In aerial warfare

Military aviation

Military aviation is the use of aircraft and other flying machines for the purposes of conducting or enabling warfare, including national airlift capacity to provide logistical supply to forces stationed in a theater or along a front. Air power includes the national means of conducting such...

, the term overclaiming describes a combatant (or group) that claims the destruction of more enemy aircraft than actually achieved. The net effect is that the actual losses and claimed victories are unequal.

Honest overclaiming typically occurs in one of two ways: (1) more than one fighter pilot attacks the same target in quick succession and when they see it destroyed each claims a victory in good faith, and (2) a target is hit and appears to go down, but the pilot is able to land the plane. In some instances of combat over friendly territory a damaged aircraft may have been claimed as an aerial victory by its opponent while the aircraft was later salvaged and restored to an operational status. In this situation the loss may not appear in the records while the claim remains confirmed.

Most discussion of overclaiming centers on air combat during World War II, because of the significant amount of air combat relative to conflicts before or since.

German methodology for confirming aerial victories

The Luftwaffe had, at least in theory, a very stringent approval process for the confirmation of aerial victories.

• Without a witness, a Luftwaffe fighter pilot had no chance to have his victory claim confirmed. Such a claim, even if filed, would not pass beyond group level.
• The final destruction or explosion of an enemy aircraft in the air, or bail-out of the pilot, had to be observed either on gun-camera film or by at least one other human witness. The witness could be the German pilot's wingman, another in the squadron, or an observer on the ground.

In practice, however, even in the early stages of the war, overclaiming by the Luftwaffe occurred. As the war entered its final, chaotic phase in 1945, many German aces' claims from late 1944 onward were left unvalidated due to the breakdown in administration within the Luftwaffe, and at times bore little relationship to reality.

In the 1990s, the German archives made available microfilm rolls of wartime records, not seen since January 1945, available to the public.
These showed that while in theory the Luftwaffe did not accept a kill without a witness, which was considered only a probable, in practice some units habitually submitted unwitnessed claims and these sometimes made it through the verification process, particularly if they were made by pilots with already established records.
In theory the Luftwaffe did not accept shared claims, but it happened. In theory each separate claim should have referred to a particular aircraft, but in practice some victories were awarded to other pilots who had claimed the destruction of the same aircraft.
In 1943 the daily OKW communiques of this period habitually overstated American bomber losses by a factor of two or more. Defenders of German fighter pilots have always maintained that these were reduced during the confirmation process. But the microfilms prove this not to be the case.
Some 80 - 90 percent of the claims submitted were confirmed or found to be "in order" for confirmation up to the time the system broke down altogether in 1945.

