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One of the gaps in my knowledge of WW II concerns the Russian Air Force.

Yes, the US supplied materiel in abundance to the Russkies: and I'd match the US production capabilities to Russia's in a heartbeat (the US produced some 48 Thousand Sherman tanks and variants, according to the good folks at Avalon Hill).

But I've never heard or read much about the Russian Air Force's capabilities: neither the quality of their *designs*, nor the actual airframes, nor yet again the skill of their pilots.

And I read once that Stalin pulled out of a planned takeover of Iran in '46 or when Truman sent an envoy to threaten Stalin that if he didn't leave, we'd nuke him.

Doesn't square with what you wrote -- can you give me more information?

Full Disclosure: I just bought your "Patriot's History of the United States" and "48 Liberal Lies" for my college-type cub for Christmas. I hope he lets me read them when he's done...

Cheers!

...oh, and Merry Christmas!

Paul Johnson writes that the British and Americans were supplying Soviet airplane engines as late as 1946. Their designs, mostly from Yakovlev and Tupelov, were good---probably the equal to all but the most state-of-the-art FW 190s at the time, but the Germans just didn't have many by the time they were fighting the Red Air Force on a regular basis.

The number on the Shermans and other tanks was 95,000, of which we gave 11,000 to Russia. I've heard the Iran story, but haven't confirmed it in any sources yet. But it's a big difference for Stalin to go to war over Iran, which he almost certainly couldn't hold and never occupied the way he had eastern Europe, and Germany or Poland. But the point is BOTH knew they couldn't win based on their strengths---his conventional forces couldn't be stopped without our atomic bombs, but we couldn't invade WITH the atomic bombs. Stalemate.