At the peak of the Cold War in the 1950s the Soviet Union possessed some
12,000 aircraft, making it the largest air force of all the
protagonists. By the 1990s this had declined to around 8,000, the
reduction largely reflecting the increase in aircraft capability.
As well as fighters and bombers, the Soviet inventory included trainers,
transports, seaplanes, electronic warfare and ground attack aircraft, as
well as an impressive helicopter fleet, notably the Mi-24 'Hind' gunship
and the massive Homer transport.
The Tu-4 'Bull' was the first Russian nuclear-capable bomber, a copy of
the US B-29, which was followed by their range of jet bombers, the Il-28
'Beagle', Tu-16 'Badger' and M-4 'Bison'. The prop driven Tu-20 'Bear'
and its successors including the Tu-22 'Backfire' and finally the Tu-160
'Backfire', were all formidable.
The jet-engined MiG-15 fighter entered service in 1948 and proved itself
during the Korean War. The MiG-17, MiG-19 and MiG-21 followed .
Ground-attack aircraft included the Su-7 'Fitter' and M-23 'Flogger'.
The 1970s saw the MiG-25 'Foxbat' interceptor, followed by the MiG-29
'Fulcrum' and Su-27 'Flanker', coming into service.
All these aircraft and many more are authoritatively described and
vividly illustrated in this comprehensive work.
