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The Luftwaffe (Air Weapon) was the German Air Force, 1933-45, although the name was preserved when West Germany rearmed after World War II, and was retained after reunification with East Germany. It is now a NATO air force, with limited deployments in Afghanistan.
Nazi period
The pride of Nazi Germany under its bombastic leader Hermann Goering, it learned new combat techniques in the Spanish Civil War and appealed to Hitler as the decisive strategic weapon he needed. Its high technology and rapid growth led to exaggerated fears in the 1930s that cowed the British and French into appeasement. In the World War II air war the Luftwaffe performed well in 1939-41, but was poorly coordinated with overall German strategy, and never ramped up to the size and scope needed in a total war. It never built large bombers, was deficient in radar, and could not deal with the faster, more agile P-51 Mustang air superiority fighters after 1943. The Luftwaffe was narrowly defeated in the Battle of Britain (1940), and reached maximum size pf 1.9 million airmen in 1942. Grueling operations wasted it away on the eastern front after 1942. It lost most of its fighter planes to Mustangs in 1944 while trying to defend against massive American and British air raids. When its gasoline supply ran dry in 1944, it was reduced to anti-aircraft flak roles, and many of its men were sent to infantry units.
1930s
In 1925 the Soviet Union allowed the German government set up the top-secret Lipetsk Aviation School, inside Russia, to train pilots and navigators in violation of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, which ordered that Germany could never have an air force. The school closed in 1933 when secrecy was no longer needed to defy Versailles. Although no actual flying formations were in existence by 1933, the intellectual, technical and organizational bases for the ultimate establishment of a large air arm had been created. Gring defiantly announced the existence of the Luftwaffe in 1935, as British, French and Soviet intelligence hurried to track its soaring growth curve. Various proposals to centralize military aviation under a separate military service, beginning even before World War I, were thwarted by the usual army-navy differences and the internal opposition of each service to losing its subordinate air arm. Air power theories alone would not have gained independence for the German air force, but Hitler's foreign policy needs and the political power of air minister Hermann Gring within the Nazi party proved a key in gaining first separate status under an Air Ministry and then gaining increased power, such as in acquiring control of anti-aircraft artillery (AAA), called "flak" in German slang widely used by both sides. Unlike the army and navy, the Nazis had full control over the Luftwaffe and therefore needed to keep it independent of the old-guard officers who controlled the older services. This attitude made it impossible for the navy to develop its own air service. The one aircraft carrier it started to build was to have flight crews under Luftwaffe command, but the carrier was never finished.
Ju-87, the Junkers 87 (Stuka) Dive Bomber; 5800 were built Theorists completely redesigned their air superiority fighter tactics, and discovered new techniques for high-speed dogfight tactics and tactical air support for ground forces. The Spanish Civil War had a tremendous impact on all aspects of Luftwaffe combat doctrine, giving it technique, doctrine and self confidence that Britain and France lacked.[2] The Spanish war demonstrated the effectiveness of logistical disruption and close air support, and confirmed German views concerning the ineffectiveness - and even counterproductive nature - of the strategic bombing of civilian populations. A common misperception holds that the Luftwaffe was primarily a tactical support force for the army and that, unlike the American and British air forces, it did not develop a theory or concept of strategic air war. In reality, the Luftwaffe built up an extensive doctrine of strategic air war by 1939. In the 1930s imaginative Nazis saw strategic bombardment by air as a powerful tool. Air warfare was seen as a growing threat to Germany, especially in British hands, so the Luftwaffe became a means of national mobilization and redemption. Nazi Germany believed that air warfare would allow the country to rebuild itself in a racial compact. During World War II, are warfare became a means for rejuvenating authority domestically and increasing influence abroad. However, Germany never built long-range bombers; only the British and Americans did so. While they experimented, one of Hitler's obsessions intervened on the side of the Allies: he insisted that every German bomber be capable of dive bombing, a method of attack impractical for long-range aircraft designs of the time.[3] Between 1918 and 1939 the Luftwaffe steadily developed an close air support (CAS) doctrine that, while not its primary mission, nevertheless influenced its organization and aircraft design procurement. After 1939, it further refined the doctrine based on successful operational experience, and by the time of the German invasion of Russia in 1941 the Luftwaffe was directly and decisively supporting army operations. In contrast, the Americans and British showed little interest in army support during the interwar period, and as late as 1940, notwithstanding the German success in Poland in 1939, the RAF still possessed no air formation that could rapidly respond to the ground situation.[4]
