On the eve of the Battle of Kursk, the Red Army Air Force was tasked with gaining complete air supremacy, expelling the Luftwaffe from the battlefield and effectively assisting ground forces in defeating the enemy. The result of fierce two-month battles, it would seem, unequivocally testified: the goals set for the "Stalinist falcons" were achieved, the sky over the fiery arc remained behind the Soviet aviation. However, the true price of this victory, the ratio of real losses of the warring parties for a long time remained outside the framework of official research.