Your favorite WWII Aircraft

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by August

I wasn't aware they used B-29's in the ETO.

They where never used in the ETO they likely would have if they had come into service sooner I'm sure.The way it worked out by summer 1944 it was clear that the B-17s and B-24 could do the job just fine in Europe and they needed every single B-29 available to bomb Japan(and parts of China under Japanese control).

The Germans did know some things about the B-29 project and where concerned the Ta-152H was designed specifically to counter it.

@fireftr18 The Catalina also contributed much to ASW operations along the East Coast and all of the UK when flown by Coastal Command.

[Cybermat47]

Originally Posted by Stealhead

The Germans did know some things about the B-29 project and where concerned the Ta-152H was designed specifically to counter it.
.

It would've saved them some money if they'd known that th B-29 was only going to be used against the Japanese.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

It would've saved them some money if they'd known that th B-29 was only going to be used against the Japanese.

And the MiG-25 was developed just to counter the B-70. It happens.

[Karle94]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

And the MiG-25 was developed just to counter the B-70. It happens.

Which resulted in the F-15, the best fighter to ever grace the skies.

[Stealhead]

Originally Posted by Cybermat47

It would've saved them some money if they'd known that th B-29 was only going to be used against the Japanese.

The B-29 was used against the Japanese because it was the best tool available for the job.Do not forget that the B-29 was very complex for its time and had many issues when it first entered service these factors made the USAAF decide to deploy them to the the PTO and not Europe.Remember the strategy was Europe first and then Japan.

They knew that the B-29 had issues and might take time to become truly combat effective but that it had the range to reach mainland Japan from bases in China(missions from China had mediocre results and the B-29s got sent to the Mariana Islands where they where a little closer to Japan) .

The logic was in the PTO we can afford to wait 6 months for the B-29 to become effective on the other hand we need a bomber that is effective right now in Europe.Therefore keep the B-24 and B-17s in Europe and send the B-29 to the PTO where in time it will get the job done.At this point the atomic bomb was not a sure thing yet it was all theory until the test at Trinity in 1945.The war against Japan was expected to possibly last well into 1946.

The B-29 took longer to develop than originally planned had it have been ready in 1943 it would have flown over Germany most likely.