Junkers Ju 87 Stuka was obsolete in what was now a fighter-bomber's war. The Bf 109 and Fw 190 could at least fight enemy fighters on equal terms after dropping their ordnance but the Stuka could not. The Ju 87's vulnerability was demonstrated on 11 November 1942, when 15 Ju 87 Ds were shot down by United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Curtiss P-40Fs in minutes. By 1943, the Allies enjoyed air supremacy in North Africa. The Ju 87s ventured out in "Rotte" strength only, often jettisoning their bombs at the first sight of enemy aircraft. Adding to this trouble, the German fighters
Junkers Junkers Junkers Flugzeug- und Motorenwerke AG (JFM, earlier JCO or JKO in World War I), more commonly Junkers, was a major German aircraft and aircraft engine manufacturer. It produced some of the world's most innovative and best-known airplanes over the course of its fifty-plus year history in Dessau, Germany. It was founded there in 1895 by Hugo Junkers, initially manufacturing boilers and radiators. During World War I, and following the war, the company became famous for its pioneering all-metal aircraft. During World War II the company produced some of the most successful Luftwaffe planes, as well as piston and jet