TYPE: Night fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three

POWER PLANT: Two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engines, rated at 1,300 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 541 mph

COMMENT:  A specification for a night fighter was issued by the RLM in late January 1944. Preliminary requirements postulated a top speed of 560 mph, an endurance of four hours, an internally mounted FuG 240 or FuG 244 radar, and an armament consisting of four cannon. Dr. Richard Vogt, chief engineer of Blohm & Voss Company, who designed the Blohm & Voss Bv P.212 jet fighter, contender of the “Jägernotprogramm” (Fighter emergency program), immediately began work of an larger aircraft to meet the specification issued for the new night fighter. On the basis of the Bv P.212 he designed the new aircraft, officially designated Blohm & Voss Bv P.215. The fuselage was short with an air intake in the nose leading the flow directly to the turbojet engines mounted in the rear fuselage. The wings featured a 30 degree swept back and 6 degrees of dihedral. The outer wing tips angled down at 23 degrees, and assisted stability and control. There were two small vertical fins and rudders located on the trailing edge of the wing, where the outer wing tips angled down. The nose landing gear was taken from a Heinkel He 219 “Uhu” and retracted to the rear, and the two main wheels retracted forwards into the fuselage. A pressurized cockpit held the three man crew seated on ejection seats. The defensive armament consisted on a remote controlled, rear-facing FHL 151 turret and two MG 151/20 cannon. Two bombs, SC 250 or SC 500 could be carried in a belly recess. On February 1945, the specifications for the future night fighter were upgraded, which none of the competitor’s designs were able to achieve. Although the Blohm & Voss Bv P.215 would have had good performance characteristics, it did not reach the new specifications either. Criticism concerned the short time of flight, stall at high speeds, caused by the short and thick fuselage, and uncertainty due to the unusual control units. Nevertheless, in March 1945, the design was chosen for further development. With the collapse of Nazi Germany any further work on that novel aircraft were stopped (Ref.: 17, 22).

TYPE: Heavy night- and all-weather fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: Two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engines, rated at 1,300 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 500 mph

COMMENT: The Arado Ar E. 583.5 project was a heavy night and all-weather fighter that was proposed to the “Entwicklungs-Hauptkommission (EHK, Main commission for development) on 15. March 1945. The design was a 35 degree delta-wing with twin fins and rudders located on the wing trailing edge. The two man crew was seated back-to-back in a pressurized cockpit. The two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojets were located under the rear fuselage. Four MK 108 30mm cannon were mounted in the nose,  two upward-firing , oblique mounted MK 108 30mm cannon were located in mid fuselage, and two remotely controlled backwards firing MK 108 cannon in the tail. After the WW II construction drawings from Arado came to the US and influenced the design of the Chance Vought F7U Cutlass (Ref. 15, 16, 17).

TYPE: Heavy night and all-weather fighter and fighter-bomber. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three

POWER PLANT: Two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engines, rated at 1.300 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 466 mph

COMMENT: The Arado Ar E.583.06 was a design of a night and all-weather fighter, presented to the “Entwicklungs-Hauptkommission (EHK, Main commission for development) in March 1945. The layout was a more conventional counterpart to the radical delta-wing design Arado Ar E. 583.05 presented at the same time. Wings were swept-back at 35 degrees and two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engines were placed under each wing. A crew of three men was seated in the pressurized cabin, which was fitted with ejection seats. The heavy armament consisted of four MK 108 30mm cannon mounted in the nose,  two upward-firing , oblique mounted MK 108 30mm cannon located in mid fuselage, and one remotely controlled backwards firing MK 108 cannon in the tail. The end of WW II stopped any further development (Ref. 15, 16, 17).

TYPE: Night fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of two

POWER PLANT: Two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojet engines, rated at 1,300 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 590 mph

COMMENT:   In mid 1944 the Heinkel design office was working on a heavy night and bad weather fighter with two-turbojet engines, and two crew members under project number P.1079. Initially, two different designs A and B were studied. Project He P.1079A was designed as a night-fighter. The crew of two sat back-to-back in the cockpit which was located near the nose. The wings were swept back 35 degrees and were mounted mid-fuselage, with two Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojets located in the wing roots. A V-tail plane (butterfly tail plane) was provided and armament was to be four MK 108 30mm cannon. Project He 1079B, a night fighter, too, was closer to a flying wing layout, although there was a single, vertical fin which replaced the V-tail of the P.1079A. Furthermore, the wings were gull-shaped and were swept back at 45 degrees. No evidence has been found that any of both P.1079 projects were ever submitted to the RLM, but it is known that members of Heinkel construction bureau were working on these designs under U.S. supervision during the summer of 1945 (Ref.: 16).

