1 WW 2 History Club 22 – Feb - 2012 The Air War. 2 Before WWII What is “Aircraft”? For...
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Transcript of 1 WW 2 History Club 22 – Feb - 2012 The Air War. 2 Before WWII What is “Aircraft”? For...
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Before WWII
What is “Aircraft”? For purposes of this lecture, air craft includes
any object that can rise above the local terrain and can perform a military role
Does not have to be powered nor does it have to be manned
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Before WWIIIn The Beginning Use of aircraft by military goes back centuries First use of balloons – French 1790s Balloons used during Civil War Wright Brothers first flight is 1903 Within 10 years the military role of aircraft was
emerging
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Before WWII1903 to 1918 Powered flight started in USA but we quickly
lost the lead (except perhaps in sea planes) No planes used by US during WWI were made
in USA
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Before WWIIWWI developed Theories and tactics
Recon was the initial use of aircraft Bombing (both heavier-than- and lighter-
than-air craft) Ground support Dog fighting – many of the classic
techniques were developed during WWI
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Before WWIIWWI developed Equipment
Rapid development of air frames: Vickers, Hadley Page; Sikorsky; Gotha
Rapid development of engines: air cooled rotary engines and water cooled in-line engines (Liberty),
Rapid development of weapons -- synchronizer
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Before WWIIWWI developed Heros
Eddie Rickenbacker “The American Ace of Aces”
Frank Luke “The Balloon Buster” Raoul Lufbery (probably did not invent the
Lufbery Circle) Rene Foch (75 kills) Charles Bishop (72 kills) Baron Manfred von Richthofen
“The Red Barron” (80 kills)
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Before WWIILegacy of WWI The War To End All Wars A horror for ground-war carnage:
Artillery and machine gun changed ground warfare 10 million soldiers died Casualty rates (% of mobilized forces) were horrific:
Allies: Britain 36% France 74% Russia 76% USA 7%
Central Powers Austria-Hungary 90% Germany 65%
Puts current casualty rates in perspective
WWI did not start the endless squabble among the armed services for ownership and $, but it certainly did not slow it and probably exacerbated it.
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Before WWIILegacy of WWI – Military Role of Aircraft Observation and Recon Ground Support (airborne artillery) Bombing (strategic) Interdiction Bomber escort Transport
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Before WWIIPost WWI Attitudes WWI was the war to end all wars so military
capability was not necessary US isolated by 3,000 miles of ocean so military
capability was not necessary US was tricked into participation … Not surprising that US became isolated and
isolationist
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Before WWIIPost WWI Theories1. Blitzkrieg: rapid deployment of coordinated armour
and use of tactical air as a form of mobile artillery; the goal is to make the enemy “inoperable” vs the classic “wearing it down” Fuller (UK) … Plan 1919 was the first written and detailed
plan for rapid armoured thrusts (supported by aircraft) focused on command centers and communications (“a shot through the brain”); a more efficient method of fighting which ultimately changed how wars were fought..
Guderian (Ger), Achtung-Panzer!, 1937 Lidell-Hart (UK) DeGaulle (France)
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Before WWIIPost WWI Theories2.Tactical Air power (Mitchell – early)
Controlled by ground troops Command of the air Isolate battlefield Interdict
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Before WWIIPost WWI Theories3. Strategic Air Power (Giulio Douhet “Command of the Air” )
All war changed during/after WWI – it is the bomber that does it
“The bomber will always get through” Divide enemy territory into zones and bomb each zone
with ten planes each carrying 1 to 2 thousand bomb Will crack the will of the people Other advocates:
Mitchell – later Trenchard (UK)
US Army is not comfortable with theories where they are not obvious player
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Before WWIIUS Thinking – Air Corps Tactical School (Maxwell Field,
AL) “talk in the AM, shoot in the PM” Many years before aviation technology would match
airpower theory Primacy of bombardment accepted by 1926 Focus shifted to “self-defending bomber” 1926 – 1934
(dawn of B17) Fighters and escorts typically of secondary concern Bombers would operate above FLAK and
interceptors Claire Chennault was one of the handful of dissenters
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Before WWIIBilly Mitchell Very effective tactician during WWI and focused on tactical air
power Became Douhet disciple: Air power is the future Airpower is cheaper than a two ocean Navy (budget argument) Can attack/sink anything including a battleship Both Army and Navy are unconvinced Tested on German battleship
Not the best test as ship was immobile First day was inconclusive; but ship was sunk on the second Navy was astonished; Army leadership was embarrassed
“Winged Defense” (1925) predicted war with Japan Shenandoah disaster: Mitchell publically accused USA and USN
of professional incompetence Mitchell court martialed for insubordination and eventually
resigned.
