Heinkel He 162 Volksjager (Peoples Fighter)

History of Heinkel He 162 Volksjager (People's Fighter)

Heinkel He 162 "Volksjager" ("The People's Hunter") was a hasty solution to the German problem in the Allied bombing campaign. The campaign was spearheaded by American-led daytime bombing raids and British-led nighttime raids.

By 1944, the movement had wreaked havoc on German infrastructure and war production, and worked to demoralize the once-belligerent nation. It was recognized that there was an urgent need to balance the large formations of these heavy bombers, which included the troublesome escort fighters - a kind that exceeded the limited capabilities of the Messerschmitt Me 163 "Komet" rocket-powered interceptor and the complex and expensive Messerschmitt Me 262" Schwalbe" jet fighter.

Requirements

Against this background, on September 8, 1944, the Luftwaffe finalized the specifications for a new single-seat fighter. The requirement called for a new, economical, lightweight form of fighter that could be mass-produced in the short term and used as little war material as possible. Additionally, the aircraft will weigh no more than 4,410 pounds and require very little maintenance and very limited training.

In theory, with this new type of fighter, the Luftwaffe could simply overwhelm the Allied bomber formation and either withdraw the fighter escort and leave the bombers to ground fire or propeller interceptors, or attack the bomber combat "box" directly. The performance needed to match or exceed the final forms of the larger Allied fighters, the North American P-51 Mustang and Supermarine Spitfire.

Six usual German wartime defenders were informed of the request, a list including Arado, Blohm & Voss, Focke-Wulf, Junkers, Heinkel, Horten and Messerschmitt. The Air Ministry set a tight schedule and hoped to have the aircraft ready by the end of 1944 and mass production to begin in January 1945.

Authorities continue to push the program to deliver up to 4,000 aircraft per month, a very optimistic production schedule.

Total production of the He 162 reached around 320 units by the end of the war (sources vary by exact figure). Of this total, 120 to 200 were actually considered operational, with an additional 600 to 800 airframes reaching various stages of production.

Variations, actionable and suggested

During its short life, He 162 came in several realized and many proposed forms. The line started with the first ten pre-production models (He 162A) under the designation He 162 A-0.

Then there's the A-1 model with a 2 x 30mm MK-108 cannon array (limited to 50 rounds per gun) and the A-2, augmented by a more defined 2 x 20mm machine gun 151/20 automatic cannon array (each gun 120 rounds). One model ran at nearly 490 mph and had a range of up to 605 miles while hitting a ceiling of 39,000 feet.

The A-3 variant is a proposed He 162 with a new reinforced nose assembly to accommodate 2 x 30mm MK-108 automatic cannons. The A-8, another proposed form, is powered by a 2,300-pound-thrust Jumo 004D-4 turbojet that can increase operating speeds to nearly 550 mph.

The A-10 was a proposed He 162 that ditched the turbojets entirely in favor of two Argus As 014 pulse jets mounted aft.

The B-1 is designed to carry Heinkel HeS 011A turbojets on an extended fuselage - this will solve the range problem as more internal fuel storage will be installed and controlled. The He 162C would have the same changes as the proposed B-1, with the added benefit of a "wing-wing" main aircraft configuration with a new "V" tail. The 2 x 30mm autocannons would make up a variant of this weapon kit, the guns are carried in a sloping (tilted up) unit to better attack the more vulnerable undersides of enemy bombers.

The He 162D has a similar girth, but with its main aircraft swept fully forward, it looks very futuristic (and hopefully improves handling). The He 162E was flight tested with the "BMW 003R", a BMW 718 rocket engine paired with a BMW 003A turbojet.

The He 162S became a two-seater glider form dedicated to training.

The Tachikawa Ki 162 was the last notable proposed form of the He 162 series, and this aircraft was the Japanese interpretation of the German He 162. The aircraft would be powered by Lorin ramjets and Argus pulse jets for maximum power - although this proposal rarely came before the end of the war.

Specification

Basic

Production

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Changes