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The aircraft industry was severely hampered by a number of bad choices .
I don't disagree with that. It's not the point. The point is that the idea that there was some long term plan for aircraft production that bore any resemblance to the sort of numbers actually needed not only to cover losses but to compete with allied production is simply not supported by the facts.
The German aircraft industry, for a variety of reasons, never came close to producing the quantity or quality of aircraft needed by the Luftwaffe. I concede that this became a moot point sometime in 1944 when other factors became more important, notably a lack of qualified pilots to fly whatever was produced.
Cheers
Steve
Petlyakov Pe-8...The Soviets never fielded a heavy bomber...
The TB-3 was retired in 1939 and the Pe-8 was not produced during the war. I should have said did not produce them during the war rather than fielded.Petlyakov Pe-8
Tupolev TB-3
German naval Z Plan was approved during January 1939. If you wait that long to cut naval construction ILO more munitions plants it will be too late.
1935 to 1938 was the critical period for building a German military-industrial complex. The nation was at peace and money is available if Germany elects not to recreate the High Seas Fleet.
2 x Scharnhorst class dreadnoughts @ ~RM 144 million each.
2 x Bismarck class dreadnoughts @ ~RM 190 million each.
2 x Graf Zeppelin class CV @ ~RM 92.5 million each.
5 x Hipper class CA @ ~RM 85 million each.
1930s Soviet Union opted to build (or import) munitions factories rather then procure battleships. It's readily apparent they got more bang for the buck then Germany did.
The TB-3 was retired in 1939 and the Pe-8 was not produced during the war. I should have said did not produce them during the war rather than fielded.
Of course producing strategic bombers and procuring the fuel for them is one thing. Having anyone to fly them is another.
From 'Technical Training within the German Luftwaffe'.
The Allies had the benefit of effectively unlimited fuel supplies and clear and peaceful skies for training. The US had large manpower reserves and Britain was able to draw on a pool of men in with secondary or higher education across the entire Commonwealth to crew its strategic bomber force. Those men shared a common language and to a very large extent a common education (Canada would be the most divergent on the final point). No such luxuries were afforded the Germans.
Steve
if Germany was to build a powerful heavy bomber force, it would be preparing for a war that it knew that it would lose.
B-17 and B-24s with their turbo charged engines offered a lot more power at 20,000ft and above than the German engines of similar take-off power and the British 4 engine bombers went to 1300-1600hp engines pretty quick, they also don't show up in numbers until 1942 and beyond.
Germans don't need to (and shouldn't) mimic American and British heavy bomber programs. They could build something similar to Do-317 powered by DB606 engines and have it in mass production during fall of 1940. Better suited to their needs then B-17s and B-24s.
Over 700.Honestly...how many medium bombers did the Luftwaffe lose in the Battle of Britain?
The bigger bombers had a lot more guns and armor, not to mention a less dangerous enemy in the EastIf the fighters couldn't establish a protective zone around their bombers at that point in time, how would they have been able to protect the larger (and most likely slower) heavy bombers?
Germany had the best air defense system in the world from 1941-1944 (when Britain took that title), so comparing that to the Soviets for example is not exactly a fair comparison; the Soviets lacked an integrated air defense network, so couldn't organize big wing fighter attacks on German bombers like the Brits could. They also lacked heavy enough cannons to drop them until the P39 showed up in 1943.We've already seen what can happen to heavy bombers without adequate protection in the form of the early 8th AF and RAF BC missions...it was a massacre...
If you want to build up a strategic heavy bomber program, you better start with a better fighter program that will protect those bombers...