Read the thread and think Dragondog had it best. Trick was to strip away the escorts early in the raid. Try to get the heavies out there without fighter support. This was an option the Luftwaffe tried in late 43. Not sure how well it worked.
Will avoid talking about 262s and advanced 190s, it was not in the original question.
In a way, the Luftwaffe in 43-44 and the RAF in 40 had the same problem. But totally different strategic situations. The RAF had to survive to Fall Weather. The Luftwaffe had to develop a successful defense that was sustainable. In that, the Luftwaffe leadership would have to recognize an air war is a war of attrition and technical advance. No doubt plenty of people did in the Luftwaffe, but the chiefs would have to recognize it and shift priorities to fighter production (defensive) and away from Bomber productions (offensive).
However, on a tactical level, the interception of the allied fighter groups over the Dutch and French coast by high performance LW fighters would force them to drop tanks and deal with this threat. The goal of the LW fighters was to engage them, getting one or two here and there. But engagement is crucial. It is the goal to strip away the fighter escort.
I would also attack the 8th AF heavies AFTER crossing the German Border. Make it something of a line of departure. Maybe send the odd pure fighter group to attack them from the coast to the border. But it would have to be units that could protect themselves from Allied Escort fighters when the coastal intercepts failed.
At the German border, the bomber killers would come out. Twin engined and up gunned FW190/Me109 fighters. Heavy cannon on underwing gondolas and air to air rockets would be used. Air to air bombing was dud and would not be used. They would focus on one group at a time and be fed in sequentially (not in one large group of 150, but in groups of 12-24 at a time) and given 5 minutes of contact time before the next group of LW fighter attacks. The intent is to wipe out totally one American bomber group per raid. I can think of no better morale killing effect than knowing when you were latched onto by the LW, you were gone. That they would just keep coming. I had read that this was one of the things 8th Bomber feared.
There would also have to be a master fighter controller alongside the bomber stream. He would be sending fighters to attack certain units. Something close to AWACs but with a visual cue. He would get his own fighter escort.
Fighters would not enter their own flak but would be waiting on the other side after the bombers hit their bomb runs. They would attack from the German border, to the target, and back to the border. One sortie per fighter would be definite, two if possible. At the border, they would pull off.
On the bombers crossing the border, the only fighters pursuing would be standard LW single engine fighters (tasked specifically to destroy stragglers) and High Performance fighters still seeking Escort Groups.
The number break down on how many aircraft this would require is a different and more involved question but I think the above plan would do great damage to the allied daylight bomber effort.
Note- the focus is on allied heavy bombers. Allied medium and light bombers would be ignored wherever possible. For the most part, they did not pose a strategic threat and did not cross the German border.
Will avoid talking about 262s and advanced 190s, it was not in the original question.
In a way, the Luftwaffe in 43-44 and the RAF in 40 had the same problem. But totally different strategic situations. The RAF had to survive to Fall Weather. The Luftwaffe had to develop a successful defense that was sustainable. In that, the Luftwaffe leadership would have to recognize an air war is a war of attrition and technical advance. No doubt plenty of people did in the Luftwaffe, but the chiefs would have to recognize it and shift priorities to fighter production (defensive) and away from Bomber productions (offensive).
However, on a tactical level, the interception of the allied fighter groups over the Dutch and French coast by high performance LW fighters would force them to drop tanks and deal with this threat. The goal of the LW fighters was to engage them, getting one or two here and there. But engagement is crucial. It is the goal to strip away the fighter escort.
I would also attack the 8th AF heavies AFTER crossing the German Border. Make it something of a line of departure. Maybe send the odd pure fighter group to attack them from the coast to the border. But it would have to be units that could protect themselves from Allied Escort fighters when the coastal intercepts failed.
At the German border, the bomber killers would come out. Twin engined and up gunned FW190/Me109 fighters. Heavy cannon on underwing gondolas and air to air rockets would be used. Air to air bombing was dud and would not be used. They would focus on one group at a time and be fed in sequentially (not in one large group of 150, but in groups of 12-24 at a time) and given 5 minutes of contact time before the next group of LW fighter attacks. The intent is to wipe out totally one American bomber group per raid. I can think of no better morale killing effect than knowing when you were latched onto by the LW, you were gone. That they would just keep coming. I had read that this was one of the things 8th Bomber feared.
There would also have to be a master fighter controller alongside the bomber stream. He would be sending fighters to attack certain units. Something close to AWACs but with a visual cue. He would get his own fighter escort.
Fighters would not enter their own flak but would be waiting on the other side after the bombers hit their bomb runs. They would attack from the German border, to the target, and back to the border. One sortie per fighter would be definite, two if possible. At the border, they would pull off.
On the bombers crossing the border, the only fighters pursuing would be standard LW single engine fighters (tasked specifically to destroy stragglers) and High Performance fighters still seeking Escort Groups.
The number break down on how many aircraft this would require is a different and more involved question but I think the above plan would do great damage to the allied daylight bomber effort.
Note- the focus is on allied heavy bombers. Allied medium and light bombers would be ignored wherever possible. For the most part, they did not pose a strategic threat and did not cross the German border.