Close air support was a prerequisite for the success of the Wehrmacht's Blitzkrieg operations. In 1939 and early 1940, the gull-winged, single-engine Junkers Ju-87 (Stuka) - with its three machine guns and a maximum bomb load of 1,540 pounds - was vital to such operations. The terror sirens of these diving aircraft struck fear into thos on the ground below, while their bombs and guns amplified this terror with death and destruction. However, once opposed by more modern fighter aircraft - such as the British RAF's Spitfires and Hurricanes beginning in 1940 - the Ju-87s proved vulnerable. They were subsequently utilized only occasionally in support of frontline offensive operations.
