Best fighter in the world in 1940? Spitfire, 109, Zero, or something else

1940: Bf 109, Spitfire or Zero?


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Germany was egoistic with their hardware, we very well know that. It's a constant in this context, not a variable.

100% agree, for 1933-45 at least :)

None of the German bombers was able to annihilate factories. Even the Allied 1943-44 campaign, a scale that Germany would've never been able to achieve in 1941, wasn't able to do that.
Never said 'annihilate factories' :)
The bomber raids on railway junctions bridges would've made relocation difficult. But, if your bombers are acting as artillery (since the guns you have are mostly horse-drawn), you already have small density per square mile of enemy terrain (that of interest), guess such raids were not possible.

If Germany had had the possibility to evacuate those sites they could've easily done so.

They did not have the extra space for relocation in 1944 - whenever relocated, it would've been within reach of bombers, plus the production loss in the crucial time would've been huge.

Your assumption they would've suffered less losses with more planes is just that, an assumption.

Not really, you might want to check out what USAAF RAF were doing with their assets, as early as 1942. And Luftwaffe was all about that from the day one - use the planes to break up enemy assets, so those will not be able to fire back on ground forces.

Even with the airforce as large as it was they had problems with logistics and field space.

German top brass (Hitler as a prime example), liked to put aside the long-term planing, since the prospects were bleak in that light, way before 1940 :)
 
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Typical discussion:
After two pages posts are about BoB numbers, D -Day, USAAF, 1944, British and US intelligence services, factory floor space and manhours, B339-23 problems, Observer Corp, Russian tanks, Hitler, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Baltic states, Balkan satellites, English grammar,Niall Ferguson.

Keep it coming:D
 
Never said 'annihilate factories' :)
To really make relocation of tools (and personnel) impossible, that's what you'd need to do.
The bomber raids on railway junctions bridges would've made relocation difficult. But, if your bombers are acting as artillery (since the guns you have are mostly horse-drawn), you already have small density per square mile of enemy terrain (that of interest), guess such raids were not possible.
I don't disagree, but you kind of prove my point here eh?
They did not have the extra space for relocation in 1944 - whenever relocated, it would've been within reach of bombers, plus the production loss in the crucial time would've been huge.
exactly where i was getting at: if germany had the space (possibility) to relocate the hardware and personnel somewhere out of reach of the USAAF they could've done so. Annihilation of factories was not possible in a short timeframe with the arms available. The whole European air war during 1943 easily proves that. Hence any factory could be evacuated if reasonable.



Not really, you might want to check out what USAAF RAF were doing with their assets, as early as 1942.
Apples and oranges. Neither of those two air forces was supporting a ground war in eastern europe and russia. They were fighting a strategic war for the most part. The comparison you make here is invalid.
And Luftwaffe was all about that from the day one - use the planes to break up enemy assets, so those will not be able to fire back on ground forces.
And that's what they did during barbarossa.
 
Last edited:
Typical discussion:
After two pages posts are about BoB numbers, D -Day, USAAF, 1944, British and US intelligence services, factory floor space and manhours, B339-23 problems, Observer Corp, Russian tanks, Hitler, Italy, Romania, Hungary, Finland, Slovakia, Baltic states, Balkan satellites, English grammar,Niall Ferguson.

Keep it coming:D

Better than some who digress to arguments over 100 octane fuel and wingload graphs within 15 posts!
 

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