Messerschmitt Me 609


The Messerschmitt Me 609 was a short-lived World War II German project which joined two fuselages of the Me 309 fighter prototype together to form a heavy fighter.

Design and development

The project was initiated in response to a 1941 Reich Air Ministry requirement for a new Zerstörer to replace the Bf 110 in a minimum time and with a minimum of new parts. Messerschmitt's response was the Me 609, which would use the failed Me 309 project to form the basis of the new fighter.
The Me 609 would have joined the two Me 309 fuselages with a new centre wing section. Only the two inner wheels of the joined Me 309's main landing gears would have been used and would retract into the centre section. This resulted in an unusual four-wheel arrangement. The pilot would have sat in a cockpit located in the port fuselage, with the starboard being smoothed over.
Two versions were planned: a heavy fighter with four or six 30 mm MK 108 cannons, and a Schnellbomber variant with two 30 mm MK 108 cannons and a bomb load of 1,000 kg carried beneath the fuselages.
By the time designs were being ironed out, the revolutionary Me 262 turbojet negated the need for further piston-engined fighter design.

Specifications (Me 609, as designed)

Citations