When Richthofen wanted to show off his skills in the construction of the bomber force, he encountered a problem. This problem was not a technical problem, but a problem of profit distribution. Junkers Aircraft Factory, Henschel Aircraft Factory

Both the Air Force and the Dornier Aircraft Factory want a share of the future Air Force bomber project. Because he knows that the bomber project is too big. If any one of the three wins, then for the other two

It will be fatal for all. This means that the remaining two will be squeezed out of the market. As the owner of the highest power in Germany, Kaiser Wilhelm II also does not want a situation where one company is dominant. "We must let

Everyone can get a certain benefit, and excessive monopoly is definitely not a good thing," William II mentioned this to Richthofen more than once. This is the emperor's attitude, and he must implement it!

History is repeating itself again at this moment. In history, almost all twin-engine bombers that have appeared in Germany were produced by Junkers Aircraft Factory, Henschel Aircraft Factory and Dornier Aircraft Factory. Among them, the twin-engine bombers with relatively large output are as follows.

There are several types, including the ju88 series, the he111 series, and the German double-engine bombers in World War II because of their output of tens of thousands.

The aircraft with the highest production volume. At the same time, it is known as the universal bomber because of its good bomb load and range, as well as its good dive performance (it is said that it can dive bomb at an angle of 65 degrees). Although it may be compared with the do217 in terms of performance

It was worse (the latter was larger, and had a longer range and bomb load.) But it still shouldered the heavy responsibility of the Third Reich's ground attacks.

Of course, in addition to the above three aircraft, Junkers also has bombers like ju188, ju288, and ju388. Dornier also has bombers like do317, many of which are advanced in performance, but it is either because of the late production or the low volume.

insufficient

It had no impact on the war. In addition to being a bomber, Germany also used it as a night combat aircraft in the middle and late stages of history. The ju88 and do217 both had professional night combat versions. After being equipped with radar and a large number of cannons, these bombers transformed.

One of them turned into a night-fighting killer.

From a performance point of view, these bombers have similar performance and overlapping functions. It is indeed suspected of wasting resources. After all, from a functional point of view, one ju88 can perform almost all tasks. There is no need for three factories to design three bombers at the same time.

model aircraft. If only from the perspective of supporting other losers in the bid, it would be enough to let the other two factories share part of the production tasks.

Because in the future, twin-engine bombers will become the main force of the German Air Force in ground and sea attacks, Richthofen and others are very concerned about the tender for medium bombers. As early as the initial stage of the tender, the German Air Force has upgraded the bombers.

There are very clear requirements for potential and versatility. "This type of bomber must have sufficient range to ensure that it can cover the entire Western European continent from Germany. At the same time, the bomb load must be more than 1.5 tons. The internal space of the aircraft must be sufficient.

Large, a single layer inside can accommodate 500kg bombs. And the internal magazine has the potential to accommodate 800kg bombs. The external rack must have the ability to hang 1800kg bombs (when attacking the Sevastopol Fortress in history, ju88 also

I have actually carried 1800kg bombs. But the author estimates that it is almost impossible to dive under this load.)" In the Luftwaffe's tender document, this is how a medium bomber is defined.

In addition, the German Navy also wants to develop a twin-engine torpedo bomber based on medium-sized bombers that can carry torpedoes to perform long-distance attack missions. It is also recommended that such a bomber can mount at least 2 torpedoes at a time. Germany

The Army is considering whether it can install a 5-gun on medium bombers.

0mm or larger caliber artillery is used to attack point targets on the ground. If the 20mm or 37mm artillery is not powerful enough to ensure the destruction of tanks, then a twin-engine aircraft equipped with a 50mm or even 75mm cannon will become an out-and-out

tank can opener!

In the heavy bomber research and development project, the Germans did not insist on the requirement that the heavy bomber must have the ability to dive bomb as historically. This is because the Germans realized that letting a big guy weighing dozens of tons dive is obviously a problem.

One thing that goes beyond the technical requirements, and the other thing is this

Germany on this plane has plenty of supplies for them to squander. Historically, the Third Reich emphasized blitzkrieg and the accuracy of ground attacks. On the one hand, this was due to tactical and strategic goals. On the other hand, it was also due to poor resource endowment.

.Single-engine and twin-engine bombers have higher dive bombing accuracy, while four-engine bombers

Even if the bombers bomb at low altitudes, the accuracy is still not comparable to that of dive bombing. The bombing accuracy of the United States and Britain against Germany is actually not too high. Even with the legendary Norton bombsight, the accuracy is still not very good. The reason why it can be achieved

The huge results were achieved entirely by the amount of bombs dropped by bombers! Together with the United States and Britain,

In the middle and late stages of the country, hundreds or even thousands of 4-engine heavy bombers were frequently dispatched for bombing. Germany's only mass-produced heavy bomber, the He177, in World War II, ended up with only more than 1,000 units. Strategic bombing was really not something that Germany could afford.

