Reply #50: both.

[Hannah Bell]

Soviet Fighter Aces from the Russian 586th Women's Fighter Regiment

L-R : Lilya Litvyak, 12 kills (KIA), Katya Budanova, 11 kills (KIA) and Mariya Kuznetsova



The fighter pilots of the all-women 586th IAP (Russian abbreviation for Fighter Aviation Regiment, same as Fighter Air Regiment) flew a total of 4,419 sorties (per pilot) and participated in more than 125 separate air battles, in which they massed a total of 38 confirmed kills. The USSR highly praised the combat deeds of female pilots: thousands won orders and medals. 29 won titles of Hero of the Soviet Union. 23 of these went to the Night Witches.

read the article in full http://www.ctie.monash.edu.au/hargrave/soviet_women_pilots.html


In 1942, three air regiments were formed from female volunteers:

The 586th Women's Fighter Regiment (initially equipped with Yakovlyev YaK-1s and later YaK-7Bs)
The 587th Women's Day Bomber Regiment (flying Petlyakov Pe-2 2-engined bombers)
The 588th Women's Night Bomber Regiment, the famous "Night Witches" (flying Polikarpov Po-2 biplanes)