FW 190 F-3 Heavy Bomber 500kg is a Germany Air unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
Although the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter was a powerful fighter, Reich authorities were concerned that future designs might outclass it. The eventual winner of the competition, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (Shrike) was a single-seat, single-engine fighter designed by Kurt Tank in 1937. A veteran of World War I, Tank saw the punishment military equipment endured in the field and envisioned a plane that would not be a racehorse, like the Bf 109 and Spitfire, but a Dienstpferd, a rugged, powerful war mount.
His design was exactly that: Fast, well armored and armed, forgiving of mistakes, and capable of operating in the most adverse of conditions. It eschewed hydraulics in favor of the more reliable electric operation for most of the Fw 190's system, a system of pushrods and bearings instead of cables for controls, ensuring consistent operation, and generally increasing the pilot's comfort by reducing trim maintenance requirements and introducing a vacuum-formed bubble canopy that increased visibility. The end result was a powerful fighter that outperformed all contemporary aircraft at the time of its introduction in 1941. Together with the Bf 109, it became the backbone of the Jagdwaffe, Luftwaffe's fighter forces, adapted for a multitude of roles - day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack plane, night fighter - and served until the end of the war.
The Fw 190F configuration was originally tested in a Fw 190 A-0/U4, starting in May 1942, fitted with centre-line and wing-mounted bomb racks. Developed under the designation Fw 190 A-5/U17, which was outfitted with a centreline mounted ETC 501 bomb rack. The F-3 could carry a 66-Imp gal (300 liter) drop tank.