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Fortunately for the Luftwaffe, the twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf 110
was now available in quantity after its humiliating defeat as a fighter
escort in the Battle of Britain. It possessed good blind-flying
instrumentation, good speed and maneuverability, and a heavy armament
(two 20mm MG 151 cannons and four 7.92mm MG 17 machine-guns) for dealing
with heavy bombers. The Bf 110 became Germany's most numerically
important night fighter, and was produced and utilized right through
until the end of the war.
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Fact File:
Messerschmitt
German 'destroyer' fighter
The Germans were more acutely aware far earlier than the British of fighter
protection for bomber formations. For them, the idea that the 'bomber will
always get through', did not have nearly the same naive certainty. The first
result of this thinking was the Messerschmitt Bf-110, designed to requirements
laid down by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium
(Reich Air Ministry) in 1934, and first flown in
prototype on 12th May 1936. At 316 mph (508.5 kph) prototype Bf-110s proved to
be only a little slower than their contemporary rival, the Hurricane.
The operational Bf-110 (C/F variants) two-seat, long-range day and escort
fighters were powered by two 1,100 hp Daimler Benz DB 601A twelve-cylinder
liquid-cooled engines, and had a maximum speed of 349 mph (561.6 kph) at 22,965
ft (7,000 meters). 39 ft 8.5 ins long (12 meters), 11.5 ft high (3.5 meters)
with wingspan of 53 ft 4| ins (16.28 meters), wing area of 413 sq ft (38.37 sq
meters) and normal loaded weight of 15,300 lbs (6,490 kgs), Bf-110 day and
escort fighters were successful against weaker opponents in the blitzkrieg
strikes of
Bf-110
1940. However, like its more famous stable mate, the Me-109, the Bf-110 made a
poor showing against the RAF in the Battle of Britain. As far as the Bf-110 was
concerned, this eclipse of its day and escort fighter role set it on a new
career as a three-seat night fighter, from 1943, a role in which it served for
the remainder of the war.
The Bf-110 night fighter (G/H variants) was powered by
two 1,475 mph Daimler Benz DB 605B engines and flew at 324 mph (521.4 kph)
maximum at 22,900 ft (6,980 meters). It was larger and heavier than its daytime
predecessor, having a loaded weight of 20,700 lbs (9389.5 kgs) and roughly two
feet (60.96 cms) more height and length, but the same wingspan and wing area.
The night fighter armament consisted of two 1.18 inch (30 mm) MK108s, one
forward firing 0.78 in (20 mm) MG151, and two .3 in (7.9 mm) rearward firing
MH61 MGs, compared to the daytime version's four .3 in (7.9 mm) MG17s, two 0.78
in (20 mm) MHFF forward firing cannon and one rear-firing .3 in (7.9 mm) MG15
machine gun.
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