Death in the Sky: How Russian "Storm Birds" Wreaked Havoc on Hitler's Armor

Great history share.

WWII became a war of attrition. The Germans could not match the production of tanks, planes, fuel, pilots that the Russians, Americans, and England could produce. It was just a matter of time we would overwhelm the Germans. By the end of the war the Germans had more planes than pilots. Pilot attrition was facilitated by inexperienced pilots who were shot down easily. The Battle of the Bulge crashed and burned as they ran out of fuel. Despite the sophistication of German technology, they relied on horses for much of their supplies. This was a horrific solution for thousands of miles of travel through the Russian winter. The horses had to pull fodder and were worn out. They eventually were eaten as the German army experienced extreme attrition in the bitter winter. This is another example of an army ill prepared for a long campaign because they thought it would be an easy victory. The Germans were not dressed for the Russian winter. Napoleon made the same mistake.

Crap I did not intend to write so much. lol

In many ways the Shturmovik was a forerunner of today’s A-10 “Warthog,and used for close air support, which is capable of providing punishing damage to hardened ground targets while protecting its pilot with its toughened shell.