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Bomber B project | |
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General information | |
Project for | Second-generation high-speed bomber |
Issued by | Reich Air Ministry |
Service | Luftwaffe |
Proposals | Arado, Dornier, Focke-Wulf, Junkers and Henschel |
Prototypes | Dornier Do 317 Focke-Wulf Fw 191 Henschel Hs 130 Junkers Ju 288 |
History | |
Predecessors | Schnellbomber |
Bomber B was a German military aircraft design competition organised just before the start of World War II intended to develop a second-generation high-speed bomber for the Luftwaffe. The new designs would be a direct successor to the Schnellbomber philosophy of the Dornier Do 17 and Junkers Ju 88, relying on high speed as its primary defence. Bomber B would be a much larger and more capable aircraft, with range and payload far greater than the Schnellbomber, surpassing the largest conventional designs then under consideration. The winning design was intended to form the backbone of the Luftwaffe's bomber force, replacing the wide collection of semi-specialized designs then in service. The Reich Air Ministry was so optimistic that more modest projects were generally cancelled; when the project failed the Luftwaffe was left with hopelessly outdated aircraft.[citation needed]