Arado Ar E.340

Arado Ar E. 340 History

Arado proposed the Ar E. 340 during WWII for the Luftwaffe's request for a twin-engine medium-range bomber to replace the then pre-war line of Junkers Ju 88 and Dornier Do 217 bombers, service was at the forefront. The application submitted by Arado offers the potential for a multi-role airframe capable of aircraft bombing, dive bombing and close support (CAS).

While four prominent German aviation offices submitted their designs, Arado's contribution was selected for further development.

As envisaged, the E.340 features a two-arm propeller powered layout and a central fuselage nacelle. Thrusters will be attached to the front of each nacelle to follow the wing leading edge profile. The rear of the legs will mount the horizontal plane and vertical fins.

There is no stabilizer aircraft between the two rear arm sections (as shown in the American Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter). The wings include reinforced roots and outer sections on each boom. To keep up with the times, the leading edge should be straight and the trailing edge sloping forward towards the truncated wingtip. The operator was fourth, and the cockpit was located in the forward-most section of the nacelle, which was heavily glazing for optimum visibility. Armament includes 3 x 20mm MG151/20 cannons and 2 x 13mm MG131 machine guns.

It is also proposed to install 2 radio-controlled powered turrets (dorsal and ventral) and unknown weapons on each rear of each tail boom to protect the critical "six" of the aircraft. The bomb load was 13,000 lbs.

Power will be provided by a pair of engines from Junkers, Daimler-Benz or BMW, with the final product choice Junkers Jumo 222. Expect a top speed of 360 mph and a range of 2,235 miles.

Due to the Jumo's fuel needs (and its extreme wartime shortage in Germany), development of the entire project suffered and was eventually abandoned.

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