The Heinkel He 343 was designed for the Luftwaffe by the German Heinkel aircraft manufacturing company in the beginning of 1944. Twenty were ordered. To shorten development time and allow existing parts to be used, its design resembled the Arado Ar 234. Engines were to be the Junkers Jumo 004 and Heinkel HeS 011.
In January 1944, Oberstleutnant Knemeyer persuaded the Heinkel management to begin work on a four-engine jet bomber that could be ready in no time. Although Heinkel was already working on a similar project (P.1068), it was decided to take the finished project (Arado Ar 234) and based on it create a bomber with the required parameters. The He 343 (this is the designation under which it was introduced to the RLM on 14 March 1944) had a wing 1.55 times larger than the Ar 234 and linear dimensions 1.25 times larger. The He 343, prior to being assigned the official number "343", was called "Strabo 16" ("Strabo" is short for "Strahlbomber" ("jet bomber")), and "16" - the takeoff weight was supposed to be 16 tons.
The fuselage housed the bomb bay and the newly developed main landing gear with a redundant brake. The wings were mounted as a mid-plane and were not swept. Four jet engines were to be installed each separately below the wing. The versatility of the He 343 project was that, in fact, any turbojet engine could be used on this aircraft. During the work, Jumo 004Bs were envisaged, but there was hope that Jumo 004Cs would be ready by the time the prototype was built. Also, if necessary, BMW 003 or He S 011 could be installed.
On the planned production version of the aircraft, the engines were intended to be moved slightly forward to "clear" space for the boundary flap. The bow and pressurized crew cabin (2 people) were developed anew. The front landing gear, also completely updated, was shifted 100 mm to the left side of the aircraft axis.
Four main versions of the He 343 were developed:
He 343A-1 - bomber. It could carry 3,000 kg of bombs, 2,000 kg in the bomb bay, and 1,000 kg on an external sling. It was supposed to carry out tests on the suspension and launch of the Fritz X radio-controlled bomb, because of which a third crew member could be added. Defensive armament consisted of two 20 mm MG 151 cannons fixed in the tail section with 200 rounds each.
He 343A-2 - reconnaissance aircraft. He could carry in the bomb bay, in addition to special equipment, an additional fuel tank with 2400 kg of fuel, which increased the duration of the flight. Two MG 151 cannons fixed in the tail section, like the A-1, were used for barrage purposes.
He 343A-3 - attack aircraft ("Zerstorer"). Standard armament was to be four forward-firing 30 mm MK 103 cannons (4x400 rounds) or two forward-firing MK 103s (2x100 rounds) and two forward-firing MG 151s (2x200 rounds). In addition, guns with a caliber of up to 50 mm could be used. There was an interesting feature of the location of this "battery". All guns were shifted to the right side of the forward fuselage, due to the nose landing gear, which retracted back to the left side. Similar to the A-1 and A-2 variants, the defensive armament consisted of two MG 151s (2x200 rounds) mounted in the tail section.
The He 343B-1 was also to be a ground attack aircraft ("Zerstorer"). Its main difference from the A-3 was that instead of two fixed tail guns, a remotely controlled FHL 151Z turret was installed on the stern. This required a refinement of the design of the tail, which in this version was twin-keel with a stabilizer having a transverse "V". Fire control from two 20-mm guns MG 151 (FHL 151Z) was carried out from the cockpit through a periscope sight. This design of the plumage required additional flight tests, plus it would add additional weight.
http://www.airwar.ru/enc/bww2/he343.html
General characteristics
Crew: 2
Length: 15.5 m (50 ft 10 in)
Wingspan: 18 m (59 ft 1 in)
Height: 5.35 m (17 ft 7 in)
Wing area: 42.45 m2 (456.9 sq ft)
Gross weight: 19,550 kg (43,100 lb)
Powerplant: 4 × Heinkel HeS 011 turbojet engines, 12.7 kN (2,900 lbf) thrust each
Performance
Maximum speed: 910 km/h (570 mph, 490 kn)
Range: 2,800 km (1,700 mi, 1,500 nmi)
Looks kinda similar to Ar-234 so it could be used as a base
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Topic: Heinkel He 343 (Read 460 times)
