Case Studies in the Achievement of Air Superiority - Air Force ...

AIR SUPERIORITY
FIGURE 6-3
Eighth Air Force Heavy Bomber Strength and Losses,
Oct 1943 - June 1944
3,000
2,500
2,000
1,500
1,000
500
0
Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
1943 1943 1943 1944 1944 1944 1944 1944 1944
Strength
Losses
Within the next six months, you have got to get a fighter that can protect our bombers.
Whether you use an existing type or have to start from scratch is your problem.
. . . By January 1944 I want fighter escort for all of our bombers from UK into
Germany.6Z
By January 1944 three important things had been accomplished.
Despite many difficulties, external droptanks in sufficient quantities had
been produced; tactics and flying procedures had been worked out to
extend range; and, the AAF had found a fighter that did combine great
range with high combat performance-the P-51 Mustang.63 In its original
version, the P-51 had proved unsuitable as a fighter because its high-altitude
performance left much to be desired. The British experimented by
replacing the Mustang’s original Allison engine with a Rolls-Royce Merlin.
The new combination of engine and airframe not only improved the P-51’s
combat performance, it also significantly increased its endurance. A longrange
high performance escort fighter was now possible. Fighters of this
type began to arrive in the United Kingdom late in 1943.
Early American escort tactics were modeled on the RAF practice of
providing short-range escort in the form of an “umbrella” over the bomber
formation. The fighters assembled separately and rendezvoused with the
bomber formation on its way to the target. Once they joined up, they
weaved over the formation, a tactic necessary because of the considerable
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