TYPE: Night and all-weather fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Crew of three

POWER PLANT: One Junkers Jumo 222C/D radial engine, rated at 3000 hp and two BMW 003A turbojet engines, rated at 800 kp thrust each

PERFORMANCE: 527 mph

COMMENT: In autumn 1944 the team of Focke-Wulf proposed a design of a mixed-propulsion aircraft as a night and all-weather fighter. Three different projects are planed with different piston engines. Project I with Daimler-Benz DB 603N in-line engine, rated at 2705 hp and driving four-bladed propeller, Project II with Junkers Jumo 222C/D four row radial engine, rated 3000 hp and driving five-bladed propeller (shown here), and Project III with Argus As 413 in-line engine, rated at 4000hp, driving four-bladed propeller. Additionally, the latter two projects featured a pair of BMW 003A turbojets slung under the wings. The mid-fuselage mounted engine drove the rear propeller by an extension shaft and air was fed via two intakes in the wing roots. The wings were swept back and a cruciform tail was fitted, the lower fin also helping to keep the propeller from striking the ground during take-off. A crew of three (pilot, navigator and radar operator) sat together in a pressurized cockpit covered by a bubble canopy. Flight times could be increased up to eight hours with the jet engines shut down and the rear engine operating at half throttle. The aircraft was heavily armed with four forward firing MK 108 30mm cannon in the nose and two upward-firing oblique MK 108 30mm cannon in mid fuselage. In addition, two 500 kg bombs could be carried at the outer wing stations. The defeat of Germany made further plans obsolete (Ref.: 16).

TYPE: Night fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot and radar operator

POWER PLANT: Two Heinkel-Hirth HeS-11 turbojet engines, rated at 1,500kp

PERFORMANCE: 596 mph, estimated

COMMENT:  In August 1944 the Gotha Aircraft Company was given the order of series production of the Horten Ho IX flying wing fighter, designated Go 229A. But additionally, in January 1945 the Gotha engineers proposed a series of altrenate all-wing design to the RLM which used many of the construction techniques as the Horten aircraft but had the advantage of being able to be modified with new equipment and engines without changing the flying characteristics. Three designs were proposed, and designation Gotha Go P.60A, Go P.60B, and Go P.60C was given. All were of delta-shaped., flying wing design, and powered by two turbojet engines at the rear end, one engine above the wing, the other slung under the fuselage. A two men crew sat in a pressurized and armored cockpit, located in the extreme nose. For its duty as night fighter the aircraft was equipped with the most modern radar available at that time. The Gotha Go P.60A was powered by two BMW 003A-1 turbojet engines, rated at 800 kp each, the crew laid in prone position. The Gotha Go P.60B was a further development of the P.60 series which simplified construction by utilizing an easier to build airframe and a conventional rudder. The two-seat cockpit was located behind the radar equipment in a fuselage section. The two engines were upgraded to Heinkel-Hirth HeS 011 turbojets. The RLM approved the construction of the project in 1945, but later construction of the prototype was halted in favor of the Go P.60C. This was the final design of the Gotha Go P.60 series, the P.60C night fighter. The fuselage was lengthened to accommodate the installation of the newest radar set with its “Morgenstern” (Morningstar) or the the FuG 240 “Berlin” antenna. The end of the war prevented further development (Ref.: 16).

TYPE: Night fighter. Project

ACCOMMODATION: Pilot only

POWER PLANT: One Heinkel-Hirth HeS011 turbojet engine, rated at 1,300 kp

PERFORMANCE: 570 mph at 20,000 ft

COMMENT: This night fighter project Me P.1101 NJ (Nachtjäger, Night fighter (or  Me P.1101B-1) was derived from the Me P.1101A-1. It was equipped with Siemens/FFO FuG 218 J3 Neptun interception radar. Although the radar antennae (Hirschgeweihantenne, Stag’s Antlers) was rather small compared those of twin engine night fighters such as Junkers Ju 88C,  Ju 388J-1, or Focke-Wulf Ta 154 the maximum speed was reduced by about 40 mph. This project was never realized.