French despair
The French air force intelligence section was relatively well informed on the growth of the Luftwaffe, which, in their view, was the most important of the three services of the German armed forces and which could call upon virtually unlimited resources. The new German pursuit planes and bombers were considered the best in the world; German aircraft production was estimated at one thousand per month at the time of the Munich crisis. Thus, German aerial superiority was the main argument against protecting Czechoslovakia from Nazi aggression. The subsequent French rearmament program greatly increased aircraft production, but it failed to keep pace with German increases. Guy La Chambre, the French air minister, optimistically informed the government that the air force was capable of dealing with the Luftwaffe. On the other hand, General Joseph Vuillemin, air force chief of staff, described the French air force as far inferior and consistently opposed war with Germany. Nevertheless, the Daladier government, believing that the rearmament program would soon take off and relying on British determination to stop Hitler, rejected any new policy of appeasement. The reorganization of the air force had not been completed when the war broke out and the German aircraft industry was able to achieve a spectacular increase in production due to the development of machine tools more efficient than those used in French factories. Even so the Germans were not so far ahead in 1940 in quantity or quality of aircraft. They were far ahead in morale, self-confidence and useful doctrine; France lost the aerial battle of 1940 in the minds of the leaders of its air force.[5]
Aircraft
The state secretary in the Air Ministry, Erhard Milch later blamed Gring for not proceeding with heavy bomber development. Milch himself blamed personality conflicts but the general staff, the technical staff, and the aviation industry shared in the decision, which was more than a mere dispute between Gring and Milch. Lack of sufficient labor, capital, and raw materials in the 1930s contributed to the decision. Milch was second only to Gring in shaping the course of German air power from 1933 to 1945. Milch, however, underestimated the need for large numbers of fully trained pilots and decided too late to press for high production of fighter aircraft; his belief that defensive air power could save Germany was a fatal error.[6]
Me-109, the Messerschmitt 109 Fighter; 30,000 were made The workhorses of the Luftwaffe defenses were the Messerschmitt Bf 109 (31,000 were built) and the Focke-Wulf Fw-190 (20,000 were built). By 1943 they were outclassed by the P-51 Mustang in terms of range, speed and rate of climb, not to mention gasoline (the Allies had much higher octane), and pilot training.
Wartime production
Production in the early years of the war was small, primarily because Luftwaffe did not see a need for a vast armada. At one point General Hans Jeschonneck, chief of the air staff, opposed a suggested increase in fighter plane production with the remark that he wouldn't know what to do with a monthly production of more than 360 fighters. By late 1943 doom was in the air and plans called for a steadily increasing output of fighters. By 1944 Allied bombers targeted aircraft factories, but they were widely dispersed. The main way to stop the Luftwaffe was to cut off its gasoline by bombing refineries and synthetic oil plants, and for the Soviets to capture the Romanian oil fields. Luftwaffe Field Marshal Erhard Milch and airplane designer Ernst Heinkel built a huge factory at Budzyn, Poland, called the "Ultra Project" designed to use Jews as slave laborers to build warplanes. It lasted 18 months but turned out not one aircraft nor a single aircraft part.[7]
Airmen
Strength of Luftwaffe: 1939.....677,000 1940...1,200,000 1941...1,545,000 1942...1,900,000 1943...1,700,000 1944...1,500,000 1945...1,000,000 In order to release able-bodied men serving in home-based flak units for combat duty, 100,000 women auxiliaries (Helferinnen) were called up in 1944-45 to serve in the air warning service, and in the telephone and teletype departments. There were no women pilots.
Organization
The Luftwaffe was organized into Luftflotten (air fleets). These were multi-role formations, with aircraft of all types. Initially there were four Luftflotten (Nos. 14), each covering a specified geographical territory; as Germany expanded their range expanded and three additional Luftflotten (5, 6, and Luftflotte Reich) were added, the last specifically for the defense of Germany. Each Luftflotte consisted of a number of Fliegerkorps (flying corps), which in turn had Fliegerdivision. They included Geschwader (similar to a RAF Group), notably Kampfgeschwader (KG) (bombers); Jagdgeschwader (JG) (pursuit); Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG) (night fighter); Stukage schwader (StG) (dive-bomber); Zerstoerergeschwader (ZG) (destroyer); and Lehrgeschwader (LG) (training). The Geschwader in turn controlled several Gruppen (groups), similar to an RAF Wing, with each Gruppe commanding 34 Staffeln (squadrons), a Staffel consisting of 12 aircraft. In September 1939, the Luftwaffe comprised 302 Staffeln with 2,370 operational crews and 2,564 operational warplanes (bombers, dive bombers, and pursuit). The Luftflotte had their own signals branch and a Flak branch that controlled the anti-aircraft artillery. It also had control of a number of Luftgaue, administrative commands responsible for airfields, personnel and logistics, and training.
