Messerschmitt Me 410 – Photos & Video

The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse (“Hornet”) was a German heavy fighter and Schnellbomber used by the Luftwaffe during World War II. Though essentially an incremental improvement of the Me 210, it had a new wing plan, longer fuselage, and engines of greater power. The changes were significant enough to be designated the Me 410.

Source: Messerschmitt Me 410 on Wikipedia

The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse was a German twin-engine heavy fighter and fast bomber that saw service in World War II. It was developed from the unsuccessful Messerschmitt Me 210, which had serious stability and handling problems. The Me 410 had a new wing design, a longer fuselage and more powerful Daimler-Benz DB 603 engines that gave it better performance and payload capacity. The Me 410 was used for various roles, such as bomber, fighter-bomber, ground-attack, reconnaissance and night fighter. It had a crew of two and was armed with two 20 mm cannons and two 13 mm machine guns in the nose, as well as two 13 mm machine guns in remote-controlled turrets on the sides of the fuselage. It could also carry up to 1,000 kg of bombs in an internal bay or under the wings. The Me 410 was initially successful against unescorted Allied bombers, but it proved vulnerable to Allied fighters such as the P-51 Mustang and the P-47 Thunderbolt. The Me 410 production was halted in August 1944 in favor of more advanced jet fighters such as the Me 262.