Thanx Erich! Very interesting! Now I know why they didnīt fire all the rockets at the same time!!
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Some Finnish Air Force WW2 interesting facts:
In spring of 1944 the Soviets decided to take Finland before beginning their advance towards Berlin. They amassed a tenfold superiority in troops and aircraft on the Karelian Isthmus and began their strategic offensive on 9th June 1944. Their advance achieved initial success, forcing the withdrawal of Finnish forces along the Isthmus, but in July 1944 the Finns were able to stabilize the front at the Vuoksi River and further attempts by the Soviet forces to advance beyond this line were repelled. The process seen in the Winter War was repeated.
Despite the Soviet superiority in numbers of aircraft, the FAF was able to concentrate its air forces and continue to achieve good results. The Brewsters, along with the Morane, Fiat and Curtiss fighters, although continuing their operations, became obsolete in terms of performance from 1943 on, and new fighters, Messerschmitt 109 G (MT)s, were received, although once again only in small numbers. When the Soviet offensive began, the units had about 40 Messerschmitts. Fortunately, the FAF was able to get 74 more fighters from Germany during the campaign, so that despite the fierce battles, the number of Messerschmitt fighters actually increased during the summer of 1944. The number of bombers in the flying units at the beginning of June 1944 was 66.
One good example of the ability to achieve local and temporal air superiority was the fact that the FAF bombers and a German support unit known as Kuhlmey were able to continue their effective air raids, which were vital contributions to the war effort, as the bombings could be concentrated on Soviet massed troops just before their preplanned attack times. Warnings of impending troop movements were usually captured by radio intelligence. It is also significant that no bombers in the formations escorted by the Messerschmitts were lost to enemy fighters during this period. The Messerschmitt fighters achieved an exchange ratio of 25:1.
Again the Finnish fighter force was stronger in the end of the war than it had been in the beginning of that. Also, during the wars the number of Finnish fighter aces had become a world record in relation to population. And almost all the Finnish top aces were fighting at the end of the war just as they had been at the beginning.
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When the Soviet attack started on 9th June 1944 the enemy concentrated on the Karelian Isthmus about 1500 aircraft. Their mission was to bomb the Finnish front line troops and transportations, to reconnoiter the defence positions and to maintain the air superiority. The main idea was to break the defensive line with a heavy bombardment. The Soviet air task lacked the strategic elements and being more tactical directed the Soviet air resources to a very small operation area. This made the Finnish fighter units` task much easier because now the limited fighter force could be concentrated effectively on that same small area. Only the MT fighters had good enough performance to fight successfully against the manyfold superior numbers of the attacker. Other fighter types were transferred to secure the rear and side sectors.
The intercept sorties were flown with as many fighters as was available at any certain moment, usually 8 - 20 fighters. The basic idea was that the top section or division attacked on the Soviet escort fighters while the lower division or flight attacked on the bombers. However, often, due to the great numbers of the Soviet escort fighters, all of the Finnish fighters had to commit themselves to the fighter combats. Anyhow, the Finnish principle was always to attack even as a section regardless of the numbers of the enemy. The limited fighter force was not able to repulse the bomb raids, but it caused continuous losses which were eating the enemy pilot cadre. The attacks scattered the Soviet formations and spread the combat over a larger area where the enemy could not get the direct benefit from the big numbers. The duels were solved by the combat skill and shooting accuracy of the individual pilots and the Finns proved to be the winners almost always. There were several occasions in which the Soviet formation turned back after seeing the Finnish fighters in the interception position (22).
One very important mission for the Finnish fighters was to escort own bomber formations. These played a decisive role in the defence because the bombings could be concentrated on attacking massed troops just before preplanned attack times. Warnings of impending troop movements were continually being captured by radio intelligence. The bomber formations included usually 30 - 40 aircraft and they were escorted by 12 - 18 fighters divided in three groups. The first group escorted the lower bombers, mainly Blenheims, the second group escorted the higher bombers, mainly Junkers Ju 88s and the third group flew as a top cover. The fighters escorted the bombers also during the return flight to 30 - 60 miles over own side, and then returned over the front line to patrol.
http://www.sci.fi/~fta/fintac-5.htm