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Before WWIIMacArthur-Pratt Agreement: USA Chief of Staff (MacArthur) and USN Chief of Naval Operations (Pratt) agreement re aviation responsibilities; in particular placed coastal air defense under the Army
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Before WWII1930s - Continued development of aircraft and technology Mono wings and aluminum airframe structures
4 engine, long range bombers (US & UK) Fighters with wing-mounted machine guns, e.g., ME109, Hurricane,
Spitfire, P40, Zero Engines:
Water cooled, in-line V12: RR Merlin, Allison 1710, MB 601 Single Row Radial: P&W, Curtiss-Wright, BMW 801 Jet Engines: UK initially way ahead but RAF lost interest, gov’t
funding waned and Germans gained the lead Weapons: Browning 50 cal and (UK) .303 [big mistake], 20mm cannons Japanese torpedoes (best in the world) Norden bombsight[1] RADAR and other radio-wave based technologies for both identification
and “steering” of airborne objects Radio
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Before WWII[1] Footnote to Norden Bombsight
Accurately putting a bomb on target is a very complicated operation. Bomb trajectory is affected by bomber speed, bomber altitude, instantaneous bomber motion (pitch, yaw, roll), wind speed and direction, and bomb aerodynamics.
The Norden bombsight was one of the most closely guarded secrets of WWII. It could not (as was suggested) put a bomb in a pickle barrel from 30,000 feet (hitting an aircraft carrier from 30,000 feet would have been amazing) but was probably the best bomb sight available at the time.
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Before WWII1930s - Continued development of theory and tactics: Heavily armed bombers (US and UK)
Assumed: Can fly above FLAK; can defend themselves from fighters US thinking influenced by expectation of having to fly 5,000 mile
round trips: XB-15, XB-19, B29 More practical designs prevailed: B17 and B24, and eventually B-29 UK: Halifax, Lancaster
Unarmed bombers If sufficiently fast and mobile, no defensive armament is needed DeHavilland Mosquito (best aircraft of WWII)
Tactical Bombers US: B25, UK: Vickers Wellington Germany: Ju88, Stuka, Japan::
Light and agile fighters (Japan) Fast and rugged fighters (others)
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Before WWII1930s - Spanish Civil War: Modern Airwar Comes of Age Strategic use of modern bombers Tactical use of modern bombers Tactical use of modern fighters
Bombers Often Got Through (no real air defenses) But damage to morale was not as expected
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Before WWII1939 Status Germany: best overall air force; very strong tactically, but fatally
lacking in strategic theory and equipment; Japan: best naval aviation Italy: elegant designs, but … Britain: ramping up from years of neglect; probably the best
structure and organization; working hard on air defense; two excellent fighters (Hurricane & Spitfire); good medium bombers; heavy bomber development underway
US: best position re resources and potential – US manufacturing know-how is best in the world; US aircraft industry will soon be swamped with orders from Europe; several good fighters “in the pipeline” and B17 in early production; B24 under development; front line capability pretty poor
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WWII Air WarBlitzkreig and the success of German tactical airpower German air/land synchronized war machine was
unstoppable Poland, Nordic countries, low countries and France swept
aside The Battle of Britain and the first failure of strategic airpower Germany unprepared for longer range strategic bombing Lacked the strategy, tactics, equipment and personnel Britain had been preparing for a defensive air war battle for
ten years Radar, command & control, excellent aircraft and personnel The Bomber Did Not Always Get Through
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WWII Air WarGerman Advanced-Technology Weapons V1: first tomahawk/cruise missile V2: first long range, strategic missile ME 262: first operational jet fighter (UK was a few months
behind, US was a year or more behind). Good airframe design w/ swept-back wings; very unreliable engines; about 15% of aircraft flight-ready at any time; required a significant rethinking of tactics and logistics – too little, too late
Flying wings and stealth aircraft: Horten brothers thinking paralleled Jack Northrup; although the designs get a lot of current attention, they were far from production ready (typical misunderstanding of how long it takes from prototype to deployed combat system)
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WWII Air WarAllied Air Offensive in Europe UK night bombing
Only way British could hit Hitler on European continent Daylight, precision bombing had failed Reverted to night time area bombing Generally successful
US daylight bombing Believed that flying fortress model (large, well-gunned bomber) did
not need fighter protection Initially successful[1] but once US tried deeper penetration and
fighter cover fell back, theory fell apart. Attempts to develop massively gunned escort ships like XB40 failed.