Navigation
The first system of radio guidance used by the Luftwaffe was the Knickebein or System K, operational in 1938. With it, ground controllers could direct bombers to targets at night and in all kinds of weather. Thirteen Knickebeintransmitters were eventually built in the west, six in France. System K was expanded by the addition of X-Gert, a system of automatic bombardment. This was followed by
System Y-Gert (Wotan II). British countermeasures forced the Germans to discontinue the offensive use of the system but they used the Y-Gert until the invasion of Normandy. Over friendly territory the Germans used grid and hyperbolic systems, copied partly from the English Ground Electronic Environment and from LORAN. After 1941, the Luftwaffe used a new system for offensive navigation known as the Bernard system, which gave the airplane the transmitter's call-sign, the bearing of the plane, and the position, altitude, and heading of an enemy interceptor. In 1942 the Germans copied the English [identification-friend-or-foe]] (IFF), calling it the EGON system, which was also used offensively for tactical guidance. After the war, much German radio-navigation technology was adopted for military and civilian purposes. [10]
Hitler's mistakes
After the failure of the Battle of Britain the Luftwaffe failed to mount a major strategic air campaign, not because of the lack of strategic air doctrine or theory but because of the failure to produce an effective heavy bomber, the failure to train enough pilots for a war of attrition, and the failure of the high command to utilize the Luftwaffe in the most effective manner. Gring met Hitler often; they talked of Nazi party affairs. The Luftwaffe was unaware of Hitler's strategic plans and was unable to prepare accordingly. Hitler's interference sabotaged the jet planes the Germans had invented. Hitler made strategy without realizing how progressively weaker his air power was becoming or how rapidly the Allies were building up theirs, and he put increasing faith in secret weapons (especially the V-1 and V-2) that were too inaccurate to be of much value.[11]
Tactics
Paradoxically, the Luftwaffe would have to come out and attack or see its planes destroyed at the factory. Before getting at the bombers the Germans had to confront the more numerous, better armed and faster American fighters. The heavily armed BF-110 could kill a bomber, but it slowness made it easy prey for the speedy P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs armed with numerous fast-firing machine guns. The big, slow twin-engine Ju-88 was dangerous because it could stand further off and fire its rockets into the tight B-17 formations; but it too was hunted down. Germany's severe shortage of aviation fuel had sharply curtailed the training of new pilots, and most of the instructors had been sent into battle. Rookie pilots were rushed into combat after only 160 flying hours in training compared to 400 hours for the AAF, 360 for the RAF and 120 for the Japanese. They never had a chance against more numerous, better trained Allies flying superior planes. The Germans began losing one thousand planes a month on the western front (and another 400 on the eastern front). Realizing that the best way to defeat the Luftwaffe was not to stick close to the bombers but to aggressively seek out the enemy, Doolittle told his Mustangs to "go hunting for Jerries. Flush them out in the air and beat them up on the ground on the way home." On one occasion German air controllers identified a large force of approaching B-17s, and sent all the Luftwaffe's 750 fighters to attack. Error. The bogeys were all Mustangs, which shot down 98 interceptors while losing 11. The actual B-17s were elsewhere, and completed their mission without a loss. In February, 1944, the Luftwaffe lost 33% of its frontline fighters and 18% of its pilots; the next month it lost 56% of its fighters and 22% of the pilots. April was just as bad, 43% and 20%, and May was worst of all, at 50% and 25%. German factories continued to produce many new planes, and inexperienced pilots did report for duty; but their life expectancy was down to a couple of combat sorties. Increasingly the Luftwaffe went into hiding; with Allied losses down to 1% per mission, the heavy bombers now got through.[13]
Germany's supply of aviation gasoline 1940-45 Allied medium bombers and fighter-bombers struck Luftwaffe airfields in diversionary attacks so timed as to reduce the concentration of interceptors that threatened the bomber formations. Diversionary fighter sweeps further dislocated the Luftwaffe. As the range of P-47 and P-51 fighters was increased through the installation of droppable fuel tanks, they were employed more and more to escort bombers to targets deep in Germany. In response the Luftwaffe withdraw fighters from the East to meet the threat from the West. This was an important factor in enabling the Soviet air forces to maintain air superiority on their front.
