Messerschmitt Bf 110

The Messerschmitt Bf 110 was a twin-engined heavy fighter, called a Zerstörer or destroyer in German service, designed by Bayerische Flugzeugwerke and built by its successor Messerschmitt. Early variants carried two 20 mm cannon and four machine guns in the nose and a defensive gun for the rear crewman. It did well in the early campaigns in Poland, Norway and France, but its lack of manoeuvrability showed when it escorted bombers in the Battle of Britain. It then found a lasting role as a night fighter against British bombers and as a strike aircraft, and it stayed in service to the end of the war because its intended replacements, the Me 210 and Me 410, never fully took its place. The first Bf 110 was flown at Augsburg by Rudolf Opitz on 12 May 1936.