German Luftwaffe fighter jet in India
  • 5 years ago
Or is this just an Eurofighter typhoon fighter, as viewer sohag tiger tells us it is!?

Luftwaffe is the aerial warfare branch of the German Armed Forces. The term luftwaffe is also the generic German term for an air force and it is the name of both the Wehrmacht air force as well as the post-World War II Bundeswehr air force. The first Luftwaffe was founded in 1935 with many of its leaders having served in the World War I-era Luftstreitkräfte which had been disbanded under the term of the Treaty of Versailles. After the defeat of the Third Reich the Luftwaffe was disbanded in 1946. A new Bundeswehr Luftwaffe was founded in 1956 and remains as the German air force to the present day.

The German Luftwaffe was one of the strongest, most doctrinally advanced and most battle-experienced air forces in the world when World War II started in Europe in September 1939. Officially unveiled in 1935, in violation of the Treaty of Versailles, its purpose was to support Adolf Hitler's "Blitzkrieg" across Europe. The aircraft that were to serve in the Luftwaffe were of a new age and technically superior to that of most other nations in the 1930s. Types like the Junkers Ju 87 Stuka and Messerschmitt Bf 109 came to symbolise German air power.

The Luftwaffe became an essential component in the German military campaigns. Operating in support of ground forces, it helped the German armies to conquer the bulk of the European continent in a series of short and decisive campaigns in the first nine months of the war. It experienced its first defeat by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Battle of Britain in 1940. Despite this setback the Luftwaffe remained formidable and in June 1941 embarked on Hitler's quest for an empire in Eastern Europe by invading the Soviet Union, with much initial success. However, the Luftwaffe's striking victories in the Soviet Union were brought to a halt in the Russian winter of 1941--42.

Having failed to achieve victory in the Soviet Union in 1941 or 1942, the Luftwaffe was drawn into a war of attrition which extended to North Africa and the Channel Front. The entry of the United States into the war and the resurgence of the RAF's offensive power created the Home Front, known as Defence of the Reich operations. The Luftwaffe's strength was slowly eroded, and by mid 1944 it had virtually disappeared from the skies of Western Europe leaving the German Army to fight without air support. It continued to fight into the last days of the war with a new generation of turbojet-powered and even rocket-engine aircraft, such as the Messerschmitt Me 262, Messerschmitt Me 163 and the Heinkel He 162.

The Defense expo in Delhi held subsequently, is worlds seventh largest and Asia's largest Defence Expo in the series of biennial Land, Naval and Internal Security Systems Exhibition. The first exhibition was held in 1999 and subsequently in 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.The Department of Defence Production in the defence ministry is the organizing committee of the expo in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci). Some 567 global defence firms from 32 countries display weapon systems for the army, navy and also for internal security. It is a platform for suppliers, manufacturers, technology and services providers to get an opportunity for promoting and showcasing their products and services to the international defense industry. India is the largest importer of arms and ammunition in the world and exhibitors are practically falling over themselves to sell equipment. But perhaps the time has come to reverse that trend - to build equipment in India and export to the rest of the world.

This footage is part of the professionally-shot broadcast stock footage archive of Wilderness Films India Ltd., the largest collection of imagery from South Asia. The Wilderness Films India collection comprises of thousands of hours of high quality broadcast imagery, mostly shot on HDCAM 1080i High Definition, HDV and XDCAM. Write to us for licensing this footage on a broadcast format, for use in your production! We are happy to be commissioned to film for you or else provide you with broadcast crewing and production solutions across South Asia. We pride ourselves in bringing the best of India and South Asia to the world... Reach us at wfi @ vsnl.com and admin@wildfilmsindia.com
Recommended