Henschel Hs 132

Single-Seat Jet-Powered Dive Bomber Aircraft Prototype [ 1945 ]

The Henschel Hs 132 was intended as a jet-powered dive bomber but only one completed prototype was available before the end of World War 2.

Authored By: Staff Writer | Last Edited: 06/03/2019 | Content ©www.MilitaryFactory.com | The following text is exclusive to this site.

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

GO TO SPECIFICATIONS [+]

Advertisements

The Henschel Hs 132 was another in the long line of ambitious German jet-powered designs under development in the closing years of World War 2 (1939-1945). The aircraft was developed in response to the mounting losses inherent with the plodding, yet still effective, Ju 87 Stuka dive bombers against ever-increasing Soviet fighter presence, the Hs 132 was intended as a jet-powered alternative to the piston-engine design which dated back to the prewar 1930s. Its proposed replacement offered a revolutionary design but never proceeded past the prototype stage by the time the Soviets overran development facilities - only a single prototype was ever completed with three still under construction during the closing months of the conflict in 1945. All three were confiscated by the Soviet invaders.

At its core, the Hs 132 was largely a fundamental design with a well-streamlined and slender fuselage. The nose was capped with the cockpit under large transparent panels for maximum viewing. The tail utilized a traditional split-rudder fin arrangement. The wing mainplanes were straight with dihedral (upward angle) and a tricycle undercarriage was used that was wholly retractable. The most interesting design feature of this aircraft as its fuselage-spine-mounted BMW 109-003E02 turbojet engine which sat above and behind the cockpit, exhausting over the aft section of fuselage making up the empennage. The Hs 132 mimicked much of what made the Heinkel He 162 "Volksjager" such an iconic wartime jet fighter.

Unlike the He 162 - which was developed as a low-cost, low-maintenance point defense fighter - the Hs 132 was developed along the lines of a dive bomber to success the Ju 87 series. Due to the slender design of the fuselage, the pilot was to lay prone in the cockpit - the thought being that a prone man could withstand greater G-forces during a dive upon a target. Proposed armament was to be a single 1,102 pound bomb held under the belly in a recessed area. Fixed armament proposed included 2 x 20mm MG 151 cannons or 2 x 20mm MG 151 cannons with 2 x 30mm MK 103 cannons.

Initial work of the Hs 132 began during 1944 with Henschel submitting their design to authorities. Due to the limitation of certain war-making goods - namely valuable metal - wood construction was to make up a large part of the Hs 132's construction.

Three prototypes eventually emerged: the Hs 132 V1 was the first model and only one of the three to reach a complete stage of construction. The V2 prototype was envisioned to carry the same 1,102 pound drop ordnance but a pair of MG 151 20mm cannons were to be fixed into the fuselage. Similarly, the upcoming V3 prototype was to broaden the V2's armament fit by adding 2 x 30mm MK 103 cannons while retaining the single bomb under the belly.

Of course all of this work fell to naught as Soviet forces closed in and captured the development facilities. This left the Hs 132 to the pages of history and the imagination - a possible potent performance bomber over the battlefields of World War 2 - certainly a much-needed upgrade over the original Ju 87.©MilitaryFactory.com

Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.MilitaryFactory.com. It is the product of many hours of research and work made possible with the help of contributors, veterans, insiders, and topic specialists. If you happen upon this text anywhere else on the internet or in print, please let us know at MilitaryFactory AT gmail DOT com so that we may take appropriate action against the offender / offending site and continue to protect this original work.

Specifications

Service Year

1945

Origin

Nazi Germany

Status

CANCELLED
Development Ended.

Crew

1

Production

1
UNITS

Henschel Flugzeugwerke A.G. - Nazi Germany

(View other Aviaton-Related Manufacturers)

Nazi Germany (cancelled)

(OPERATORS list includes past, present, and future operators when applicable)

✓ Ground Attack (Bombing, Strafing)
Ability to conduct aerial bombing of ground targets by way of (but not limited to) guns, bombs, missiles, rockets, and the like.

