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Sardaukar -> RE: OT The P39 (3/23/2020 7:48:18 AM)
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P-63 Kingcobra was what P-39 should have been.
Just that it came so late that there was no need for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_P-63_Kingcobra
And about P-39 use as ground attack plane primarily by Soviets vs. Germans is totally false.
A common Western misconception is that the Bell fighters were used as ground attack aircraft.
One of the enduring myths regarding the P-39/P-63 in Soviet use is that because of its armament, in particular the 37mm nose cannon, it excelled as a ground-attack aircraft, even a 'tank buster'. In translating and preparing this manuscript for publication, I have had the opportunity to peruse several Russian-language sources. Mentions of the employment of this aircraft in the ground-attack role are so rare in these sources as to be exceptional ... The 'tank buster' myth has its roots in the misunderstanding of the general wartime role of the Red Air Force and in the imprecise translation of specific Russian-Language terms that describe this role. The specific Russian-Language term most often used to describe the mission and role of the Airacobra-equipped Red Air Force fighter units, in this manuscript and other Russian-language sources, is prikrytiye sukhoputnykh voysk [coverage of ground forces]... Frequent misunderstanding in this country as to the combat role of the P-39 in Soviet use is based in part on imprecise translation of the term prikrytiye sukhoputnykh voysk to 'ground support'. The latter term as it is understood by many Western military historians and readers, suggests the attacking of ground targets in support of ground troops, also called 'close air support'. Did a Soviet Airacobra pilot ever strafe a German tank? Undoubtedly. But this was never a primary mission or strong suit for this aircraft.
— Soviet Army Colonel Dmitry Loza, Commanding the Red Army's Sherman Tanks: The World War II Memoirs of Hero of the Soviet Union, Dmitriy Loza, Loza and Gebhardt 2002, pp. 15–16.
In other words, "coverage of ground forces" aka CAP, not CAS or ground support.
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