Focke-Wulf Fw 57

The Focke-Wulf Fw 57 was a prototype German heavy fighter and fighter-bomber. In 1934 the Reich Air Ministry set a requirement for a Kampfzerstorer, a battle destroyer meaning a tactical multi-role fighter and bomber, and Focke-Wulf submitted the Fw 57 against the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and the Henschel Hs 124. It was a twin-engine all-metal monoplane of conventional layout with a single fin, a long canopy over a pilot and navigator seated in tandem, and a gunner turret at the rear. The Fw 57 was larger and heavier than its rivals and handled worse. Three prototypes were completed in 1936, but the aircraft was badly overweight, the turret-armed concept was dropped in favour of the simpler Bf 110, and all further work on the Fw 57 was abandoned.