The Messerschmitt P.1110 (Me P.1110) was a design for a single-seat, high- altitude

interceptor Interceptor may refer to: Vehicles * Interceptor aircraft (or simply "interceptor"), a type of point defense fighter aircraft designed specifically to intercept and destroy enemy aircraft * Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, a police car * ...

, prepared for the German '' Luftwaffe'' by the

Messerschmitt Messerschmitt AG () was a German share-ownership limited, aircraft manufacturing corporation named after its chief designer Willy Messerschmitt from mid-July 1938 onwards, and known primarily for its World War II fighter aircraft, in partic ...

aircraft manufacturing company, under the Emergency Fighter Program during the last months of World War II.

History

As part of the Emergency Fighter Program (german: Jägernotprogramm), at the beginning of 1945, a programme was launched by the OKL for a new generation of fighter/interceptor aircraft in order to replace the

He 162 The Heinkel He 162 ''Volksjäger'' (German, "People's Fighter") was a German single-engine, jet-powered fighter aircraft fielded by the Luftwaffe in World War II. Developed under the Emergency Fighter Program, it was designed and built quickly ...

''Volksjäger''. The new aircraft was intended to have superior performance, in order to deal with high-altitude threats such as the B-29 Superfortress. Messerschmitt designed a number of different high-altitude fighter projects which were submitted in February 1945. One of the designs, the Me P.1110 ''Ente'' (Duck), had a 40° wing sweep and annular air intakes in front of the wing root (similar to those on the post-war

North American YF-93 The North American YF-93 was an American fighter development of the F-86 Sabre that emerged as a radically different variant that received its own designation. Two were built and flown before the project was eventually canceled. Design and de ...

), feeding a single Heinkel HeS 011A jet engine; the annular intakes, while flowing four percent less air, would produce fifteen percent less drag than a single nose intake. The aircraft was to be armed with three

MK 108 cannon The MK 108 (German: ''Maschinenkanone''—"machine cannon") was a 30 mm caliber autocannon manufactured in Nazi Germany, Germany during World War II by Rheinmetall‑August Borsig, Borsig for use in aircraft. The cannon saw widespread use as an ...

in the nose, plus perhaps two more in the 40°-swept wings. There was also a proposed butterfly tail variant. Projected maximum speed was . The project would be soon dropped in favor of the other two more conventional designs, but the

Junkers EF 128 The Junkers EF 128 was a project for a single-engine jet fighter, developed for the Emergency Fighter Program Luftwaffe design competition during the Second World War. The EF 128 was a tailless swept-wing design and was to have been powered by a ...

was chosen as the official winner of the competition and none of the Messerschmitt designs reached the prototype stage. The designs brought forward by other German aircraft makers were the

Heinkel P.1078 The Heinkel P.1078 (He P.1078) was a single seat interceptor developed for the Luftwaffe by Heinkel aircraft manufacturing company under the Emergency Fighter Program during the last years of the Third Reich. History As part of the Emergency Fig ...

, the

Focke-Wulf Ta 183 The Focke-Wulf Ta 183 ''Huckebein'' was a design for a jet-powered fighter aircraft intended as the successor to the Messerschmitt Me 262 and other day fighters in Luftwaffe service during World War II. It had been developed only to the exten ...

and the

Blohm & Voss P 212 The Blohm & Voss P 212 was a proposed jet fighter designed by Blohm & Voss for the Emergency Fighter Program Luftwaffe design competition during the Second World War. History In early 1945, a replacement was sought for the Heinkel He 162 ''Volksj ...

. A further development, the P.1111, with wing root intakes (a concept later adopted by the

Republic RF-84F Thunderflash The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design. The RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version. ...

and F-105 Thunderchief) to overcome the power losses and 45° sweep, was prepared in January 1945 but never built.

Variants

The Messerschmitt P.1110 project had at least three different designs, all of which were single-seat fighters with

swept wing A swept wing is a wing that angles either backward or occasionally forward from its root rather than in a straight sideways direction. Swept wings have been flown since the pioneer days of aviation. Wing sweep at high speeds was first investigate ...

s. Wings were swept back at 40 degrees and included mostly wood in their construction. All of the projected aircraft would be powered by a single Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet.German WW2 Secret Projects - Vol. 3
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Me P.1110/I

Jet-powered interceptor. It was a conventional looking design with the turbojet air intakes located on the fuselage sides. Its armament was three

s located in the nose, as in the following variant.

Me P.1110/II

A V-tail jet-powered interceptor with a conventional looking design. The air intake of the engine was of an annular shape located behind the cockpit. Like the Me P.1110/I, the Me P.1110/II had 40 degree swept-back wings.

Me P.1110 ''Ente''

The Me P.1110 ''"Ente"'' ( Duck) was a more unusual interceptor project with its

cockpit A cockpit or flight deck is the area, usually near the front of an aircraft or spacecraft, from which a Pilot in command, pilot controls the aircraft. The cockpit of an aircraft contains flight instruments on an instrument panel, and the ...

located at the nose end of the plane. It had a

canard Canard is French for duck, a type of aquatic bird. Canard may also refer to: Aviation *Canard (aeronautics), a small wing in front of an aircraft's main wing * Aviafiber Canard 2FL, a single seat recreational aircraft of canard design * Blé ...

configuration with small wings in the front and larger wings in the rear part of the fuselage. Its air intakes were located on the fuselage sides like in the Me P.1110/I variant. Its armament was four MK 108 cannon.

Specifications (P.1110 as at 12 January 1945)

References

External links

{{Messerschmitt aircraft Abandoned military aircraft projects of Germany World War II fighter aircraft of Germany P1110 World War II jet aircraft of Germany 1940s German fighter aircraft