Implementation of Radio Stations and Radio Compasses on German and Soviet Aircraft in Combat Operation of the Great Patriotic War

In this article the author examines the situation in aviation related to the provision of Soviet aircraft with a radio support system during the Great Patriotic War. The paper, based on published memoirs, oral recollections of pilots and official sources, provides a comparison of the onboard radio equipment of enemy aircraft (Germany, Japan), and a description of its main components. The author demonstrates what innovative methods of communication with ground services were used by Soviet pilots in the absence of radio communication, as well as various options for communicating and helping each other in the air. By 1943, radio stations began to appear on Soviet aircraft. Domestic instrumentation and radio industries were able not only to modernize existing equipment, but also to create new models of technology: the RSF-6 aircraft radio station, providing two-way communication for fighter and attack aircraft at ranges of up to 150 km, the Pegmatit radar station, new types of aircraft intercoms for two-seat attack aircraft and multi-seat bombers.