Blohm & Voss BV 237


The Blohm & Voss BV 237 was a German proposed dive bomber with an unusual asymmetric design based on the Blohm & Voss BV 141.

Design and development

In 1942 the Luftwaffe was interested in replacing the venerable but ageing Junkers Ju 87, and Dr. Richard Vogt's design team at Blohm & Voss began work on project P 177.
The dive bomber version would have had a one-man crew with two fixed forward firing MG 151 cannon and two rear firing MG 131 machine guns, carrying of bombs.
A two-seat ground attack version was also proposed with two fixed forward firing MG 151 cannon, three forward firing MK 103 cannon with six bombs.
A final B-1 type was to incorporate a Junkers Jumo 004B turbojet engine in a third nacelle slung underneath the wing, between the piston engine and the cockpit.
In early 1943 the B&V design, now called the BV 237, was shown to Hitler and he ordered it into production. However the order was not carried out. In the summer, Allied bombing raids over Hamburg caused no damage to the Blohm and Voss facilities, but the Ministry of Aviation ordered all developmental work stopped. Work continued later and it was determined that construction could begin in mid 1945, but plans for a pre-production A-0 series were abandoned, leaving the project at the pre-production stage near the end of 1944, with only a wooden mock-up completed.

Variants

;BV 237 :A single seat Sturzkampfflugzeug armed with 2x fixed forward firing MG 151 cannon and 2x rear firing MG 131 machine guns, carrying of bombs.
;BV 237 :
A twin seater Schlachtflugzeug aircraft armed with 2x fixed forward firing MG 151 cannon, 3x forward firing MK 103 cannon with 6x bombs.
;BV 237B-1:
A proposed mixed-power version with a podded Junkers Jumo 004B underslung between the BMW 801 nacelle and the fuselage.

Specifications (BV 237)