He 111 H-16 Heavy Bomber 1000kg is a German Air unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
One of the most easily recognizable bombers in Nazi service, the history of the Heinkel He 111 dates back to the earliest days of the Third Reich and the secret rearmament. Designed by Siegfried and Walter Gunter at the Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934, the He 111 first flew in February 1935 and was subsequently adopted in the newly formed Luftwaffe as a fast medium bomber. Although the He 111 was officially developed as an airliner, it was a military machine through and through, created after the brothers' initial design, the He 70 Blitz (Lightning) caught Luftwaffe's eye thanks to its incredible performance. Modified and upgraded to compete with the rival Dornier Do 17, the He 111 went through several changes to address shortcomings and entered production in 1937. At the start of the war, the 705 bombers made it the most numerous bomber in Nazi service and by the end of the war, it was one of the most numerous bombers produced, at 6508 units.
Although advanced for its time, with a stepless cockpit and versatility both as a transport and as a bomber, the He 111 eventually showed the limitations of its design during the Battle of Britain. Although fast, it had limited defensive weapons, and the durability of the bomber did not compensate it. However, with the death of the Bomber B project and the lack of a replacement, the He 111 continued to soldier on until the end of the war as a multirole aircraft on almost every front. Past 1944, the remaining number of aircraft was used purely in a logistical and support role, with the design living on in the Spanish CASA 2.111. The H-16 is the third mass production model.