Five Brothers and a War

Luftwaffe Superiority

The German Luftwaffe was a force to be reckoned with from the very outset of its invasion of Holland. While it also had a large area to spread these forces, they obviously were in the position to very quickly establish air supremacy, much less superiority. Note that the numbers presented are misleading, because Holland’s planes were very much antiquated models—often bi-planes more associated with World War I models, or at the most interwar, whereas the Luftwaffe’s planes were state-of-the-art.

LUFTWAFFE STRENGTH (DUTCH CAMPAIGN)

LUFTWAFFE STRENGTH 1940

DUTCH

AIRCRAFT CLASS

RAF STRENGTH

AIR FORCE

Single-Engine Fighters Twin-Engine Fighters

787 219

147

36 35

800

Night Fighters

63

Fighter-Bombers

119

Light Bombers

37

Ground Attack Aircraft

n/a 294 960

Dive-Bombers

Twin-Engine Bombers Four-Engine Bombers Reconnaissance Aircraft

247

7

7

185 135

33 20

nazi germany Army Cooperation Aircraft Single-Engine Fighter Trainers Transport

?

7

424

Sea Planes

12

TOTAL

3,157

175

Five Brothers and a War

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