Transcript the German air Force

Overview
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The role air power played in World War II (European
Theater) and its significance
How air power was developed during World War II
The impact of the Allied air campaigns
Interwar Airpower Review
 Axis Powers
 Germany – Largely tactical in supporting the German Army’s Blitzkrieg
strategy. Medium to light bombers; no heavy bombers
 Japan – Dysfunctional split between Army and Navy. Limited airpower in
support of Japanese Army. Naval air was formidable, but was designed around
the protection on the fleet, not a separate sustained air campaign
 Allies
 Russia – Air Force tied completely into supporting Russian Army.
 Great Britain – Reasonably balanced force of Fighters for defense and strategic
bombers for attack – bombing for mass effect (industry/population)
 United States – Reasonably balanced force between the Army and Navy.
Precision daylight strategic bombing would be key to victory.
Strategic means designed to strike at the sources of an enemy’s military,
economic, or political power
Blitzkrieg
 Germany began World War II using its Luftwaffe—the German air
Force—in combination with ground troops
 Germany rolled over a number of countries in short order—including
Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, France, and Belgium
The Battle of Britain
 Britain held off a possible German invasion by maintaining
air superiority over England, despite being outnumbered
4:1 in aircraft. How?
 Radar – Early Warning and Fighter Control to target
 Loiter time over England (German aircraft: roughly 10-20 min)
 German bomber aircraft not designed for a strategic
campaign, they might have been successful if focused solely
on the RAF
Strategic Bombing
 Genesis of Strategic Bombing strategies were developed during the
interwar years
 United States: Precision daylight strategic bombing designed to cripple
German war machine through crippling key industries (golden bullet)
 Great Britain: Bombing strategy aimed at both destroying industry and the
German people’s will to fight
Allied Strategic Bombers
United States
United Kingdom
Costs of Strategic Bombing
 High bomber aircrew casualty rate
 Schweinfurt raids in 1943 (unescorted fighters): bomber loses of nearly 30%
of the entire force sent
 Bomber Command crews suffered an extremely high casualty rate in the
war: 55,573 killed out of a total of 125,000 aircrew (a 44.4% death rate)
 Significant portion or the losses were due to unescorted bombers
without long-range fighter protection
 Numbers dropped significantly following the introduction of longrange fighters with drop tanks
Effectiveness of Strategic Bombing?
United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1946) Analysis
Planned Production Level
Actual Production Level
1943
Engine Production
1944
Aircraft Production
Effectiveness of Strategic Bombing?
United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1946) Analysis
Fuel
Effectiveness of Strategic Bombing?
United States Strategic Bombing Survey (1946) Analysis
The long and bitter battle
for control of the skies over
Europe culminated in
victory in the spring of
1944. There was no
German air opposition to
the landings in Normandy,
and the strategic air forces
struck targets deep in
Germany at will. The
Germans lost more than
22,000 fighters.
Tactical Operations: Growing Pains
 In Africa, the United States and Britain used the same air policy at first
 It became clear that if the Allies didn’t change tactics, their huge losses
would continue
 The solution was that Britain’s Royal Air Force (RAF) and the US Army
brought all their attack and support planes under centralized control
 This way, if a base were attacked, all Allied bases could defend it or
retaliate together
 Common Strategy Developed:
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Step 1: Obtain Air Superiority
Step 2: Air Interdiction
Step 3: Close Air Ground Support
Overview



The role air power played in World War II (European
Theater) and its significance
How air power was developed during World War II
The impact of the Allied air campaigns