Appalling and unsustainable loses (40% on some missions) Long range escort (P51) saved USAAF from defeat and
fundamentally changed US air offensive in Europe Generally successful
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WWII Air WarAllied Air Offensive in Europe -- Analysis:• Needed more focus on fewer strategic industries • Less than 5% of bombs hit target (within 1,000 yards of aim point).
Statistic was actually known as early as 1942 but was suppressed for morale and political reasons.
• Large % of US loses could have been prevented if USAAF brass actually examined 1930s assumptions in light of 1940s capabilities. More deadly to be in USAAF aircrew in Europe than to be a Marine in the Pacific
• Aviation capability often drove theory and doctrine, e.g., don’t have a long-range escort for bombers so we obviously do not need one
• “facts” continue to be argued because data gathered was quite flawed and often biased (politically or for other reasons).
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WWII Air WarAir War in the Pacific Naval Aviation
Comparison of bombers Comparison of fighters Comparison of torpedos Comparison of carriers
Strategic Bombing of Japan USAAF B29s from Marianas (Guam, Tinian, Saipan)
Atomic Bombs
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WWII Air WarThe Manufacturing and Logistics Miracle 3,000 planes built by US manufacturers in 1940 300,000 planes built 1941 to 1945 with production peaking in
mid/late 1944 Willow Run B24 Plant gets the most attention but many aircraft
plants put out an amazing number of aircraft 100+ octane aviation fuel Ability to build airfields and bases quickly (mechanization) US industrial base was too far from battle fronts to be threatened
but West Coast plants were camaflauged and virtually all new manufacturing plants were well inland
Significant use of women in both manufacturing and transport
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WWII Air WarStrategic Bombing Surveys Did the bomber win the war? Was Douhet right after all? Did US and UK sacrifice the moral high ground by
resorting to bombing of civilian population centers? Germans and Japanese started it (Germans in
Spain; Japs in China) US and UK finished it
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WWII Air WarAir Power Legacy from WWII Clash of theory and reality Rapid reaction to shortfalls, e.g., reverse engineering
of Zero (tactics and Grumman F6F Hellcat) Inability to react to shortfalls, e.g., lack of long range
escort in Europe Convergence of science/technology and military for
both offense and defense). Military typically paid more attention to the scientists
Importance of air power and control of airspace USAF created as separate military arm Continued bickering over ownership and $
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Post WWIIPost WWII Conflicts: Korea – jet fighters, limited strategic bombing (can it be truly
effective if you are denied the enemy’s heart?) Viet Nam – helicopters, limited strategic bombing (can it be truly
effective …) Desert Wars – stealth and precision munitions (approaching
Douhet’s ideal?)Precision Munitions – How Much Better? In 1944/45 it took 50 to 100 B17s to destroy a large power plant
(less than 5% of the bombs dropped will fall within 1,000 yards of the intended target)
It takes 1 aircraft with precision munitions to do the same job today
Few structures today are “bomb proof”
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Post WWIIRise of the drones and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles … and the decline
of manned fighters? Another attempt at sanitary warfare? Who operates the drones and how is that working? Pilots want to fly … No “war zone to home” decompression time for operatorsAviation plays an ever increasing role in all services Airpower critical but still not decisive in a non-nuclear war … still
needs “boots on the ground” Carrier replaced battleship 70 years ago, but traditional navy still
crucial (role of missile subs?) Tanks and helicopters vie for prominence in land conflicts but
neither can survive without the other and boots on the ground is
still the final step