What was the best air force in the later parts of World War II?

[Raptor]

This is a follow-up poll to "What was the best air force in the early part of world war 2 "pre 1943" "

I agree that some of these air forces are negligible. But look at the preperation of the entire force in overall, how well each was commanded, the quality of the men and machines, as well as the strategies employed. 

[alyster]

Polish airforce after Barbarossa, what's that 

If you'd ask for quality then untill somewhere to 1944 I'd still go with Luftwaffe. They were outnumbered in east and west yet they managed to put up a fight.  After 1944 they started to lack good pilots and feul. Although the use of Me-262 was from that era. First jet fighter to really see action. And it kept scoring untill may 1945, which is a very good result.

But just for quantity I'd say USAAF was strongest in second part of the war. They had to fight in 2 fronts yet they managed to pull of very big attacks.

[Raptor]

Whoops, didn't see that. Thanks, alyster. I copied over from the other poll. Hm... Yes the USAAF did very well, but i'm more inclined towards the RAF, as they managed to do substantial damage without the resources the USAAF and Luftwaffe had.

[Gripen]

What, no, the Polish did have an airforce, kind of

They were a part of the RAF/USAAF. They had their own complete unit that was controlled by the Polish Government in London, so in a way, they had their own airforce..

Anyway, my vote goes to the USAAF

[alyster]

Whoops, didn't see that. Thanks, alyster. I copied over from the other poll. Hm... Yes the USAAF did very well, but i'm more inclined towards the RAF, as they managed to do substantial damage without the resources the USAAF and Luftwaffe had.

If anything, then to my mind Luftwaffe always lacked stuff. What more to the end the more they lacked of everything.  Priorities were still the Waffen-SS and Whermacht on the eastern front.

[Webmaster]

USAAF

I'd say the RAF has my vote for the best overall (European theatre), but for this poll I have to go with USAAF, better equipped in quality and quantity now. P-47, P-51, B-17, B-25, etc.

The Me-262 came too late, partly because Hitler wanted it to be a bomber, lol. Luftwaffe leadership completely in ruins by now. Lack of everything. The Waffen-SS was the one that delivered Hitler the victories, so that's where the resources went, and the V-1/V-2s, Luftwaffe dissappointed him at the battle of britain. I think the Luftwaffe never fully recovered from it, whereas the RAF did.

[alyster]

The Me-262 came too late, partly because Hitler wanted it to be a bomber, lol.

It only delaied it for few weeks.
Actuallly the idea itself doesn't seam so stupid. Hitler's last hope to acomplish anything was to repelle allies invasion to France. In his dreams Me262 should have flown fast enough not be caught by allied fighters and should be able to bomb the allied troops in the beach while they land.

[Raptor]

Perhaps. The luftwaffe had a lot of aircraft at the beginning of the war. In fact, their air force was substantially larger than England's.

The luftwaffe only began to decline rapidly because Hitler insisted on planning for a 16 month war. No longer. And you all knowing how precise and systematic the Germans were... I totally love the way they plan.

[panzerman]

The Luftwaffe definately was the best. Records speak for this fact.


Total Jagwaffe losses 15,000 due too enemy action, another 7500 were destroyed under non combat events. 120,000 enemy aircraft were verified as lost in combat. 70,000 fell too the guns of luftwaffe pilots, another 50,000 were shot up by flak, or destroyed on the ground.

What ifs.....

Had Adolf Galland, not Goering been in charge, production of the Me-262 probably would have begun in 1942.

If they had built 2 prototypes Gotha-229 slealth fighters, production would have begun early 1945. (They only made one, it was test flown later vs Me-262, results...it made the 262 look obsolete! However that one plane was lost in a mishap, by the time the second one was built, the War ended.

Big mistakes were made, German technology was far advanced.....

Tiger-1, Koenigstiger, Panther, Jagdtiger tanks
88 flak gun
MG-34/42 machine gun, sturmgewehr
camoflage pants, tunics first worn by Waffen SS
Type XXII modern submarines
Me-262, Arado 234, Gotha-229(first radar evading aircraft)
missile technology
long range missile V-2

John

[shawn a]

Yeah, thank god there were big mistakes made.
Germany did have highly advanced thinkers and technology that were hobbled irreparably by a literally insane megalomaniacal elite. Again, thank god.
But if the Luftwaffe was the best air force in the later parts of WWII, where was its' strategic interdiction, its' close air support and its' airlift capabilities at that time?
The statistics may give the impression that the Luftwaffe was the best air force in WWII, but the conclusion of the conflict shows that to be false.
An air force unable to protect its' citizens, its' resources, and unable to target its' enemies infrastructure, manufacturing and command centers, as the Luftwaffe couldn't, could hardly be considered the best.
However, at the start of the war, things were different, but big mistakes were made, and the effect of those mistakes reduced the Luftwaffes' capabilities to the point that defeat was inevitable.
The biggest mistakes -- The Holocaust, and pissing off Russia.
I didn't know Hanna flew the -229.

Shawn A