Quote:
Originally Posted by Franek Grabowski
In 1939-1940 production of heavy bombers like Halifax, Manchester/Lancaster or Stirling was being prepared. Obviously, designs were of 1930s rather 1940s, so it clearly contradicts your thesis.
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Again, its difficult to see how was that any different than the bomber programmes in Germany. The He 177 programme started in 1935, by the end of 1939 the prototype made its first flight, and soon the order for serial production came again. Given the defeat of France and Britain in the Western campain, the orders were much reduced in June 1940, but re-instated in October 1940, after it become clear that the war would drag on. In other words, the German heavy bomber programme run parellel to the British, but because of its much more technically ambitious nature, it took a year longer to be fit for operations.
OTOH, I tend believe that the Luftwaffe wasn't in such a need for a heavy bomber as the Western Allies. The operational requirements could be just as well satisfied by the existing medium bombers with significantly less strain on logistics and production, and the introduction of a viable heavy bomber design would not solve the inherent strategical dilemmas: the US and the USSR's industrial areas beyond the Ural would be still out of reach; and given that bases were readily close to Britain, the Luftwaffe was not facing the same operational problem as the RAF BC (and 8th USAAF), ie. that medium bombers did not have the range/payload to hit target deep in Germany while
taking off from British airfields - Luftwaffe bombers could take off from airfields
in France.