WW2: Air War

Prewar Doctrine
Combined Bomber Offensive vs. Germany
Problems and Casualties, 1943
Adaptations and Victory, 1944
Escort Fighter
Big week and destruction of Luftwaffe
Targeting: transportation, POL
Assessment
The Other Air War in the Pacific
Air support for land and sea operations

PREWAR DOCTRINE
Bomber box formation could fight way through to target
B17 defenses make it invulnerable
Norden bomb sight allowed for pinpoint accuracy
Precision daylight bombing would surgically destroy bottleneck tartgets
Destroy key factoriesm natl economy collapse
Air war Plan-1
Plan for strategic bombardment against Germany based on daylight precision
bombing

COMBINED BOMBING OFFENSIVE

• USSAF and RAF agree on 76 targets
• 8th Air Force targets airframe, ball bearing industries
• Recognition that air forces cannot destroy industry without first destroying air
defense network
• July 1943—8th begins mass attacks into Germany, up to 330 planes take part

PROBLEMS WITH DAYLIGHT BOMBING

Weather
German Air Defense
Dramtic increase of antiaircraft guns to protect Germany industry
88mm cannon
Effective use of radar to direct cannon and aircraft against bombers’
Modification of airplanes and use of high speed interceptors
UNESCORTED DAYLIGHT BOMBING: THE COST
Black Sunday (Ploesti Raid, 1 August 1943)
178 bombers (1726 aircrew) on attack, 163 reached target
89 planes returned (only 33 fit to fly)
300 dead, 400 wounded, 140 captured
In one bomb group only 9 of 47 bombers returned safely
SCHWEINFURT RAID
Ball bearing factories
291 b17s with 50 p47 escorts
Once escorts left, German fighters attacked bomber formations for 3 hours to target
229 B17 reach target

LESSONS OF THE 1943 BOMBING CAMPAIGN

Unescorted bombers cannot complete mission with out unacceptable losses
Targets much harder to hit and to destroy than prewar theorists believed
Intelligence on targets and on damage very difficult to determine
Aircrew overestimated success
Took months to determine extent of damage
Result—USAF had no accurate way of assessing if it was winning or losing the
air war

US FIGHTERS: 1ST GENERATION

All inferior to German fighters
All except P38 lacked range and high altitude performance to accompany US bombers
-P40 Warhawk –P38 Lightning – P39 Aeracobra

ESCORT FIGHTERS
Fighter escort proves effective over France
Problem—range outclasses at high altitudeby German airplanes
2nd generation US fighters appears in Europe March 1943, reach sufficient numbers in
January 1944
-P47 Thunderbolt

Operation Argument BIG WEEK 20-25 Feb 1944

US/UK bombers attack german aircraft industry
RAF night raids smash citites
Heavily escorted US day raids
Bombers fly 4000 sorties, 10000 tons, 6% loss rate
Fighters fly 4000 sorties lose 28 aircraft

To protect factories, german air defense fightershave to commit their own

fighters against escort fighters
Heavy losses in elite fighter units
Jan-May 1944 Luftwaffe takes 100% casualties and cannot replace losses in
planes or personnel

Combined Bombing offensive Sept 1944 may 1945

Consensus on targeting
Petroluem, Oil, Lubricates POL
Transportation System
Escorts proceed bombing stream- catch defense on ground
Collapes of German Industry
Technically sophisticated weapons lack fuel, spare parts, capable pilots

COMBINED BOMBING OFFENSIVE

60 germans cities destrotyed, 30000 civilians killed 7500000 homeless
German oil, transport system destroyed, most other industries severely damaged
USAAF in Europe had 73000 casualities, 29000 dead, estimated 8237 bombers, and
4000 fighters lost

BOMBING CAMPAIGN CONCLUSIONS

Strategic bombing had significant impact, but did not win war by itself
Took Great material and personnel resources, high cost in lives and equipment
Adaptation in tactics, target, equipment crucial—air war did not resemble prewar vision
Air superiorty was crucial—until fighters destroyed german air defenses, bombers took
unacceptable losses

Air war in the pacific

George Kenney and Douglas MacArthur
Air Power intergrated in land ops
USTroops advance under air cover, build bases to extend range of aircraft, then
advance under cover
Attacking enemy reinforcements and shipping
Adaptations and innovation—technology tactics and missions
Aerial Attrition

Aerial Attrition
US aerial at