JU-390V-1

The Junkers Ju 390 was a German WWII prototype all-metal reconnaissance bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. The drive was provided by six engines BMW-801E with 1740 hp each. The flight of the prototype took place in 1943, and the production of this type of aircraft continued in the years 1943-1945. In total, only two Ju 390s were built. The deck armament consisted of three 13 mm MG 131 machine guns and five 20 mm MG 151 cannons. Design work on the Ju 390 began as early as 1942, when the need arose to create a bomber plane capable of reaching the United States from bases in France (the so-called Amerika Bomber), as well as a naval reconnaissance aircraft capable of operating over the entire Atlantic basin. Responding to this demand, the Junkers aviation company decided to expand the current structure of the Ju 290 by enlarging it (especially the wingspan!) And adding two additional engines. The flight of the prototype took place in 1943, and the only one used in combat entered the line in January 1944, which was making patrol flights over the Atlantic. Despite the fact that the Ju 390 turned out to be a generally successful machine that meets most of its requirements, it did not live up to large-scale production. Its lack was due to the enormous cost of a single plane, shortages of strategic resources in the declining period of the war, as well as reorientation of the Luftwaffe's priorities towards the production of fighters.