Junkers Ju 288

The Junkers Ju 288, known inside the company as the EF 074, was a German bomber designed during the Second World War that flew only in prototype form. It won the Bomber B contest, which sought a fast bomber to replace the Ju 88, and offered a larger airframe with cabin pressurization, longer range, a greater bomb load, higher speed and improved defensive firepower. It was meant to use the Junkers Jumo 222 engine, but that engine was a failure in spite of massive effort and several redesigns. The first aircraft flew on 29 November 1940 and 22 development aircraft were built. The C series, with two Daimler-Benz DB 606 or 610 engines, was chosen for series production in 1944, but the programme was abandoned before that could happen. In 1944 surviving prototypes were fitted with defensive armament and flown on a few missions as reconnaissance bombers on the Western Front.