These enemy units were capable of rates and volumes of surface to air fires exceeding any surface to air threat possessed by Iraq or Serbia. The squadron lost 3-6 aircraft. The pilot was shot down 32 times and lost part of a leg but was able to fly and fight the enemy until the end of the war. Rudel killed over 500 tanks. Box scores with high levels of integrity, quality, and relevance are essential for understanding and exploiting aviation's full combat potential.
Sortie rates are important inputs into an air to ground weapon delivery system.
Efforts to evaluate and understand this system's combat effectiveness are incomplete, however, until they include box scores which measure system output. Adding the days of operations from Tinian, Tacloban, and Mindoro adds up to 305 days of operations instead of 312. Such inaccuracies are certainly undesirable but with access to detailed box scores, readers can make their own assessments about the record's veracity and persuasiveness. This transcript as well as one from an Air Antitank Warfare Seminar 25-26 May 1978 contain interviews with Rudel. Also see Rudel's autobiography, Stuka Pilot .