Editing Blitzkrieg (section)

===Air power===
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 101I-646-5188-17, Flugzeuge Junkers Ju 87.jpg|thumb|The [[Junkers Ju 87|Ju 87 "Stuka"]] dive-bomber was used in blitzkrieg operations.]]
[[Close air support]] was provided in the form of the [[dive bomber]] and [[medium bomber]], which would support the focal point of attack from the air. German successes are closely related to the extent to which the German ''Luftwaffe'' could control the air war in early campaigns in Western and Central Europe and in the Soviet Union. However, the ''Luftwaffe'' was a broadly based force with no constricting central doctrine other than its resources should be used generally to support national strategy. It was flexible and could carry out both operational-tactical, and strategic bombing.

Flexibility was the strength of the ''Luftwaffe'' in 1939 to 1941. Paradoxically, that became its weakness. While Allied Air Forces were tied to the support of the Army, the ''Luftwaffe'' deployed its resources in a more general operational way. It switched from [[air superiority]] missions to medium-range interdiction, to strategic strikes to close support duties, depending on the need of the ground forces. In fact, far from it being a specialist panzer spearhead arm, less than 15 percent of the ''Luftwaffe'' was intended for close support of the army in 1939.{{sfn|Buckley|1998|pp=126–127}}