Junkers Ju 188

The sole Ju 88 E-0 was modified with several additional guns, another 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131 firing rearward just below the turret, one firing forward through the nose, and the twinned 7.92 mm (.312 in) [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in the ventral bulge firing rearward.

Two other airframes had their engines and outer wings removed to act as testbeds for water [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], as it was planned to use the Ju 188 in long overwater flights against British shipping.

A second Ju 188 test airframe was also built up from another Ju 88 A-4, this one including a larger, more trapezoidal
vertical tail surface set to provide more directional control at higher altitudes, a feature also used on future Ju 88 models, such as the Ju 88G night fighters.

Originally known as Ju 88 V44, this airframe was later designated Ju 188 V1.

In October 1942, the program was given the go-ahead to start planning for production.

A second prototype was delivered in January, which moved the outer bomb shackles to a position inboard of the engines.

Both started testing the dive bombing system installed in the 88 A-4 in February.

The RLM then asked for another change, allowing the aircraft to mount either the BMW 801 or Jumo 213 engines as a complete Kraftei, or "power egg" unitized engine installation, that would simply be bolted on and hooked up.

Concerns about the Jumo 213, now years overdue, were offset by this engine's better altitude performance, so it made sense to delay the aircraft slightly if that meant it could switch to the 213 as soon as they became available.

The second Ju 188 V1 prototype was flown in at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] between September and November 1943.

Ju 188 A & E


The Ju 188 was designed to be fitted with either the 1,750 PS (1,290 kW, 1,730 hp) Jumo 213A or 1,700 PS (1,250 kW, 1,680 hp) BMW 801 G-2 engines without any changes to the airframe.

It was originally intended that both would be known as A models, but the naming was later changed: the Ju 188A
model powered by the 213, and the Ju 188E by the 801.

The first three production Ju 188 E-1 machines were delivered with the BMW engines in February 1943, another seven in March, and eight in April.

A conversion testing unit was formed up in May, and after testing were attached to an operational unit, with the first mission, an attack by three Ju 188E-1s on a factory in [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] taking place on 18 August 1943.

By the end of the year, 283 Ju 188s had been delivered (including Ju 188Fs), and two new factories were added to the production effort.

Most operational machines differed from the prototypes only in having a 20 mm [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in the nose and dorsal turrets in place of the 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131.

The MG 131 I was intended to be used in the Ju 188 E-1 or the G-2.
But the heavy armament in the A and E series was the MG 151/20.

The Ju 188 E-2 was built as a torpedo-bomber, but was identical to the Ju 188 A-3.

MG 151/20

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Although the A and E models were to have been delivered at the same time, the Jumo engine was still having difficulties getting into production.

Nevertheless, the first Jumo powered Ju 188 A-1 versions were shipped only shortly after the BMW versions, albeit at a much slower rate.

By the time delivery rates were finally picking up in late 1943, the Jumo was available in a new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] methanol-water injection "boosted" version that delivered 1,648 kW (2,241 hp) for takeoff.

With this engine, the planes were known as the Ju 188 A-2, and started deliveries in early 1944.

A modified version mounting a small FuG 200 Hohentwiel sea-search [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] set under the nose and shackles for a [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] for naval strike missions was delivered as the Ju 188 E-2, and with the Jumo as the Ju 188 A-3.

The only other difference was the removal of the outer pair of wing bomb shackles.

Un Telefunken FuG 200

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For all its good points, the Ju 188 was only a small improvement over the Ju 88 it was supposed to replace.

The bombload and bomb bay was no larger than the earlier plane, so although it could handle a larger load by mounting externally, doing so hurt performance.

Even then the performance was rather poor considering all the effort - only 523 km/h (325 mph) or less.

The dorsal turret had only one gun in it, yet the type retained the single-gun flexible position only a few centimeters away from it.

In the meantime, the various projects to finally provide the plane with real tail armament were all abandoned.

Delivery problems of the Jumo were never entirely sorted out, and the only model to be built in large numbers were the E series with the BMW 801.

Even then so few were available that they were generally given out to Ju 88 units, who flew them on "special" missions where the longer range or better performance would be helpful.

Some 500 Ju 188A and E variants were built up until the summer of 1944, when production ceased.

Ju 188C


It was planned all along to skip over a "B model" to avoid confusion with the original Ju 88B, but in the original planning the A and E models would both be called A's.

The Ju 188C would thus be the next model in line.

The C series was built to the extent of a single example, by modifying one of the few A-1 machines.

To this, they added the new power-operated FA 15 turret in the tail.

The turret mounted two 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131s, aimed with a double-periscope (top and bottom) system mounted in the cockpit.

Ju 188 D & F


In early 1944, it was decided to focus on reconnaissance versions of the A and E models

The airframe was modified with the removal of the bomb aimer and the forward gun, and additional fuel cells were added to extend the range to 3,400 km (2,110 mi).

The Ju 188 D-1 was otherwise similar to the A-1, and the Ju 188 D-2 fitted nose radar for naval reconnaissance.

Similar conversions of the E models were the Ju 188 F-1 and Ju 188 F-2.