Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse

The Messerschmitt Me 410 Hornisse, or Hornet, was a heavy fighter and Schnellbomber, a fast bomber, designed and produced by Messerschmitt and flown by the Luftwaffe in the latter half of the Second World War. Work on a successor to the Bf 110 began in 1937, but the resulting Me 210 proved unsatisfactory and its production was halted in April 1942. Officials favoured an incremental improvement, the Me 410, which looked much like the Me 210 and could be built from incomplete Me 210s, but had larger Daimler-Benz DB 603 engines, a lengthened fuselage and automatic leading-edge slats. In late 1942 the Air Ministry was convinced enough to proceed with quantity production of the type.