aircraft were destroyed and captured on airfields around Paris after the fall of the city on 14 June. At the beginning of Fall Rot, French aviation industry had reached a considerable output, and estimated its strength at nearly 2,000. However chronic lack of parts crippled this industrial feat. Only 29% (599) aircraft were serviceable, of which 170 were bombers, of which all were vastly inferior and vulnerable to the Luftwaffe's Jagdgruppen equipped with the Bf 109E. The French ground forces, now alone after Dunkirk, had virtually no air cover, and as a result the Luftwaffe was able to allow large formations of its Stukas and bombers to operate without escorts, and fighters were free to conduct sweeps to eliminate any air opposition that remained. It is estimated the French forces lost 1,274 aircraft destroyed during the campaign, the British suffered losses of 959 (477 fighters). The battle for France had cost the Luftwaffe 28% of its front line strength, some 1,428 aircraft destroyed. A further 488 were damaged, making a total of 36% of the Luftwaffe strength negatively affected. The Luftwaffe still retained a total reserve strength of 10,000 pilots, which would be needed in the battle of attrition that was to follow over the British Isles. Battle of Britain Following the successful campaign in France, and as a prerequisite for Operation Sea Lion, the invasion of Britain, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had to be defeated. The earlier successes had caused Göring to become overly confident in its abilities and made him boast that the RAF would be defeated in a matter of days. The Luftwaffe had been designed as a tactical air force to support ground forces on the battlefield and had operated this way during the continental campaigns with enormous success. In the Battle of Britain, however, the Luftwaffe was ordered to operate alone, as a strategic weapon. This new role was something the Luftwaffe had never been designed for: it lacked the strategic bombers and long-range fighters needed to initiate a strategic bombing campaign. Therefore, the Luftwaffe's first task was to ensure air supremacy over southeast England, to pave the way for an invasion fleet. The Luftwaffe committed three Luftflotten to the campaign. Luftflotte 2, under Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring, was allocated to targets in the southwest and the London area. Luftflotte 3, under Generalfeldmarschall Hugo Sperrle, targeted the West Midlands and northwest of England. Luftflotte 5,