A detailed, illustrated account of the aerial campaign that accompanied the Red Army's final assault towards Berlin, in which the massive Soviet air force overcame the powerful Messerschmitt Me 262 aircraft of the Luftwaffe and the Mistel explosive drones. The final months of World War II on the Eastern Front saw a fierce battle between two very different air forces. The Commander of the Soviet Air Force (VVS), Alexander Novikov, assembled 7,500 aircraft in three powerful air armies to support the final assault on Berlin. The Luftwaffe used some of its most advanced weapons, including Me 262 aircraft and remotely-piloted Mistel planes. Using photographs, 3D diagrams, maps, and battle artwork, William E. Hiestand, a military analyst with a long-standing interest in Soviet military history, explains how Germany's use of advanced weapons and the massive Soviet air assaults were not only the culmination of the air battles of World War II but also predicted how the future rivalry with NATO would shape up. The VVS used powerful and flexible air armies to control and exploit its large aircraft force—organizational and operational concepts that would shape Soviet plans and battle preparations during the Cold War. For the first time, this edition explains how air power helped win the war on the Eastern Front and how victory shaped Soviet air power doctrine for the coming decades.