Luftstreitkräfte

The Deutsche Luftstreitkräfte, meaning German Air Combat Forces, was the air arm of the Imperial German Army. Before October 1916 it was known as Die Fliegertruppen des deutschen Kaiserreiches, the flying troops of the German Imperial Reich, and in English it is usually called the Imperial German Air Service. German naval aviators of the Marine-Fliegerabteilung were instead an integral part of the Imperial German Navy, the Kaiserliche Marine. Both branches of the military operated aeroplanes, observation balloons and airships.