.And not only can’t keep up with production capacity, but also can’t keep up with fuel.

Taking the He177a0 as an example, the aircraft's fuel load varies between 8800l and 12660l depending on the bomb load. In other words, the fuel consumption of this bomber is at least 6 tons for one sortie! What is this concept?

The full internal fuel capacity of the fw190 fighter jet is only 500kg. The fuel consumption of a he177 is at least equivalent to the internal fuel of 12 fw190s. When the maximum internal fuel load is carried

It was even close to the internal fuel required for 20 fw190s! How much aviation fuel could Germany produce in a year at that time? To say the least, if there was no problem with Germany's industrial production capacity, it would consume at least about 8,000 tons of fuel if it launched a thousand-aircraft bombing!

And if you also consider the fuel consumption of the long-range fighter jets that need to cooperate with the bombing, then the cost of such a wave in the past is really frighteningly high, at least not something that historical Germany can afford.

But this dimension is different. Not only did Germany not lose a large area of ​​East Prussia, it even obtained a large area of ​​land from the remains of the Nomanov dynasty. Even the Caucasus oil fields are under the control of German allies. And the other areas

The two oil-producing countries of Iraq and Kuwait are also under Turkey's control. So Germany also owns three oil depots in Romania, Transcaucasus, and the Middle East! Such abundant fuel

The oil supply can naturally meet the needs of Germany's external expansion, and at the same time it also gives Germany a certain material foundation for its strategic bomber force! At the same time, because the Allies' strength covers almost the entire Europe and West Asia, Germany even wants to expand towards the Indian Ocean.

Therefore, it is also necessary for the German Strategic Air Force to exist. It is almost unimaginable to only rely on twin-engine bombers to perform combat missions in such a vast area!

Speaking of the He177 bomber in history, the one that has had the deepest impact on people is definitely the DB610 engine composed of two DB605 engines connected in parallel. In order to reduce wind resistance and have a certain dive capability, the Germans gave up the conventional layout of four engines and used

This somewhat non-mainstream layout resulted in a problem of poor engine heat dissipation, which sometimes led to failure when the engine speed was high, and this problem was not solved in the end. Therefore, it is generally believed that the he177 does not

meaning

Italy's P108 is easy to use. But if we look at paper data, the He177 is actually about the same as the B17 and Lancaster of the same period. As for later improvements, for example, the post-war He274v1 engine uses a 4-engine layout.

,

The performance was not bad. Of course, the United States already had the B29 at that time, and the He177 and the B29 were definitely incomparable. In short, for Germany, which still had a low level of engine technology, there was no big technical problem in building a strategic bomber. The key was

is design and industrial capacity.

After giving up the requirement for dive bombing, the German strategic bomber road went relatively smoothly. Messerschmitt, Junkers and Henschel came up with their own bomber plans at the same time. Originally, this

Things were fine when they arrived, but just a week before the tender for strategic bombers, William II suddenly summoned

Richthofen took out a document. "Both the Americans and China are working on a six-engine heavy bomber. If they succeed, the U.S. Air Force will be able to bomb Europe from home. This is a big problem for us."

Quite disadvantageous. They call it an intercontinental bomber! And we should also have such a weapon." William II said angrily.

"That is definitely a nightmare, Your Majesty. If they dare to do this." Richthofen's eyebrows jumped after hearing this. This was simply unimaginable to him. No matter from the complexity of the aircraft or from the

In terms of cost and effectiveness, this intercontinental bomber is

It was almost impossible to equip a large amount of equipment before. Moreover, Germany currently has no such need, and the German General Staff has no plans to attack the United States, so this plan is a bit useless! "This may be false information they released."

Richthofen said in his heart.

This time Richthofen guessed correctly. There was indeed a problem with the German intelligence. The United States wanted to build a six-engine bomber, but gave up because of the technical difficulty. China also wanted to build a six-engine aircraft, but this aircraft was not

It is a bomber but a transport aircraft. If the power of the current engine is not too small and it is forced to use quantity to make up for quality, China will not want to create such a 6-engine thing.

"Your Majesty, this will be a very long process. We need experience and technology accumulation. If a four-engine heavy bomber can be successfully developed, I think a six-engine bomber will still be feasible in the future." Faced with the Kaiser's request, Richter

Hoffen had no way to support it, so he could only find a way to delay it for a while. The Kaiser also knew that this plan was a bit too aggressive, and he was quite satisfied with Richthofen's answer.
Chapter completed!