11. The Soviets’ Most Successful Fighter of the War
Historians and history buffs with an interest in WWII’s aerial war often overlook the Eastern Front. Which is unfortunate, because the Eastern Front was the biggest conflict of the war – and history – from the standpoint of the numbers of men, material, and casualties. The war in the air in that theater was just as fierce as that taking place on the ground below. It also saw the debut and mass deployments of one of WWII’s most overlooked great fighters: the Yakovlev Yak-9.
A lightened upgrade of previous Yakovlev fighters, the Yak-9 was initially deployed in October, 1942. It saw its first combat soon thereafter during the Battle of Stalingrad. Standard armament was a nose-mounted 20mm cannon, plus one or two heavy machine guns. It was used mainly to support ground troops by shielding them from German air attacks, and strafing enemy troops when feasible.
