Arado Flugzeugwerke was a German aircraft manufacturer, originally established as the
Warnemünde factory of the
Flugzeugbau Friedrichshafen firm, which produced land-based military aircraft and seaplanes during the First and Second World Wars.
History
With its parent company, it ceased operations following the
First World War
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, when restrictions on German aviation were created by the
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...
. In 1921, the factory was purchased by
Heinrich Lübbe, who is said to have assisted
Anthony Fokker
Anton Herman Gerard "Anthony" Fokker (6 April 1890 – 23 December 1939) was a Dutch aviation pioneer, aviation entrepreneur, aircraft designer, and aircraft manufacturer. He produced fighter aircraft in Germany during the First World War such ...
in the creation of the pioneering ''Stangensteuerung''
synchronization gear
A synchronization gear (also known as a gun synchronizer or interrupter gear) was a device enabling a single-engine tractor configuration aircraft to fire its forward-firing armament through the arc of its spinning Propeller (aeronautics), propel ...
system during 1914-15, and re-commenced aircraft construction for export.
Walter Rethel, previously of
Kondor and
Fokker
Fokker (; ) was a Dutch aircraft manufacturer that operated from 1912 to 1996. The company was founded by the Dutch aviator Anthony Fokker and became famous during World War I for its fighter aircraft. During its most successful period in the 19 ...
, was appointed head designer. In 1925, the company joined the Arado Handelsgesellschaft ("Arado trading firm") that was founded by the industrialist Hugo Stinnes Jr.
for covering up illegal trade with military equipment. When the
Nazi
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
government came to power in Germany in 1933, Lübbe took control of the company. Just prior to that,
Walter Blume, formerly of
Albatros, replaced Rethel.
Arado achieved early prominence as a supplier to the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
with the
Arado Ar 66, which became one of the standard Luftwaffe
trainers right into World War II. The firm also produced some of the Luftwaffe's first
fighter aircraft
Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
, the
Ar 65 and
Ar 68. In 1936, the RLM (''
Reichsluftfahrtministerium'' – "Reich Aviation Ministry") insisted that, as a show of loyalty, Lübbe should join the Nazi party. When he refused, he was arrested and forced to sell the company to the state. It was renamed to the more specific (and accurate) Arado Flugzeugwerke
GmbH
(; ) is a type of Juridical person, legal entity in German-speaking countries. It is equivalent to a (Sàrl) in the Romandy, French-speaking region of Switzerland and to a (Sagl) in the Ticino, Italian-speaking region of Switzerland.
It is a ...
, and was placed under the direction of
Erich Serno, and
Felix Wagenführ, himself a former
IdFlieg
The Idflieg (''Inspektion der Fliegertruppen'' - "Inspectorate of Flying Troops") was the bureau of the German Empire that oversaw German military aviation prior to and during World War I.
Founded in 1911, the Idflieg was part of the ''Fliegert ...
officer in World War I.
When Germany invaded Poland, instigating World War II, two more Arado products rose to prominence, the
Ar 96, which became the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
's most used trainer, and the
Ar 196 a
reconnaissance
In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of takeoff, taking off and water landing, landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their tech ...
that became standard equipment on all larger German warships. Unfortunately for Arado, most of their other designs were passed over in favour of stronger products from their competitors, such as Germany's only
heavy bomber
Heavy bombers are bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft capable of delivering the largest payload of air-to-ground weaponry (usually Aerial bomb, bombs) and longest range (aeronautics), range (takeoff to landing) of their era. Archetypal heavy ...
fielded during the war, the
Heinkel He 177, for which Arado was the primary subcontractor. Perhaps Arado's most celebrated aircraft of the war was the
Ar 234, the first
jet-powered
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes
air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles.
There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...
. Too late to have any real effect on the outcome of the conflict, it was nevertheless a sign of things to come.
Until their liberation in April 1945 by the Soviet army, 1,012 slave laborers from
Freiberg
Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...
