Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
The Luftwaffe lacked an effective air defence system early in the war. Allied daylight actions over German controlled territory were sparse in 1939–1940. The responsibility of the defence of German air space fell to the Luftgaukommandos (air district commands), which controlled the anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), the civilian Aircraft Warning Service, and fighter forces assigned to air ...
Nazi Germany believed that air warfare would allow the country to rebuild itself in a racial compact. During World War II, air warfare became a means for rejuvenating authority domestically and increasing imperial influence abroad. Galland, Adolf. The First and the Last: German Fighter Forces in World War II (1955) Murray, Williamson.
During World War II, German pilots claimed roughly 70,000 aerial victories, while over 75,000 Luftwaffe aircraft were destroyed or significantly damaged. Of these, nearly 40,000 were lost entirely. The Luftwaffe had only two commanders-in-chief throughout its history: Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring and later Generalfeldmarschall Robert Ritter ...
Within the German air force leadership, the general opinion was that the Luftwaffe was a tactical rather than a strategic air force. Hence, in order to support the various army groups, the Luftwaffe was organized in similar fashion to the army. Its units had a flexible composition with sub-units being added or removed when necessary.
A Ruhrstahl X-4 at the NMUSAF.. The Ruhrstahl Ru 344 X-4 or Ruhrstahl-Kramer RK 344 [1] was a wire-guided air-to-air missile designed by Germany during World War II.The X-4 did not see operational service and thus was not proven in combat but inspired considerable post-war work around the world, and was the basis for the development of several ground-launched anti-tank missiles.
The successes of the German air arm were offset by the losses which unlike the Soviet Air Force could not be replaced easily as the German economy had not yet been put on a full war footing. Losses in personnel were also high and irreplaceable with 3,231 killed, 2,028 missing and 8,453 wounded. [55]
During World War II, Nazi Germany developed many missiles and precision-guided munition systems. These included the first cruise missile, the first short-range ballistic missile, the first guided surface-to-air missiles, and the first anti-ship missiles.
The following table summarizes the operational strength of the German air force, the Luftwaffe, by general category of aircraft. The period covered is World War II from 1940 to 1945, starting at part way through of the Battle of Britain which started on 10 July 1940 to near end of the war and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.