Amerika Programme
The Amerika Programme was the name given to the armaments policy of the Imperial German Air Service during World War I, which was started in June 1917. Its purpose was to increase the German air combat capability and end the air superiority of the Entente. The name was selected in analogy to the 1916 Hindenburg Programme of military-industrial policy. When the United States entered the war against Germany on April 4, 1917, German armaments planning to the end of September 1917 had already been completed and arranged. Although the United States was known to have only 55  military aircraft at that time and its aircraft industry was insignificant, the German military leadership held in high regard the efficiency, motivation and determination of the political leadership to mobilize the US industry. The Amerika programme was developed as a response to the expected arrival of US aviators in Europe. It provided for an increase in German aircraft production and an increase in pilot training. At the time the German Empire had forty fighter squadrons (Jagdstaffel). A fighter squadron consisted of eight to nine fighter planes. The aim of the programme was to double the number of fighter squadrons. Despite  higher production numbers, many fighter squadrons never reached their full strength. Furthermore, the Allies did not lose their air supremacy. This was due to the fact that the Albatros D.V and Pfalz D.III fighters were technically inferior to the airplanes of the Entente. At the beginning of June 1917, the Oberste Heeresleitung (OHL; Supreme Army Command) approved the memorandum by Ernst von Hoeppner, the commanding general of the Air Force (Kogenluft), which demanded the following programme: Points 11 to 16 were only added to the program later, when the Amerika programme was already running. The number of new flier detachments  (A) was later reduced from 17 to 6. In exchange, they would now receive nine aircraft instead of the previous six and another 28 flier detachments (A) were also to be brought up to nine aircraft each. In connection with the Amerika programme, plans were also made for the further development of aircraft. Despite the material shortages the German Empire was experiencig at that time, the Amerika programme was implemented with some success after delays. Total aircraft numbers more than doubled from 1,200 in 1917 to 2,600 by March 1918.