Dear Friends,
Exactly 80 years ago, in 1943, one of the largest air battles on the Eastern front of WWII was fought in the skies of Kuban. One of our modules, Battle of Kuban, and several official campaigns are dedicated to these events, but there is a lot more to tell. We are proud to announce the new historical campaign "Sky Nomads" for the Battle of Kuban.
About the Campaign
In May 1943 the battle for the Kuban bridgehead entered its decisive phase. The North Caucasian Front troops managed to capture the village of Krymskaya, but the main German defensive line was never broken through. The Soviet command began preparing a new offensive operation, which began on May 26 in the Kievskoye – Moldavanskoye sector. The success of the actions of the ground forces largely depended on the outcome of the battle that unfolded in the air between the Red Army Air Force and the Luftwaffe.
You will take on the role of deputy squadron commander of the 43rd IAP (Fighter Air Regiment), which is part of the 278th Fighter Air Division of Major General Savitsky's 3rd Fighter Air Corps. The regiment arrived in the Kuban at the end of April and immediately joined the struggle to gain air supremacy, changing airfields several times and taking part in all the main events at the front.
You can expect both the standard tasks of covering friendly ground troops, patrolling, escorting, and intercepting, as well as intense battles over your airfields and sorties for reconnaissance and strikes deep in enemy territory.
Timeframe: May 6th – June 5th, 1943
Unit: 43rd IAP of 278th IAD
Aircraft: Yak-7b series 36
Duration: 15 missions
Average playtime: 8 hours
Author: Alexander =BlackSix= Timoshkov
While being an independent creation, Sky Nomads continues the story of the Soviet fighter pilot you may know from the Blazing Steppe campaign.
The campaign is scheduled to be released soon, in June or early July.
The origins of the battle
In late April 1943, having thwarted the enemy's plans to eliminate the 18th Army bridgehead around Myskhako near Novorossiysk, the troops of the North Caucasian front launched a new offensive in the central sector. By May 4, after many difficult and violent encounters, they managed to liberate Krymskaya, but their progress was halted once they reached the main German defense perimeter. The Soviet command needed an operational pause to regroup its forces and prepare for a new offensive.
The operational situation as it was at the end of April, at the time of the campaign start and at the end of May 1943:
Soviet fighter aviation in the spring of 1943
The battle in the air above Kuban that began in mid-April was growing more intense and reaching a scale never before seen. On the Soviet side, the 4th and the 5th Air Armies participated in the battle, as well as the Black Sea Fleet Air Force which had been exigently supplemented with two air divisions and three air corps. Major General Savitsky's 3rd Fighter Air Corps (IAK) was expected to play a key part in the ensuring air supremacy.
The 3rd IAK arrived at the front on April 19 and immediately joined the combat effort, remaining at the epicenter of events until the end of the active combat phase in June 1943. The corps included the 265th and 278th Fighter Air Divisions (IAD) that were utilizing latest modifications Yak-1b and Yak-7b fighters. A small number of Yak-9s were also supplied to the air corps in May.
The 3rd IAK fighters: Yak-1b, Yak-9 and Yak-7b.
The nomad life of the 43rd IAP
Colonel Lisin's 278th IAD included the 15th, 43rd, and 274th Fighter Air Regiments (IAP), stationed on the Novotitarovskaya and Novovelichkovskaya airfields to the north of Krasnodar. These fields were over 70 km away from the front line, which significantly limited the amount of time the Yaks spent in the area of operations. In early May, the 278th IAD regiments received an order to relocate closer to the front, to the Slavyanskaya and Krasnoarmeyskaya airfields.
At this moment the relatively calm life of the 43rd IAP has ended and our story started. The regiment moved to Krasnoarmeyskaya on May 6th, Slavyanskaya on May 8th, and then back to Krasnoarmeyskaya the next day. On May 16th Luftwaffe attacked the airfield, and the regiment moved back to Novotitarovskaya.
On May 27th, after the beginning of the offensive in Kievskoye-Moldavanskoye sector, the 43rd IAP moved to the forward airfield Abinskaya. After surviving another airfield strike and losing nearly all machines in the endless air skirmishes the regiment returned to Novotitarovskaya on June 9th and on June 16th it was pulled from the front.
Other news
We welcome you to participate in the ongoing air races qualification if you haven't done so yet (it ends in two days!). Meanwhile, we're working not only on the new aircraft (we'll post new screenshots as soon as new birds become air worthy), but on other improvements as well. In the coming update 5.104 you'll get new mission types for the Normandy career mode - Transport Escort, Air Photo Recon for Sondercommando Götz (time to prep your Arado handling skills) and Artillery Spotting on Spitfire (navy shore bombardment looks nice)! The new mission types will be in the Normandy career at first and added to other maps where applicable after it.