German-Soviet air war 22 June 1941

German-Soviet air war 22 June 1941
Part of the Eastern Front of World War II
Soviet aircraft from the 15th Fighter Regiment of the 8th Mixed Air Division, destroyed by Luftwaffe strikes, abandoned in the southern part of the Kaunas airfield, 22 June 1941.
Date 22 June 1941 (1941-06-22) Location Soviet Union Result German victory The many times superior forces of Soviet aviation were defeated
Belligerents
Soviet Union	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Pavel Zhigarev Aleksandr Novikov Fyodor Michugin Aleksey Ionov Boris Pogrebov Fyodor Polynin	Hermann Göring Hans Jeschonnek Albert Kesselring Alexander Löhr Alfred Keller Hans-Jürgen Stumpff W. von Richthofen Kurt Pflugbeil Bruno Loerzer Robert Ritter von Greim
Strength
Soviet Western Military Districts Total: 10,451[1] combat aircraft including 5,460[2] single-engine fighters	Total: 3,297[2] combat aircraft including 975 single-engine fighters [3]
Casualties and losses
22 June: >2,000[4] combat aircraft 22-24 June Official Soviet data: 3,922[5][6] combat aircraft Independent researchers' estimates: none, access to Soviet archives is closed to Western researchers	22 June Official German combat losses: 35 [7][8] aircraft Independent researchers' estimates: 55[9] or 57[10] aircraft 22-24 June Official German data: 78 aircraft[11]

German-Soviet air war 22 June 1941 was the largest one-day air battle in military history.^[12] The battle involved both aerial dogfights and airstrikes on Soviet airbases. Around 14,000 combat aircraft took part in air war 22 June 1941, with more 2,000 combat aircraft destroyed. The loss ratio was estimated at 35:1 to 60:1 in favor of the Luftwaffe.

The Germans won a convincing victory, demonstrated superiority in tactics, the skills of pilots and, having destroyed significant forces of outnumbered Soviet air forces, gained air supremacy.^[13][14][15] The defeat was seen as forcing the Soviets to request replacement lost aircraft from the western powers, resulting in the July 1941 Anglo-Soviet Agreement cementing the Soviet Union as an Allied Power, despite longstanding ideological differences.^[16]