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The Junkers Ju 187 was designed to replace the ageing Junkers Ju 87 Stuka (after rejection of the Ju 87F), which by the time of the Battle of Britain had proved very vulnerable to enemy fighters. It kept some of the features of the earlier Ju 87, such as the inverted gull wing and two man crew, but added retractable landing gear and a rotating vertical tail. When rotated down it would give the air gunner, armed with a rear gun position, a full field of fire. It is not known how the aircraft would have handled with the tail rotated. Although an extremely radical design, the Ju 187 project never made it to production. The Ju 187 would have been of all-metal construction with improved armour and armament.

The project was cancelled by the Reich Air Ministry in autumn 1943 because the aircraft's projected performance, when fully loaded, was estimated to be no better than the latest Ju 87 D variant (estimated maximum speed: 248 mph (399 km/h)).

Specifications (Ju 187) [edit]

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General characteristics

• Crew: 2 (pilot and gunner)
• Length: 11.80 m (38 ft 8¾ in)
• Wingspan: 18.06 m (59 ft 3¼ in)
• Height: 3.90 m (12 ft 9¾ in)
• Powerplant: 1 × Junkers Jumo 213A 12-cylinder inverted-vee engine, 1,324 kW (1,776 hp)

Performance

• Maximum speed: 400 km/h (248 mph)

Armament

• 2 x 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon in wing roots
• 1 x 13 mm MG 131 machine gun in dorsal turret
• 1 x 15 mm MG 151/15 cannon in dorsal turret
• 1 x 1,000 kg (2,205 lb) bomb in semi recessed bay
• 4 x 50 kg (120 lb) bombs on external wing racks
• 4 x 250 kg (551 lb) ventrally

See also [edit]

Related development:

• Junkers Ju 87

References [edit]

D. Herwig & H. Rode Luftwaffe Secret Projects - Ground Attack & Special Purpose Aircraft. ISBN 1-85780-150-4

External links [edit]

• Luft 46 Entry