Messerschmitt Bf 161

The Messerschmitt Bf 161 was a prototype reconnaissance aircraft of the 1930s, developed from the Bf 110 heavy fighter and closely related to the Bf 162 light bomber. Two prototypes were built. The first, powered by two Junkers Jumo 210 inline engines, flew on 9 March 1938, and the second, with two Daimler-Benz DB 600a engines, flew on 30 August 1938. The type never entered production, because officials decided that no new aircraft type was needed and that variants of the Bf 110 could handle the reconnaissance role. The prototypes were used for research and development work, and the second was used at Augsburg and later at Peenemünde to tow the Me 163A Komet.