Ar 234

[Milosh]

I think 5 were delivered.

4 only from block WNr 25000a - 019
250001 - Jan 30 '45
250002 - Mar 27 '45
250004 - Mar 27 '45
250006 - captured at Munchen-Reim

 

[Milosh]

The Ar 234C was also pressurised and the cabin could accommodate 2 crew though this was not yet configured and it had 20mm forward firing gun armament as standard

If you have the Creek/Smith then it is stated pg 87 that it was only a proposal and never tested.

 

[Koopernic]

But Ar 234 should slow down in order to steer the missile and due to the sensitivity of the engines, the deceleration should begin early enough. So in the most important period of the mission, Ar 234 is as vulnerable as piston engine Fritz-X carrier, isn't it.

The typical attack profile of the Do 217 with Fritz-X was an fast attack run at around 21500-22500ft. I'm not sure how fast but from memory it was near the upper range of Do 217 cruise speed so about 280mph. The bombs would be launched using the standard Lotfe 7 computing bombsight and so would therefore be very accurate anyway with a good chance of a hit on a non manoeuvring ship. Bombs take about 35 seconds to fall from this altitude. After the bombs were released the aircraft conducted a very steep 2000ft climb converting speed in to altitude to about 70% speed, about 160mph. This lined the bomb up with the target near impact. The Fritz-X was only guided during the last 5-6 seconds of flight. A Joystick with switch contacts was used to nudge the bomb tracking flare into line over the target. Like the US found with AZON proportional control did not make the bomb more accurate, switch contacts were fine. All up there was maybe 20 seconds of a rather fast climb and maybe 15 seconds of slower level flight. The climb was very fast so had the tendency to throw of AAA predictors and dodge AAA already in the air.

The Ar 234C with BMW 003C engines was estimated as capable of hauling 1500kg of bombs at 538mph so the BMW003A version could likely drop its bombs at over 500mph (this would give a rather good 'standoff range'. If one assumes a pullup manoeuvre of the same kind one can imagine the Ar 234C having to slow to about 300mph for about 15 seconds after a zoom climb for the bomb aimer to do his thing. The Lofte 7 continued to track the target so there was no problem acquiring the bomb/target.

Clearly if there was a Corsair of P80 on the tail of the Ar 234 there was trouble anyway. The Aircraft would need an escort to cover it during this phase.

There is also the possibility of US AZON style 'buddy' attacks where a P-38 with a glass nose flew behined and much higher and faster than a B24 and guided the bomb.

The Fritz-X had been proposed with a number of autonomous guidance packages (infrared for ships and blast furnaces) and passive radar homing. Even an optical contrast centroid homer ie autonomous TV guidance by the Fernseh company.

 

[Dimlee]

The Ar 234C with BMW 003C engines was estimated as capable of hauling 1500kg of bombs at 538mph so the BMW003A version could likely drop its bombs at over 500mph (this would give a rather good 'standoff range'. If one assumes a pullup manoeuvre of the same kind one can imagine the Ar 234C having to slow to about 300mph for about 15 seconds after a zoom climb for the bomb aimer to do his think. The Lofte 7 continued to track the target so there was no problem acquiring the bomb/target.

Such a maneuver makes sense if Fritz X can be guided during it. Can it be guided at this speed and with the climb when the target is moving faster (compared to piston engine carrier) in the sight scope and there is no second crew member to do that? I assume that without the manual tracking and guiding procedure Fritz X is unlikely to be more precise than a free-fall bomb.

 

[Koopernic]

Such a maneuver makes sense if Fritz X can be guided during it. Can it be guided at this speed and with the climb when the target is moving faster (compared to piston engine carrier) in the sight scope and there is no second crew member to do that? I assume that without the manual tracking and guiding procedure Fritz X is unlikely to be more precise than a free-fall bomb.

The Arado 234C had two noteworthy differences over the Ar 234B. Firstly it had an enlarged and now pressurised cabin, slightly raised in a bubble to give some rearward visibility, that could carry a second crew member though not all versions were to actually do this. The two man Ar 234 never entered service but the Ar 234C3 did enter service and this had the new cockpit that had enough room. This second crew member would be the bomb aimer. The other modification was that the 2 x Jumo 004 engines were replaced with 4 x BMW 003 thereby greatly increasing speed. In clean form it could exceed its own Mach limit in level flight. This meant it could haul its bombs at Mach 0.8 which was the Mach limit of all jets such as the P80, Me 262, Meteor III/IV.

The bombs would take about 35 seconds to fall, the bomber would need to slow down after release for about 35 seconds and it did this with a steep climb to make sure that it lined up with the bombs and targets line of sight during the last 5 seconds or so when guidance took place and the error could be seen.

The Lofte 7 bomb sight was very accurate. When Fw 200 using Lotfe 7 attacked Convoy Faith they got around 50% direct hits from an altitude of between 14,000 to 16,000ft. Most the merchant ships they targeted were hit all of the destroyers, frigates and sloops were able to use their speed, acceleration and manoeuvrability to dodge the bombs which usually splashed 100 yards away. Hence the problem in hitting a ship was not the accuracy of the bombs but I the manouverability of the warship.

Fritz-X was able to consistently hit a target within a radius of 6 meters. It was very accurate. The bomb aimer was observing the bomb and target through the magnifcation of the Lofte bomb sight, the bombsights tracking computer was keeping the target cantered, so in the last few seconds the divegence of the bomb from target would be aparent and it could be nudged to overcome the evasions of the target or make correction.

There was an infrared homer, I think "Hamburg" was its name but there is nothing to stop the MAX-P passive homer developed for the Wasserfall SAM to attack H2S equiped bombers and Mosquito nigh fighters or the Radischien system developed to target longer wave radars and LORAN or even the Tonne-Seedorf TV system developed for the HS-293 missile.

Alternative jam resistant guidance systems had been developed.

 

[Dimlee]

Very interesting, thanks. I was not aware of the second crew member option in 234C .