wiking85
Staff Sergeant
What if in 1938 the view of the LW as to keep Ju88 production in balance with He111 production?
Tensions were increasing throughout 1938 and the Ju88 was being redesigned and had serious issues in its early production, which delayed its introduction, yet it still got 50% of all airframe production resources in 1939.
So what if the LW took a more balanced perspective about what was going on and decided that the He111 was going to be ready in mass usable form sooner and they would therefore produce it in number first? As it was only some 133 Ju88s were operational to use in France in May 1940.
For one thing they could push the H-series of the He111, which was delayed in production until April/May 1939, while the DB601 equipped P series was ready in Autumn 1938. This seems silly to me considering that there were so few DB601s available and the Jumo 211 was pretty much the predominant bomber engine at that time. So knowing that the more available engine equipped series would get more units in service sooner, why not start with that? In fact why even allow the DB equipped series to be developed at all if DB engines are so scarce?
Historically within 4 months the He111H was produced to the tune of over 400 units (May-1st September), which means that even using historical production resources at least some 900 units could be delivered before Poland is invaded. With greater resources, say an equal share as the Ju88, I don't see why over 1200 Jumo equipped units could be delivered from Autumn 1938-September 1939 if not even more. That would mean they could phase out all of the older bombers in service, including the Do17 and older He111s, while there would still be room for the Ju88 when its ready. By the time of the Battle of France there could easily be well over 2000 H-series units delivered, plus some Ju88s.
To me that sounds much better than the historical production scheme that saw the Ju88 only in limited service by the time the major battles were being fought in France and over Britain. Really the Ju88 only is in service in numbers over Russia and in the Mediterranean 1941. Having many more He111s as a result of different production priorities starting in late 1938 would change the composition of the LW in the important battles, which IMHO would change the context of the war later on (crews not dying in the slow Do17, more bombers allowing for a reserve, more bombers allowing for sales to Axis allies earlier).
Thoughts?
Tensions were increasing throughout 1938 and the Ju88 was being redesigned and had serious issues in its early production, which delayed its introduction, yet it still got 50% of all airframe production resources in 1939.
So what if the LW took a more balanced perspective about what was going on and decided that the He111 was going to be ready in mass usable form sooner and they would therefore produce it in number first? As it was only some 133 Ju88s were operational to use in France in May 1940.
For one thing they could push the H-series of the He111, which was delayed in production until April/May 1939, while the DB601 equipped P series was ready in Autumn 1938. This seems silly to me considering that there were so few DB601s available and the Jumo 211 was pretty much the predominant bomber engine at that time. So knowing that the more available engine equipped series would get more units in service sooner, why not start with that? In fact why even allow the DB equipped series to be developed at all if DB engines are so scarce?
Historically within 4 months the He111H was produced to the tune of over 400 units (May-1st September), which means that even using historical production resources at least some 900 units could be delivered before Poland is invaded. With greater resources, say an equal share as the Ju88, I don't see why over 1200 Jumo equipped units could be delivered from Autumn 1938-September 1939 if not even more. That would mean they could phase out all of the older bombers in service, including the Do17 and older He111s, while there would still be room for the Ju88 when its ready. By the time of the Battle of France there could easily be well over 2000 H-series units delivered, plus some Ju88s.
To me that sounds much better than the historical production scheme that saw the Ju88 only in limited service by the time the major battles were being fought in France and over Britain. Really the Ju88 only is in service in numbers over Russia and in the Mediterranean 1941. Having many more He111s as a result of different production priorities starting in late 1938 would change the composition of the LW in the important battles, which IMHO would change the context of the war later on (crews not dying in the slow Do17, more bombers allowing for a reserve, more bombers allowing for sales to Axis allies earlier).
Thoughts?