TYPE: High-altitude fighter-interceptor

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only in pressurized cockpit

POWER PLANT: One Junkers Jumo 213E liquid-cooled inverted V-12 inline engine, rated at 2,250 hp with MW-50 injection

PERFORMANCE: 472 mph at 41,000 ft using GM-1 boost

COMMENT: The superb qualities of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D fighter did not go unrecognized by the RLM, who rewarded Prof. Kurt Tank, primarily responsible for its design, by permitting him to employ the prefix “Ta” (indicating “Tank”) in place of Fw (Focke-Wulf) for designating of designs produced by his team. Tank took the opportunity provided by the incorporation of some modifications in the Fw 190D design to apply the designation Ta 152 for a modified fighter. Initially there were relatively few differences between the Fw 190D and the Ta 152. The Junkers Jumo 213C engine was similar to the Fw 190D-9’s Jumo 213A but made provision for a 30-mm engine mounted MK 108 cannon which augmented the twin 20-mm MG 151s and the twin 13-mm MG 131s. It was intended to be made in at least three versions – the Ta 152H “Höhenjäger” (“high-altitude fighter”), the Ta 152C designed for medium-altitude operations and ground-attack using a different engine and smaller wing, and the Ta 152E fighter-reconnaissance aircraft with the engine of the H model and the wing of the C model. About 20 Ta 152H-0 were ordered and the first aircraft entered service with the Luftwaffe in January 1945. These were too few and too late to allow the Ta 152 to make a significant impact on the air war(Ref. 11).