Examples of overclaiming

Date	Unit/Air Force	Notes
18 December 1939	Luftwaffe Luftwaffe Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956.... and Royal Air Force Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...	During the Battle of the Heligoland Bight Battle of the Heligoland Bight (1939) The Battle of the Heligoland Bight was the first "named" air battle of the Second World War, which began the longest air campaign of the war, the Defence of the Reich. On 18 December 1939, a force of three RAF bomber squadrons with a total of 24 aircraft set off to engage German ships in the...  German fighters claimed 38 Vickers Wellington Vickers Wellington The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engine, long range medium bomber designed in the mid-1930s at Brooklands in Weybridge, Surrey, by Vickers-Armstrongs' Chief Designer, R. K. Pierson. It was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, before being displaced as a...  bombers shot down. Actual British losses were 12 of the 22 bombers on the raid. The bombers gunners claimed 12 German fighters but just three were recorded as shot down.
10 July 1940	Luftwaffe Luftwaffe Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....	III./ZG 76 claimed 12 Hawker Hurricanes. The RAF lost just one Hurricane that day, in a collision with a Dornier Do 17 Dornier Do 17 The Dornier Do 17, sometimes referred to as the Fliegender Bleistift , was a World War II German light bomber produced by Claudius Dornier's company, Dornier Flugzeugwerke...
13 July 1940	Royal Air Force	No. 56 Squadron RAF No. 56 Squadron RAF Number 56 Squadron is one of the oldest and most successful squadrons of the Royal Air Force, with battle honours from many of the significant air campaigns of both World War I and World War II...  claimed seven Ju 87s from Sturzkampfgeschwader 1 destroyed over Portland Isle of Portland The Isle of Portland is a limestone tied island, long by wide, in the English Channel. Portland is south of the resort of Weymouth, forming the southernmost point of the county of Dorset, England. A tombolo over which runs the A354 road connects it to Chesil Beach and the mainland. Portland and... . StG 1 recorded the loss of only two Ju 87s shot down.
12 August 1940	Luftwaffe	The Germans claimed 22 British aircraft destroyed, actual British losses were 3. In one engagement Bf 109s from JG 2 claimed six RAF fighters, while bombers from KG 54 claimed 14. Only one fighter was shot down and six damaged.
18 August 1940	Luftwaffe	The Germans claimed 147 British aircraft destroyed, actual recorded British losses were 68.
15 September 1940	Royal Air Force	On the day termed as "the Battle of Britain Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain is the name given to the World War II air campaign waged by the German Air Force against the United Kingdom during the summer and autumn of 1940...  Day", the RAF claimed 185 German aircraft shot down. German recorded losses were 60.
1940	Luftwaffe	Overall, German claims for British fighters destroyed during the Battle of Britain was 3,058 against recorded losses of 915 - 334% overclaiming, compared with RAF overclaiming of about 155%. This, coupled with underestimation of British production, had severe intelligence repercussions.
June 1941 - December 1941	Red Air Force	The Soviet Air Forces of the South Western Front claimed 85 Bf 109s. A further 53 were claimed by anti-aircraft units Anti-aircraft warfare NATO defines air defence as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action." They include ground and air based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements and passive measures. It may be to protect naval, ground and air forces...  in October and another 54 in November. Only 31 Bf 109s were recorded as lost by the Luftwaffe in this period. VVS claims on the Eastern Front amount to 3,879, anti-aircraft units claimed 752, and a further 3,257 were claimed destroyed on the ground. The Luftwaffe reported the loss of 3,827 aircraft to all causes on the Eastern Front Eastern Front (World War II) The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...  in 1941. The VVS overclaiming more than 100%.
June 1941 - December 1941	Royal Air Force	During this period RAF Fighter Command launched a sustained 'fighter offensive' over Northern Europe, designed to tie down Luftwaffe fighter units, and hence indirectly take pressure off the Eastern Front, and to hopefully draw those Luftwaffe units encountered into a war of attrition. Fighting exclusively over enemy territory, and thus usually unable to accurately verify their pilot's combat reports, Fighter Command claimed 711 Luftwaffe fighters shot down, while losing 411 of its own fighters. The loss to JG 2 and JG 26, the principal opponents, were reportedly just 103 fighters.
8 June 1942	Red Air Force: 6 GIAP/VVS ChF	This unit claimed nine German aircraft shot down in a single action. Not a single German aircraft of any type was recorded as lost.
4 June 1942	Japanese Imperial Navy	In the attack on Midway Island Japanese Zero fighter pilots claimed more than American fighters shot down and several probably destroyed. The U.S. Marine Corps squadron, VMF-221, had sent up 25 Brewster Buffalos and Grumman F4F Wildcats, losing 15.
20 July 1942 - 10 August 1942	Luftwaffe	During this period Fliegerkorps VIII claimed to have shot down 606 Soviet aircraft while destroying another 107 on the ground. Actual losses of 8 VA were 230 aircraft - 114 fighters, 70 Shturmoviks, 29 Pe-2s, four Su-2s and 13 night bombers.
