Arado Ar E.530 High-Speed Bomber Proposal

Specifications

Year: 1940
Status: Cancelled
Manufacturer(s): Arado Flugzeugwerke - Germany
Production: 0
Capabilities: Ground Attack; X-Plane;

Crew: 1
Length: 46.42 ft (14.15 m)
Width: 53.31 ft (16.25 m)

Power: 2 x Daimler-Benz DB 603 G 12-cylinder engines developing 1,800 horsepower each.

Speed: 478 mph (770 kph; 416 kts)

Operators: Nazi Germany

The idea of twin fuselage aircraft was always on the minds of aeronautical engineers throughout World War 2 (1939-1945). The basic concept combined the benefits of two airframes - meaning power output and fuel stores - to make for a larger complete unit with good endurance and inherent mission versatility. The North American F-82 "Twin-Mustang" was the only true fighter success involving this concept during the war, mating a pair of P-51 Mustang airframes to make for an excellent long range night-fighter. Another attempt, this one by Germany, became the Arado E.530 project. Such a pairing of aircraft in German nomenclature was generically referred to as "Zwilling" meaning "Twin".

The E.530 was similar in scope to the Messerschmitt Bf 109Z which mated two Bf 109 airframes in a single design along a central main and tail plane. The Bf 109Z was intended as a heavy fighter from the outset and developed to a 1942 requirement. The E.530 extended the Bf 109 fuselages and added a revised wing mainplane and undercarriage. The undercarriage constituted two main legs with double wheels and two tailwheels. The two fuselages were joined by a central wing structure and an aft elevator horizontal surface.

Envisioned as a single-seat, fast bomber, the E.530 was to be powered by a pair of Daimler-Benz DB 603 G series inline piston engines, each driving three-bladed propellers. Only one cockpit was used, this being located in the portside fuselage while the starboard side fuselage cockpit area was faired over. The cockpit was fully pressurized for high altitude work. The design did not proceed to the point where fixed offensive/defensive armament was finalized. There would have been provision for a single 1,100 pound bomb carried under the central main wing unit joining the two fuselages together. Perhaps the aircraft's speed and operating altitude would have remained its best defense.

The E.530 already failed in one regard - it was logistically unfriendly when compared to the Bf 109Z. The Bf 109 was the German frontline fighter and spares are readily available whereas the E.530 would have required all new tooling and techniques to bring the aircraft together in the numbers required. This became a major sticking point with the project and a major reason why the E.530 was passed on in favor of a competing design.

The Bf 109Z project itself was abandoned as soon as 1944 with only one prototype having been completed. This example was not flown and was damaged while in its hangar during a bombing raid in 1943.

Armament

PROPOSED:
1 x 1,100 lb bomb under center wing section.

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

Variants / Models

• E.530 - Developmental Series Designation