A history and analysis of the fierce air war over the massive battlefield of Kursk, where the Soviet air forces for the first time fought the all-conquering Luftwaffe to a standstill. The battle of Kursk was the last opportunity for the Luftwaffe to fully support a large-scale offensive, and was the Soviet air forces' first success in battling their opponents to a standstill during summer months. Aiming to gain a success to stabilize the Eastern Front for the summer, Hitler ordered a concerted attack intended to cut off and destroy Red Army forces holding the Kursk salient. The Axis and Soviets deployed thousands of armoured fighting vehicles, and huge engagements took place among the minefields and trenches to the north and south of the salient. In this book William E. Hiestand explains the complex air war over Kursk played out. Massive engagements took place above the clashes of armor, with both sides deploying for the first time masses of aircraft specifically designed for destroying tanks and other ground targets, struggling to attain air superiority, while bringing their Stukas, Hs 129s, and Il-2 Shturmoviks down for repeated low level attack runs in the face of enemy fighters and anti-aircraft fire. But the campaign also involved strategic bombing behind the front lines, attacking airfields and rail junctions.

Offering a day-by-day examination of the air forces' actions, this book reveals the scale and intensity of the combat over the Kursk salient, the great turning point of the Eastern Front campaign.