26 July 1942	Red Air Force: 434 IAP and 512 IAP	These units claimed 18 and 12 kills against Macchi C.200 Macchi C.200 The Macchi C.200 Saetta was a World War II fighter aircraft built by Aeronautica Macchi in Italy, and used in various forms throughout the Regia Aeronautica . The MC.200 had excellent manoeuvrability and general flying characteristics left little to be desired... s of the Italian 21 Gruppo Autonomo C.T. during the Fall Blau operation. The Italian unit lost three Macchi.
15 September 1942	Luftwaffe Desert Air Force Desert Air Force The Desert Air Force , also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, AHQ Western Desert, the Western Desert Air Force, Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force , was an Allied tactical air force initially created from No...	Jagdgeschwader 27 Jagdgeschwader 27 Jagdgeschwader 27 Afrika was a World War II Luftwaffe Geschwader. It was most famous for service in the North African Campaign, supporting the Deutsches Afrikakorps.- Formation:... claimed 19-20 aerial victories while Royal Australian Air Force Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...  and RAF records report the loss of five aircraft (a further Allied fighter was lost due to friendly ground fire). The Allies claimed two destroyed, two probables and three damaged in the same engagement. The Germans lost Lt. Hoffmann of I. Gruppe and Uffz. Prien to a midair collision, killing Prien. No further losses had been reported.
15 December 1942	IJAAF	Burma China Burma India Theater of World War II China Burma India Theater was the name used by the United States Army for its forces operating in conjunction with British and Chinese Allied air and land forces in China, Burma, and India during World War II... : 50th Sentai pilots submitted claims for six Hawker Hurricane Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force... s shot down over Chittagong Chittagong Chittagong ) is a city in southeastern Bangladesh and the capital of an eponymous district and division. Built on the banks of the Karnaphuli River, the city is home to Bangladesh's busiest seaport and has a population of over 4.5 million, making it the second largest city in the country.A trading... . Not one Hurricane was even damaged.
25 December 1942	United States Army Air Force	Burma China Burma India Theater of World War II China Burma India Theater was the name used by the United States Army for its forces operating in conjunction with British and Chinese Allied air and land forces in China, Burma, and India during World War II... : 16th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group pilots submitted claims for ten enemy aircraft shot down, five probables and one damaged. The 64th Sentai lost one Ki-43 and three Ki-48 from 8th Sentai were damaged.
17 April 1943	United States Army Air Force: 91st, 306th Bomb Groups	During a mission against the Focke Wulf plant near Bremen Bremen The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is... , The Americans claimed 63 German fighters destroyed in aerial combat, plus 15 probable and 17 damaged. Only two were destroyed by enemy action, with nine damaged.
2 March 1943	No. 54 Squadron RAF & No. 457 Squadron RAAF No. 457 Squadron RAAF No. 457 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force fighter squadron of World War II. The squadron was formed in England during June 1941 as an Article XV squadron equipped with Supermarine Spitfire fighters... ; 202nd Kokutai, Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II, the organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War.It was controlled by the Navy Staff of the Imperial Japanese Navy and...	Each side claimed three enemy aircraft destroyed. Neither side suffered any losses.
5 July 1943 - 8 July 1943	Red Air Force: 2.VA, and 16.VA	During the Battle of Kursk Battle of Kursk The Battle of Kursk took place when German and Soviet forces confronted each other on the Eastern Front during World War II in the vicinity of the city of Kursk, in the Soviet Union in July and August 1943. It remains both the largest series of armored clashes, including the Battle of Prokhorovka,... , the Soviet unit 2.VA claimed 487 aircraft from Fliegerkorps VIII shot down. German records show the Luftwaffe lost only 41. According to the Generalquartiemeister der Luftwaffe 58 were lost to all causes. The 16 VA unit claimed 391 against Luftflotte 6 Luftflotte 6 Luftflotte 6 was one of the primary divisions of the German Luftwaffe in World War II. It was formed on May 5, 1943 from Luftwaffenkommando Ost in Central Russia... . Actual losses were 39. The Soviets claimed a total of 878 German aircraft destroyed. Losses were 97.
17 August 1943	United States Army Air Force, Luftwaffe	After the Schweinfurt-Regensburg mission  Gunners on the bombers claimed 288 fighters shot down. Spitfire pilots claimed another 7 German fighters shot down and P-47 pilots claimed 14. Luftwaffe records show 40 aircraft lost. The Luftwaffe claimed 101 bombers and five fighters shot down, however only 60 B-17s and no fighters were reported lost.
14 October 1943	United States Army Air Force, Luftwaffe	After the Second Raid on Schweinfurt Second Raid on Schweinfurt The second Schweinfurt raid bombed World War II ball bearing factories to reduce production of these vital parts for all manner of war machines. Named Black Thursday because the loss of aircrewmen was the highest for any USAAF mission...  Gunners aboard the B-17 bombers claimed to have shot down 138 German fighters. German records state only 38 were lost. German fighters claimed 121 bombers, the actual figure was 60.
