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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 ...
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.
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.
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.
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 ...
Overclaiming during World War II has been the centre of much scrutiny, partly because of the significant amount of air combat relative to other conflicts. Leadership often recognised overclaiming in WW2, even for non-aerial victories, and a process of dividing figures by 2 was often observed to come to a closer understanding of the reality of ...
During World War II, the Luftwaffe (German air force) equipped their aircraft with the most modern weaponry available until resources grew scarce later in the war. Machine guns [ edit ]
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]