, a sub-camp of the
Flossenbürg concentration camp, worked at the Arado factory, beginning with the first trainload of 249 prisoners arriving in August 1944. The prisoners were mostly Polish Jewish women and girls sent to Freiberg from
Auschwitz.
Arado also licence-built various versions of, and components for the
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...
.
In 1945, the company was liquidated and broken up.
The Ar 96 continued to be produced in Czechoslovakia by
Zlin for many years after the war as the C.2B.
Aircraft
Arado aircraft include:
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Arado L 1, sportsplane
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Arado L II, sportsplane
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Arado S I, civil trainer
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Arado S III, civil trainer
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Arado SC I, civil trainer
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Arado SC II, civil trainer
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Arado SD I, prototype fighter
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Arado SD II, prototype fighter
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Arado SD III, prototype fighter
*
Arado SSD I, prototype fighter seaplane
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Arado V I – airliner
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Arado W 2 – civil trainer seaplane
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Arado Ar 64, fighter (biplane)
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Arado Ar 65, fighter/trainer (biplane – re-engined Ar 64)
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Arado Ar 66, trainer + night fighter
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Arado Ar 67, fighter (biplane) (prototype)
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Arado Ar 68, fighter (biplane)
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Arado Ar 69, trainer (biplane) (prototypes), 1933
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Arado Ar 76, fighter (biplane) + trainer
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Arado Ar 77, trainer + light fighter
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Arado Ar 79, trainer + civilian aircraft
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Arado Ar 80, fighter (prototype)
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Arado Ar 81, two-seat biplane (prototype)(1936)
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Arado Ar 95, coastal patrol + attack (biplane seaplane)
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Arado Ar 96, trainer
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Arado Ar 195, carrier based torpedo bomber
*
Arado Ar 196, ship-borne reconnaissance + coastal patrol (seaplane)
*
Arado Ar 197, naval fighter (biplane - derived from Ar 68)
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Arado Ar 198, reconnaissance
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Arado Ar 199, seaplane trainer
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Arado Ar 231, fold-wing U-boat reconnaissance aircraft (prototype)
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Arado Ar 232, transport
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Arado Ar 233, seaplane(concept), 1940
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Arado Ar 234 ''Blitz'' ('Lightning'), bomber (jet-engined)
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Arado Ar 240, heavy fighter + attack
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Arado Ar 296, trainer, similar to Ar 96 but all wood construction
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Arado Ar 340, medium bomber
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Arado Ar 396, trainer
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Arado Ar 432, transport, similar to Ar 232 but mixed wood and metal construction
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Arado Ar 440, heavy fighter + attack
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Arado Ar 532, cancelled transport
Major internal World War II projects under the RLM:
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Arado E.240
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Arado E.300
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Arado E.310
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Arado E.340
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Arado E.370
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Arado E.371
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Arado E.375
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Arado E.377
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Arado E.377ª
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Arado E.380
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Arado E.381/I
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Arado E.381/II
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Arado E.381/III
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Arado E.385
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Arado E.390
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Arado E.395
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Arado E.396
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Arado E.401
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Arado E.430
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Arado E.432
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Arado E.433
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Arado E.440
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Arado E.441
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Arado E.470
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Arado E.480
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Arado E.490
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Arado E.500
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Arado E.530
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Arado E.532
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Arado E.555
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Arado E.560
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Arado E.561
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Arado E.580
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Arado E.581.4
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Arado E.581.5
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Arado E.583
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Arado E.625
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Arado E.632
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Arado E.651
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Arado E.654
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Arado Ar Projekt II jet fighter
See also
*
List of RLM aircraft designations
This is a list of aircraft type numbers allocated by an institution under the direction of '' Heereswaffenamt'' (before May 1933) and the Reich Air Ministry
The Ministry of Aviation (, abbreviated RLM) was a government department during the p ...
References
External links
* .
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{{Authority control
Defunct aircraft manufacturers of Germany
Companies involved in the Holocaust