6 January 1944	United States Army Air Force	On this date bomber crews claimed 210 German fighters and their escorts claiming 31, for a total of 241 claims. German losses amounted to 39 in total.
3 March 1944	United States Army Air Force, Luftwaffe	On a bombing mission to Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...  the Eighth Air Force Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana....  dispatched the 1st and 2nd Air Divisions, comprising 95th, 100th and 390th Bomb Groups. The B-17 gunners claimed 97 German fighters on this mission. American fighters claimed a further 82 destroyed. German losses amounted to 66. German claims amounted to 108 bombers and 20 fighters. USAAF losses were 69 bombers and 11 fighters.
14 June 1944	United States Army Air Force	During the Oil Campaign of World War II Oil Campaign of World War II The Allied Oil Campaign of World War II was directed at facilities supplying Nazi Germany with petroleum, oil, and lubrication products...  fifteen P-38 Lightning escorts from 49th Squadron, 14 FG was engaged by 32 Bf 109G-6s from the 101. Honi Légvédelmi Vadászrepülő Osztály, Royal Hungarian Air Force over central Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The... . American fighter pilots reported 13 Bf 109s destroyed, 1 probable destroyed and 5 damaged. In the preliminary report the Hungarian fighter pilots filed claims for twelve probably destroyed P-38s, and ultimately filed claims for seven; five were eventually claimed confirmed. The actual losses of the day: five P-38s were shot down, with pilots MIA, two were severely damaged while several aircraft were lightly damaged; one Bf 109G was destroyed in air combat (pilot KIA), one Bf 109G destroyed during forced landing as a result of air combat (pilot safe); one Bf 109G damaged during a landing accident.
18 June 1944	Luftwaffe	The Luftwaffe claimed 39 B-24s and five P-51s shot down over Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein Schleswig-Holstein is the northernmost of the sixteen states of Germany, comprising most of the historical duchy of Holstein and the southern part of the former Duchy of Schleswig... . Just 13 B-24s and two P-51s were lost.
1944–1945	Luftwaffe	Oberleutnant Kurt Welter Kurt Welter Kurt Welter was a German Luftwaffe fighter ace and the most successful Jet Expert of World War II.For a list of Luftwaffe jet aces see List of German World War II jet aces A flying ace or fighter ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat... , claimed perhaps 25 Mosquitoes shot down by night and two further Mosquitoes by day while flying the Me 262, adding to his previous seven Mosquito kills in "hot-rodded" Bf 109G-6/AS or Fw 190 A-8 fighters. As far as can be ascertained, three of his Me 262 claims over Mosquitoes coincide with RAF records.
1 January 1945	Luftwaffe	On this date German pilots overclaimed by between 4 and 3:1 . During Operation Bodenplatte Operation Bodenplatte Operation Bodenplatte launched on 1 January 1945, was an attempt by the Luftwaffe to cripple Allied air forces in the Low Countries during the Second World War. The goal of Bodenplatte was to gain air superiority during the stagnant stage of the Battle of the Bulge, to allow the German Army and...  the Luftwaffe claimed 55 destroyed and 11 probably destroyed in air-to-air combat (according to document: "Fernschreiben II.JakoIc Nr.140/44 geh.vom 3.1.1945"). Other German sources (according to document: "Luftwaffenführungsstab Ic, Fremde Luftwaffen West, Nr. 1160/45 g.Kdos.vom 25.2.1945"), quote 65 claims and 12 probables. Just 31 Allied aircraft were hit. 15 were shot down in aerial combat, two were destroyed whilst on take-off and seven were damaged by enemy action.
24 March 1945	U.S. Army Air Force	The 332nd Fighter Group 332nd Fighter Group The 332d Fighter Group is an inactive United States Air Force unit, last assigned to the 332d Fighter Wing at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio. It was deactivated on 1 July 1949....  was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation Presidential Unit Citation (US) The Presidential Unit Citation, originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the Armed Forces of the United States and allies for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941...  (DUC) for a mission flown on 24 March 1945, escorting B-17s to bomb the Daimler-Benz Daimler-Benz Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...  tank factory at Berlin, Germany. The American pilots were credited with destroying three Me-262 jets of the Luftwaffe's all-jet Jagdgeschwader 7 Jagdgeschwader 7 Jagdgeschwader 7 Nowotny was a Luftwaffe fighter-wing of World War II and the first operational jet fighter wing in the world.It was created late in 1944 and served until the end of the war in May 1945, and it operated the Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter exclusively.JG 7 was formed under the... , despite the American unit initially claiming 11 Me 262s. The bombers also made substantial claims, making it impossible to tell which units were responsible for those individual four kills. Upon examination of JG 7 records, just four Me 262s were lost and all of their pilots survived.