✓ X-Plane (Developmental, Prototype, Technology Demonstrator)
Aircraft developed for the role of prototyping, technology demonstration, or research / data collection.

Length

29.2 ft
(8.90 m)

Width/Span

23.6 ft
(7.20 m)

MTOW

7,496 lb
(3,400 kg)

(Showcased structural values pertain to the Henschel Hs 132 V1 production variant)

Installed: 1 x BMW 109-003E-2 turbojet engine developing 1,764 pounds of thrust.

Max Speed

485 mph
(780 kph | 421 kts)

Ceiling

33,629 ft
(10,250 m | 6 mi)

Range

423 mi
(680 km | 1,259 nm)

♦ MACH Regime (Sonic)

Sub

Trans

Super

Hyper

HiHyper

ReEntry

♦

(Showcased performance specifications pertain to the Henschel Hs 132 V1 production variant. Performance specifications showcased above are subject to environmental factors as well as aircraft configuration. Estimates are made when Real Data not available. Compare this aircraft entry against any other in our database or View aircraft by powerplant type)

PROPOSED ARMAMENT:

Hs 132 V1:
1 x 1,102lb conventional drop bomb in recessed fuselage position.

Hs 132 V2:
2 x 20mm MG 151 internal automatic cannons in nose section.
1 x 1,102lb conventional drop bomb in recessed fuselage position.

Hs 132 V3:
2 x 20mm MG 151 internal automatic cannons.
2 x 30mm MK 103 internal automatic cannons.
1 x 1,102lb conventional drop bomb in recessed fuselage position.

Supported Types

Graphical image of an aircraft automatic cannon

Graphical image of an aircraft conventional drop bomb munition

(Not all ordnance types may be represented in the showcase above)

Hardpoint Mountings: 1

Hs 132 - Base Series Designation

Hs 132 V1 - Single prototype of a total of 3 examples under construction that was completed before war's end; fitted with a single BMW 109-003E-2 turbojet; proposed armament of 1 x 1,102lb bomb underfuselage.

Hs 132 V2 - Proposed Prototype; intended provision for a single 1,102lb bomb with 2 x 20mm MG151 cannons in nose; intended powerplant was to be a 1,984lb thrust engine.

Hs 132 V3 - Proposed Prototype;

Military lapel ribbon for Operation Allied Force

Military lapel ribbon for the Arab-Israeli War

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Britain

Military lapel ribbon for the Battle of Midway

Military lapel ribbon for the Berlin Airlift

Military lapel ribbon for the Cuban Missile Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for pioneering aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the Falklands War

Military lapel ribbon for the French-Indochina War

Military lapel ribbon for the Golden Age of Flight

Military lapel ribbon for the 1991 Gulf War

Military lapel ribbon for the Indo-Pak Wars

Military lapel ribbon for the Iran-Iraq War

Military lapel ribbon for the Korean War

Military lapel ribbon for the 1982 Lebanon War

Military lapel ribbon for the Malayan Emergency

Military lapel ribbon representing modern aircraft

Military lapel ribbon for the attack on Pearl Harbor

Military lapel ribbon for the Six Day War

Military lapel ribbon for the Soviet-Afghan War

Military lapel ribbon for the Spanish Civil War

Military lapel ribbon for the Suez Crisis

Military lapel ribbon for the Ukranian-Russian War

Military lapel ribbon for the Vietnam War

Military lapel ribbon for Warsaw Pact of the Cold War-era

Military lapel ribbon for the WASP (WW2)

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 1

Military lapel ribbon for the World War 2

Military lapel ribbon for the Yom Kippur War

Military lapel ribbon for experimental x-plane aircraft

Ribbon graphics not necessarily indicative of actual historical campaign ribbons. Ribbons are clickable to their respective aerial campaigns / operations / aviation periods.

Images Gallery

1 / 2

Image copyright www.MilitaryFactory.com; No Reproduction Permitted.

2 / 2

Image from the Public Domain.

❮ ❯