Junkers Ju 88

The Junkers Ju 88 was a twin-engined multirole combat aircraft designed and built by the German manufacturer Junkers. It grew out of a 1934 requirement from the German air ministry for a new multipurpose aircraft, and its design work was led by chief designer Ernst Zindel. The first prototype flew on 21 December 1936, but technical problems delayed squadron service until September 1939, after the Second World War had begun. The Luftwaffe used it as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and heavy fighter, and the Finnish, Italian and Romanian air services also flew it. The assembly line ran from 1936 to 1945 and produced more than 15,000 aircraft in dozens of variants, making it the most produced German twin-engine aircraft of the period while its basic structure stayed unchanged.