Updated Potez 630 instead of Hs129?

[Nodeo-Franvier]

These two aircraft share many similarity and seem to be quite well match in term of performance,They even used the same engines

Could the German benefit from employing the already avaliable and widely exports Potez 630s series instead of Hs129 that would only become avaliable in 1942?

 

[hw97karbine]

Many of the peculiarities of the Hs 129 design stemmed from the specification that it should be resistant to small arms fire from the ground, the Potez 630 would therefore have to be heavily modified in order to fulfill the same role.

 

[Shortround6]

The Potez 630 could have been modified for a ground attack role. But a lot depends on what is really wanted/necessary and when.
Changing out the machine guns, some/most of the instruments and radio/s is the minimum. Adding cockpit armor is a requirement, how much is a question and this starts getting into weights/balance/CG issues.
Germans had air superiority in 1941 and Soviet AA was not good.
FW had tried to make a version of the Fw 189 to compete with the first Hs 129 and the first Hs 129 actually flew in May 1939, The Fw 189V-1 was rebuilt into the armored ground attack plane in late 1939 and the V6 was also added to the ground attack program by early 1940.

You have what is possible vs what is practical vs what is political.
For the last using captured French aircraft when the war is going well (1941?) is not going to go over well with German aircraft manufacturers
Sometimes it is too late to change when things start going bad.

 

[tomo pauk]

Appeal of the Potez is that is free for the Germans. Meaning that Henschel can be tasked to make other stuff, like the Fw 190? and the Potez can be modified towards the ground attack role before 1942.
Extra armor is a must, however other aircraft also gotten the different levels of protection both for fuel and crew, so no great shakes there.

What Germans might like less are the HS 14 radial engines found on many Potez 63 series, seems like these were even more temperamental than the G&R 14M.