Did the Germans neglect the Air Force ??

[Quasar44]

They had great pilots and excellent technology!
Did they just manufacture too little or did they fail to upgrade the technology

German AF had huge loses in the Battle of Britain

German army was the best in the world but it seems they got most of the funds

 

[Quasar44]

USA AF had far better technology even though we had a late start
I am not sure about the Russian AF

 

[tyroneweaver]

World War II German Jets (Proposals and Operational)

Index of jet- and rocket-powered aircraft developed by Germany during World War 2.

www.militaryfactory.com

 

[Pilot1]

Too little too late. Some of it was Hitler's fault. With the right leadership and preparation things may have been different. Hitler was a whack job.

 

[Quasar44]

Too little too late. Some of it was Hitler's fault. With the right leadership and preparation things may have been different. Hitler was a whack job.

The German planes seem very clunky and slow compared to the Americans and British

 

[harmonica]

....Germany's warmaking potential was nowhere near America's--end of story.....plus they are fighting another huge country [ Russia ] doesn't matter what they did
...the Luftwaffe wasn't the only military branch.....so they had to compete with everything else

 

[Correll]

A friend recently told me of an interesting documentary he saw, discussing how the german airforce, was really weakened in the African campaign.

It makes sense. The same willingness to gamble that gave them Blitzkreig, also led them to try to use the air force to so more than it could, and get messed up.


That is why gambling is risky and you don't do it, if you can avoid it.

 

[harmonica]

Too little too late. Some of it was Hitler's fault. With the right leadership and preparation things may have been different. Hitler was a whack job.

wouldn't matter who's in charge

Grim Economic Realities

% of Total Warmaking Potential
United States	41.7%​
Germany	14.4%​
USSR	14.0%​
UK	10.2%​
France	4.2%​
Japan	3.5%​
Italy	2.5%​
Seven Powers (total)

 

[harmonica]

A friend recently told me of an interesting documentary he saw, discussing how the german airforce, was really weakened in the African campaign.

It makes sense. The same willingness to gamble that gave them Blitzkreig, also led them to try to use the air force to so more than it could, and get messed up.


That is why gambling is risky and you don't do it, if you can avoid it.

..they gave the US a bloody nose after the African Campaign was over .....
...it wasn't until the P51 came along, that they could start the big bombings again
...

 

[Camp]

The air war in WWII Europe was a basic war of attrition of aircraft and aircrews, especially pilots. Germany could not keep up with the battle of Briton followed by the 8th Army Air Force daylight bombing raids. 26,000 US airmen were killed in action and 47,000 were wounded. Bombers were used as bait for bringing Germans into the skies for defense. The US could replace lost airmen, Germany could not.

 

[Gdjjr]

The US could replace lost airmen,

Expendable- for politicians

 

[Picaro]

Logistics and manufacturing output. Germany had to win quickly, and when they didn't attrition did them in.

The Soviets were only in the war thanks to the U.S. and Britain keeping them in it. The U.S. and British bombing campaigns sucked nearly all of the antiaircraft guns and Luftwaffe away from the eastern front, leaving the Soviets virtually open skies to fly around in their new Merlin aircraft engines the Brits supplied them with, along with the aviation fuel booster they couldn't off the ground without.

 

[Picaro]

The US could replace lost airmen,

Expendable- for politicians

All military personnel know they're expendable; it's never been a secret.

 

[Gdjjr]

All military personnel know they're expendable; it's never been a secret.

And the expendability has been severely exploited by the land of the alleged free-

 

[Sunsettommy]

They had great pilots and excellent technology!
Did they just manufacture too little or did they fail to upgrade the technology

German AF had huge loses in the Battle of Britain

German army was the best in the world but it seems they got most of the funds

At first Germany AF was a string force, but their leader Goering who at first was a leader faded into corruption and gluttony, left more and more of the leadership to men who generally were not up to the job, the worst was Hans Jeshonneck, who foolishly hung onto the DIVE Bomber as the main focus for the AF, which is why they never developed a long range bomber worthy of the force.

The ME 109 was a fine fighter, but little design change after 1942, allowed allies catch up and surpass the design of the ME109F series.