The aircraft in this list include prototype versions of aircraft used by the German Luftwaffe during World War II and unfinished wartime experimental programmes. In the former, development can stretch back to the 1920s and in the latter the project must have started between 1939-1945.
After the surrender of Nazi Germany several of the secret or unfinished projects of German military aircraft gained wide publicity. Also certain postwar planes such as the Bell X-5, F-86 Sabre or the MiG-15 were deemed to have been based on the pioneering work of World War II German aircraft designers. [1] [2] [3] German aircraft manufacturers such as Henschel in Kassel had their archives destroyed in the course of the Allied bombing of the Third Reich at the end of World War II. [4] Hence some of the late Henschel projects that were recreated later are based on documents found in other locations or on second-hand sources and not on the original Henschel technical drawings.
(Arado Flugzeugwerke GmbH)
(Bachem-Werke GmbH)
(Bayerische Motoren-Werke GmbH)
(Daimler-Benz)
(Dornier Werke GmbH)
(Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug)
(Gerhard Fieseler Werke GmbH)
(Flettner Flugzeugbau GmbH / Anton Flettner G.m.b.H.)
(Focke-Achgelis & Co. GmbH)
(Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau GmbH)
( Gothaer Waggonfabrik)
(Ernst Heinkel A.G.)
(Henschel Flugzeugwerke A.G.)
(Ulrich Hütter and Wolfgang Hütter)
(Junkers Flugzeug-Werke A.G.)
Hamburger Flugzeugbau (HFB) was an aircraft manufacturer, located primarily in the Finkenwerder quarter of Hamburg, Germany. Established in 1933 as an offshoot of Blohm & Voss shipbuilders, it later became an operating division within its parent company and was known as Abteilung Flugzeugbau der Schiffswerft Blohm & Voss from 1937 until it ceased operation at the end of World War II. In the postwar period it was revived as an independent company under its original name and subsequently joined several consortia before being merged to form Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm (MBB). It participates in the present day Airbus and European aerospace programs.
Bomber B was a German military aircraft design competition organised just before the start of World War II intended to develop a second-generation high-speed bomber for the Luftwaffe. The new designs would be a direct successor to the Schnellbomber philosophy of the Dornier Do 17 and Junkers Ju 88, relying on high speed as its primary defence. Bomber B would be a much larger and more capable aircraft, with range and payload far greater than the Schnellbomber, surpassing the largest conventional designs then under consideration. The winning design was intended to form the backbone of the Luftwaffe's bomber force, replacing the wide collection of semi-specialized designs then in service. The Reich Air Ministry was so optimistic that more modest projects were generally cancelled; when the project failed the Luftwaffe was left with hopelessly outdated aircraft.
The Emergency Fighter Program was the program that resulted from a decision taken on July 3, 1944 by the Luftwaffe regarding the German aircraft manufacturing companies during the last year of the Third Reich.
Wunderwaffe is a German word meaning "wonder-weapon" and was a term assigned during World War II by Nazi Germany's propaganda ministry to some revolutionary "superweapons". Most of these weapons however remained prototypes, which either never reached the combat theater, or if they did, were too late or in too insignificant numbers to have a military effect.
The Heinkel HeS 011 or Heinkel-Hirth 109-011(HeS - Heinkel Strahltriebwerke) was an advanced World War II jet engine built by Heinkel-Hirth. It featured a unique compressor arrangement, starting with a low-compression impeller in the intake, followed by a "diagonal" stage similar to a centrifugal compressor, and then a three-stage axial compressor. Many of the German jet-powered aircraft designs at the end of the war were designed to use the HeS 011, but the HeS 011 engine was not ready for production before the war ended in Europe and only small numbers of prototypes were produced.
The Junkers EF 126 was an experimental fighter proposed by the German Miniaturjägerprogramm of 1944–1945, for a cheap and simple fighter powered by a pulsejet engine. No examples were built during the war, but the Soviet Union completed both unpowered and powered prototypes.
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.
The German Air Ministry had a system for aircraft designation which was an attempt by the aviation authorities of the Third Reich to standardize and produce an identifier for each aircraft design's airframe type produced in Germany. It was in use from 1933 to 1945 though many pre-1933 aircraft were included and the system had changes over those years. As well as aircraft of the Luftwaffe, it covered civilian airliners and sport planes, due to the RLM handing all aviation-related matters in the Third Reich, both civilian and military in nature.
Operation Sea Horse was the naval part of Operation Lusty. Lusty's purpose was to locate and recover top secret German weaponry, e.g. aircraft and weapons.
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 Messerschmitt P.1110 was a design for a single-seat, high-altitude interceptor, prepared for the German Luftwaffe by the Messerschmitt aircraft manufacturing company, under the Emergency Fighter Program during the last months of World War II.
The Blohm & Voss P 193 was a design study for a dive bomber/ground attack aircraft intended to replace the Junkers Ju 87.