Warrior Video Above: Air Force Adds New Weapons to 143 F-22s – What Does it Mean?
By Sebastien Roblin,War Is Boring
The sleekly elegant Supermarine Spitfire is the iconic British fighter of World War II, the plane that kept the formerly unstoppable German air force at bay in the Battle of Britain. And thanks to constant upgrades, the Spitfire remained a top-performing frontline fighter through the end of the war.
In fact, such was the Spitfire’s performance that around 600 also served in the U.S. Army Air Force and Navy—one of the few foreign-built aircraft to do so. Indeed, in a largely forgotten chapter of the conflict, three Spitfire-equipped fighter groups were the first U.S. Army Air Force fighters to engage German aircraft in aerial combat during World War II.
The 31st and 52nd Fighter Groups arrived in England during the summer of 1942. Each group was composed of three squadrons of 16 fighters. But the American fighter units arrived without their P-39 Airacobras.
The P-39 had decent specifications on paper, but lacked the engine turbocharger necessary for effective high-altitude flying. Unfortunately, high altitude had proven the ultimate high ground in the air war over Europe—not only did high flying put fighters above the range of deadly light flak guns, but they could convert their altitude into speed by diving, giving them an edge over opponents below.
While low-altitude flying was important for supporting troops on the ground and strafing enemy airfields, heavy strategic bombers blasting enemy factories were routinely flying tens of thousands of above the ground.