Failure of Cooperation
Germany's Kriegsmarine (navy) and Luftwaffe failed to cooperate throughout most of the war because of interbranch jealousy, limited strategic vision, poor leadership in the Luftwaffe, and the personality defects of Gring. This failure, coupled with the strategic shift eastward after mid-1941 and the lack of an offensive oriented air branch of the Kriegsmarine, meant that Germany was never able to fulfill its potential effectiveness in naval operations designed to restrict Britain's operational and material resource base.[19] In sharp contrast to the smooth cooperation of the Allies, the Luftwaffe ignored opportunities for strategic and economic cooperation with the air forces of its allies Italy, Finland, Romania, and Hungary.
Instead of using factories in France, the Netherlands and Czechoslovakia to build new air fleets, it removed the machinery and shut the factories.[20]
Collapse
By 1942 everything started to go wrong. Defeat after defeat in the air against increasingly superior enemy planes sapped morale, and killed off the best pilots. Gring was easily outmaneuvered by rival Nazis after 1940 and the Luftwaffe experienced an erosion of authority after it failed to meet his grandiose promises. Hitler was enthusiastic in support, believing air power was the supreme strategic weapon; but he never understood air affairs, even though he talked glibly about them. He did not coordinate the Luftwaffe with the other branches of service, and Gring systematically misled him about Luftwaffe progress. Hotler did not plan in terms of continuous massive quantity and quality in the number of planes or in their offensive use. He thought in terms of defense or of secret, magic weapons for one massive, catastrophic blow.[21] Luftwaffe technology was not well concentrated. The Me-262 jet flew test runs in 1939--Germany needed 10,000 of these superior planes but only produced 1000 and most never flew in combat. Again, Hitler personally intervened in a manner providential for the Allies. He insisted that the Me-262 not be deployed until it could carry out bombing missions, for which it was not designed. He only allowed it in a devastating air defense role when it was too late. Likewise the brilliant engineering efforts that went into the highly innovative V-1 jet-powered cruise missile and V-2 rocket-powered ballistic missile were wasted from a military point of view; their guidance was too inaccurate to threaten any target smaller than a metropolitan area. (The Luftwaffe was responsible for the V-1, while the army was in charge of the V-2.)
US Air Force attacks The success of early blitzkriegs blinded the Germans to the necessity of planning for a protracted air war, so they lacked the planes, fuel supplies, and trained airmen. By 1944 their pilots had far less flying
experience than the Allies, and were more and more helpless in the sky. Furthermore, the Luftwaffe was unable to solve its growing logistics problems; when its fuel supply ran dry in 1944 it was doomed. Increasingly the Luftwaffe concentrated on ground-based anti-aircraft operations, which involved hundreds of thousands of women soldiers. The major cities were ringed with high power guns; including 423 around Vienna. Often they were built on high flak towers that had unobstructed views. The British bombers flew at night and the Germans used searchlights (staffed by women) to track their location, direction and speed so the guns, which shot ahead of the bombers, could throw up a barrage of shells that might hit the planes. The Germans never had a proximity fuze so their shells seldom exploded at the right moment. [22] Surplus airmen and ground crews were reorganized into 21 Luftwaffe field divisions; they came under army control in late 1943, as Gring was losing power. They were generally of mediocre quality and were chewed up on the the Eastern Front; few men returned. Despite intensified Allied bo,mbing, Germany achieved its highest plane production at the end of 1944 (a total of 12,329 aircraft), but their quality was inferior to Allied warplanes. The production of aviation gasoline (itself of much lower octane than Allied gasoline) allowed for a daily consumption of 6,000 tons of flight fuel in 1944; the fuel production crisis in 1945 brought this to 76 tons. On 30 April 1945 the Luftwaffe flew its last 96 actions. The name "Luftwaffe" was bestowed on the new West German air force that began in the 1950s, and included many veterans, but supposedly no Nazis.