The influence of the Soviet-Finnish War on the state of Soviet aviation industry before the Great Patriotic War

During the Soviet-Finnish War of 1939–1940, military and civilian aviation of the USSR was widely used in battles. About a thousand aviators were killed in the battles, which weakened the personnel capacity of Soviet aviation. The significant number of aircraft involved in the war, difficult weather conditions, and high intensity of aviation use resulted in significant aircraft losses, which have not been precisely established yet. The tragic incident of a mistaken naval air strike on residential areas in Helsinki at the beginning of the war led to the breakdown of Soviet- American contacts in the field of aviation technology and aviation gasoline production. An analysis of archival sources, Russian and foreign published documents, and published research works by Russian and foreign authors has revealed the impact of the consequences of the air war with Finland on the development of Soviet aviation on the eve of the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet aviation industry, which was already overburdened with production plans, including the urgent need to replace the huge losses in military aviation, and was simultaneously developing a new generation of aircraft, faced serious consequences of the freezing of American technical assistance, which played a crucial role for the industry in the 1930s. The supply of machine tools for aircraft factories and strategic raw materials was frozen, and access to new technologies was restricted. Additionally, the construction of aviation gasoline plants was halted due to a shortage of aviation fuel, which affected the training of personnel. As a result, the development of Soviet aviation was severely hindered during a critical period for the country before the Great Patriotic War. Since this topic has practically not been reflected in Russian historical science, the relevance of this article is due to the need to analyze the negative impact of the above-mentioned consequences on the potential capabilities of one of the key sectors of the Soviet defense industry, the aviation industry, during its radical restructuring in the face of German aggression.