WI - no Luftwaffe?

OK, this may be unlikely, but what if the Luftwaffe was never formed?

IIRC, independent air forces were relatively rare in the 1930's - most were parts of the relevant Navy and Army. So let us assume that instead of an independent Luftwaffe, the Heer and the Kriegsmarine both have their own air forces?

In some ways, this will increase efficiency. An air force under the direct control of the Kriegsmarine will almost certainly develop a proper 4-engine maritime patrol/strike aircraft, probably similar to the Dornier 19 or Junkers 89. Guided missiles similar to the Fritz X may appear sooner than OTL, though I don't know how soon.

The Heer will probably have an air branch based around ground support - the Ju 87 will almost certainly appear, along with the Me 109. Some medium bomber designs will appear, although the Ju 88 may be forced into a dive bombing role as in OTL.

I suspect that strategic bombers will not appear - although the Heer may well let the Kriegsmarine do the development work and then modify them as bombers later! I think that, at least in part, the attraction of strategic bombing was that it would allow the air force to win a war on it's own, and the Heer wouldn't be so interested. That said, the USAAF was a big strategic bombing force, so that's uncertain.

The structure of Nazi Germany will probably hurt development. With the Heer and Kriegsmarine now in direct opposition over aircraft, I could see the Heer might well get aircraft from Junkers and Messerschmidt, and the Kriegsmarine from Focke-Wulf and Dornier! No co-operation on engine development either, and separate aircrew training schemes as well.

There might well be a geographical separation of air defence as well - the Kreigsmarine covers the coasts and the Heer takes over inland. If they insist on separate control rooms it will get even more confused . . .


Goring would have to be removed for this to work, I'm not sure about Milch, Wever et al.


Thoughts?
 

Cook

Banned
In some ways, this will increase efficiency. An air force under the direct control of the Kriegsmarine will almost...
I think you may have the stick by the wrong end. An ambitious Kriegsmarine faced with a limited budget will prioritise building up its surface fleet, then its submarines, and then may consider some maritime surveillance aircraft.
 
An airforce that completely supports the army would actually be helpful against both attacking and defending army groups. Perhaps other nations will follow suit and not develop airforces as well. This could drag out the war considerably.
 
There would be little effect on the RAF although you could potentially see a Fleet Air Arm build up in a similar vein to that described in "The Whale Has Wings". I think potentially you could see an increase in Battlefield support from the Army Air Corp.

Going back to the Germans, I think you'd see greater development of the JU87 and the HS129 as flying Panzers. Fighters are likely to be shorter ranged and better protected against ground fire with Air to Air combat pretty much being a secondary role until the British start strategic bombing then it would be the predicted cat fight between the Army and the Navy ala Japan.

Net result:
No Battle of Britain if* France falls
Bomber command and USAAF lose less planes than OTL during bombing campaign.
Barbarossa proceeds pretty much as OTL
Overlord slightly more bloody as the Heer would be able to move effective offensive units quicker, (HS129 being faster than even a Panther :D), but the over all result would be the same.

*With less pure bred fighters opposing the British and French Airforce, potentially tactical air sorties could be more successful. Successful enough is unlikely but you never know.
 
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