, despite the fact that during the second flight her Su-2 was damaged, Ekaterina Zelenko took off for the third time on the same day. Already returning, in the area of the city of Romny, two Soviet planes were attacked by 7 enemy fighters. Ekaterina Zelenko was able to shoot down one Me-109, and when she ran out of ammunition, she rammed a second German fighter. The pilot destroyed the enemy, but at the same time she died.
Monument to Ekaterina Zelenko in Kursk.
Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin (1918 - October 27, 1941) made a night ram, which became the most famous in this war, shooting down an Xe-111 bomber on the night of August 7, 1941 on an I-16 near Podolsk (Moscow region). For a long time it was considered that this is the first night ram in the history of aviation. Only later did it become known that on the night of July 29, 1941, the fighter pilot of the 28th IAP Peter Vasilievich Eremeev on a MiG-3 plane, he shot down an enemy Junkers-88 bomber with a ramming blow. He died on October 2, 1941 in an air battle (September 21, 1995 Eremeev for courage and military valor, posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia).
On October 27, 1941, 6 fighters under the command of V. Talalikhin flew to cover our forces in the area of the village of Kamenka, on the banks of the Nara (85 km west of the capital). They collided with 9 enemy fighters, in the battle Talalikhin shot down one "Messer", but another was able to knock him out, the pilot died a heroic death …
Viktor Vasilievich Talalikhin.
The crew of Viktor Petrovich Nosov from the 51st mine and torpedo regiment of the Baltic Fleet Air Force carried out the first ram of a ship in the history of the war with the help of a heavy bomber. The lieutenant commanded the A-20 torpedo bomber (American Douglas A-20 Havoc). On February 13, 1945, in the southern part of the Baltic Sea, during an attack by an enemy transport of 6 thousand tons, a Soviet plane was shot down. The commander directed the burning car directly into the enemy transport. The plane hit the target, an explosion occurred, the enemy ship sank. The crew of the plane: Lieutenant Viktor Nosov (commander), junior lieutenant Alexander Igoshin (navigator) and Sergeant Fyodor Dorofeev (radio operator), died a heroic death.
