Lend-Lease and Soviet Aviation 1941-1945 Volume 1
Policy, Negotiation, and the First Deliveries
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Erscheint vorauss. 15. Mai 2026
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This opening volume in Vladimir Kotelnikov's authoritative four-part history examines the origins of the Lend-Lease programme and its impact on Soviet aviation in the critical first years of the Second World War. Drawing on Soviet, British, and American archival sources, the author provides the most detailed analysis yet of how policy was shaped, how negotiations were conducted, and how the first deliveries of Western aircraft reached the USSR. The book begins with the political and military background to the programme, including early Soviet requests for matériel, the British government's de...
This opening volume in Vladimir Kotelnikov's authoritative four-part history examines the origins of the Lend-Lease programme and its impact on Soviet aviation in the critical first years of the Second World War. Drawing on Soviet, British, and American archival sources, the author provides the most detailed analysis yet of how policy was shaped, how negotiations were conducted, and how the first deliveries of Western aircraft reached the USSR. The book begins with the political and military background to the programme, including early Soviet requests for matériel, the British government's decision to dispatch Hurricanes and other aircraft in 1941, and the debates within Washington and London over the extent of aid. It explores the practicalities of implementing Lend-Lease, from the establishment of ferry routes across the Arctic and through Iran, to the difficulties of coordinating deliveries during a period of crisis on the Eastern Front. Particular attention is paid to the first aircraft received--Hurricanes, Kittyhawks, and others--and to the way Soviet commanders and pilots responded to these unfamiliar machines. Training, maintenance, and adaptation were immediate challenges, with Soviet ground crews and airmen required to master foreign systems under combat conditions. Kotelnikov evaluates these early experiences, showing how lessons learned in 1941-42 influenced the wider integration of Lend-Lease aviation into Soviet operations in later years. Illustrated with colour profiles, rare photographs, maps, and statistical tables, this volume offers a comprehensive study of the diplomatic, logistical, and operational background to Allied aid. It sets the essential foundation for the following volumes, which explore in detail the combat use of fighters, bombers, transports, and naval aircraft supplied under Lend-Lease, and their long-term impact on the Red Air Force.
