TYPE: Anti-ship and -fortification destroyer. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only in the Heinkel He 162

POWER PLANT: Two BMW 003A-1 turbojet engines, rated at 800 kp thrust each in the Ju 268 and one BMW 003A-1 turbojet engine in the He 162A-2

PERFORMANCE: 497 mph

COMMENT: The Junkers Ju 268 was the un-manned bomber component of the “Mistel 5” parasite bomber project designed in Germany during 1944. It was a composite bomber comprising a Heinkel He 162A-2 piloted component and a specially developed Arado Ar E.377 glide bomb. Due to shortages at the Arado design offices, several other composites were studied as replacements for the Arado Ar E.377, and in late 1944 Junkers proposed the Ju268 as an alternate bomber component for the “Mistel 5”, with a Messerschmitt Me 262 studied as an alternative piloted component. The Ju 268 was simply designed with a cylindrical wooden fuselage, a hollow-charge of up to 10 tons of explosive in the nose part, rectangular mid-mounted wings, and a cruciform un-swept tail unit. A jettisonable tricycle landing gear was fixed attached to the fuselage during take-off only and power was provided by two BMW 003 or Junkers Jumo 004 turbojet engines. For suicide- or “Kamikaze”-missions a manned version of the Ju 268 was under study with a glazed cockpit section in the front of the aircraft. No further details are known and the project never left the drawing-board (Ref.: 20, 24).