The other was the Soviet Air Defence Forces. The groups were also involved in the Korean War , and dissolved along with the Soviet Union itself in β Former Soviet Air Forces' assets were subsequently divided into several air forces of former Soviet republics , including the new Russian Air Force. The " March of the Pilots " was its marching song.
This was a Bolshevik aerial headquarters initially led by Konstantin Akashev. Along with a general postwar military reorganisation, the collegium was reconstituted as the "Workers' and Peasants' Red Air Fleet" Glavvozduhflot , established on 24 May and given the top-level departmental status of "Main Directorate".
After the creation of the Soviet state many efforts were made in order to modernize and expand aircraft production, led by its charismatic and energetic commander, General Yakov Alksnis , an eventual victim of Joseph Stalin 's Great Purge.
One of the first major tests for the VVS came in with the Spanish Civil War , in which the latest Soviet and German aircraft designs were employed against each other in fierce air-to-air combat. At first, the I proved superior to any Luftwaffe fighters, and managed to achieve local air superiority wherever they were employed. However, the Soviets refused to supply the plane in adequate numbers, and their aerial victories were soon squandered because of their limited use.
Later, Messerschmitt Bf s delivered to Franco's Spanish Nationalist air forces secured air superiority for the Nationalists, one they would never relinquish. The early s saw a shift in ideological focus away from collectivist propaganda and towards "positive heroism.
