The Junkers Ju 187 was a German projected dive bomber designed to replace the aging Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka''. The Ju 187 was cancelled in 1943.

Design

By the time of the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain, also known as the Air Battle for England (german: die Luftschlacht um England), was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defende ...

the Junkers Ju 87 ''Stuka'' had proved very vulnerable to enemy fighters and needed replacement, so after rejection of the Ju 87F proposal a new dive bomber was designed under the designation Ju 187. The projected aircraft kept some of the features of the earlier Ju 87, such as the inverted

gull wing The gull wing is an aircraft wing configuration, known also as ''Pulaski wings'', with a prominent bend in the wing inner section towards the wing root. Its name is derived from the seabirds which it resembles. Numerous aircraft have incorpora ...

and two man crew. It would have added retractable landing gear, as well as improved armour and

armament A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...

. Most notably, the Ju 187 incorporated a rotating

vertical tail A vertical stabilizer or tail fin is the static part of the vertical tail of an aircraft. The term is commonly applied to the assembly of both this fixed surface and one or more movable rudders hinged to it. Their role is to provide control, sta ...

. When rotated down, the tail would give the air gunner, armed with a rear turret, an unobstructed field of fire. It is not known how the aircraft would have handled with the tail rotated. The Ju 187 project was cancelled by the

Reich Air Ministry The Ministry of Aviation (german: Reichsluftfahrtministerium, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the period of Nazi Germany (1933–45). It is also the original name of the Detlev-Rohwedder-Haus building on the Wilhelmstrasse ...

in autumn 1943 because the aircraft's projected performance, when fully loaded, was estimated to be no better than the latest Ju 87D variant (estimated maximum speed: ).

Specifications (Ju 187 estimated)

References

External links

{{RLM aircraft designations Inverted gull-wing aircraft 1940s German bomber aircraft World War II dive bombers Ju 187

Design

Specifications (Ju 187 estimated)

References

Further reading

External links