Junkers Ju 290

• Role: Maritime patrol, Transport, Heavy bomber
• Manufacturer: Junkers
• Designer: Konrad Eicholtz^[1]
• First flight: 16 July 1942 (Ju 290 V1)
• Primary user: Luftwaffe; Spain (Post war)
• Produced: 1942–1946
• Number built: 65^[2]
• Developed from Junkers Ju 90
• Variants Junkers Ju 390

Junkers Ju 290

by Harry Rush

Design and Development

Developed from the Ju 90, a transport aircraft, the Ju 290 was a four engined maritime patrol aircraft and long-range heavy bomber. It was intended to replace the Fw 200, which had many structural issues due to being an airliner retrofitted to carry heavier ordnances than it was designed for.

The first prototype flew on 16th July 1942, featuring the hydraulic loading ramp in the rear fuselage. The first prototype (V1) and the first eight A-1 production aircraft were unarmed and used solely for transport duties. Some of these early A-1s were lost in early 1943, in the Stalingrad airlift and supporting German forces in Tunisia during the North African campaign. The A-2 was outfitted for maritime patrol duties, as it was considered high priority. The A-2 featured a nose mounted FuG 200 Hohentweil radar for surface vessels and a dorsal turret with a 20mm MG 151 cannon. This was then developed into the A-3, which featured additional navigation equipment and a re-fitting of defensive armament. The A-3 featured two fully traversing hydraulic dorsal turrets, both with 20mm MG 151 cannon. A, asymmetric on the port side of the front fuselage, featured a further forward facing MG 151 and twin rear facing 13mm MG 131 machine guns - operated by gunners lying in a prone position. Two 13mm MG 131 were also mounted in waist positions in the rear fuselage facing either side for protection on either side. The tail gun remained unchanged.

The A-5 variant was developed to launch the Fritz X anti-shipping glide bomb - some were fitted with 20mm cannon in waist positions. The A-5 changed engine type to the BMW 801G, a version of the 801 modified for use in bomber roles with lower gear ratios for driving larger propellers - it also had increased armour protection and self-sealing fuel tanks. Some crews replaced the forward firing gondola MG 151/20 with a 30mm Mk 103, used for strafing and attacking lightly armoured targets. With this variant came added armour protection for the engines and cockpit. In spring 1944 A-7 290s appeared, though only 13 were completed. These featured a redesigned nose with an MG 151/20 in a nose turret which also housed with FuG 200 radar. The nose turret was also sometimes retrofitted to earlier types. The B-1 was a high altitude heavy bomber, and was the last variant to be produced. The A-8 was developed as a long range bomber for Japan, and featured quad 13mm MG 131 in its nose turret. Three were intended to be flown, but Japan was hesitant as it required a flyover of Soviet land, and Japan did not want to provoke war with them. By the end of the war two A-8 aircraft remained unaccounted for and the fate of them remains a mystery - it’s possible that they were flown to Japan against orders or flew elsewhere.

Operational Use

The Ju 290 made its debut in mid-1943, where A-2 variants flew reconnaissance and maritime patrol missions shadowing allied fleets in cooperation with U-boats. Into November of the same year the type predominantly saw service ranging far out into the Atlantic relaying sightings of allied convoys to U-boats. Due to this the aircrafts three hard points were capable of mounting torpedoes, but these were rarely used in practise. FAGr 5 received A-5s early in 1944, which continued to see these kind of duties. In the spring of 1944 Ju 290 production was ordered to be halted, diverting precious resources to fighter production instead. In August of the same year, with the Battle of the Atlantic being lost, 290s were withdrawn and given more transport orientated duties, dropping supplies and agents as well as moving equipment.

The Ju 290 did see a fair amount action against enemy fighters, one such example being on the 26th May 1944, when a Sea Hurricane would shoot down a 290 over the Bay of Biscay. On the same day two further 290s were attacked and shot down. Many of these aircraft were destroyed in air raids during the bomber campaign against Germany. The Junkers 290, despite its rugged construction and defensive armament, was nonetheless vulnerable to enemy interceptors due to the nature of their operations, which predominantly involved them flying alone unescorted.

The 290 was also considered a promising candidate for the Amerika Bomber project, the Ju 390 being a modification on the existing design to attempt and reach the range requirement via increasing the size of the fuel tank and adding two extra engines. A single modified Ju 290 with extra armour was prepared as Hitlers personal transport, but it was never used.

A number of designs were used by different nations, one A-5 (no. 178) was flown to Barcelona where it was damaged on landing. After repairs it was operated by the Spanish Air Force as a transport aircraft from 29th April 1950 to 27th July 1956 when it retired and scrapped due to a lack of spare parts. Czechoslovakia also built the last production Junkers Ju 290, when - using parts intended for the Ju 290 B-1, it was completed as an airliner and designated Letov L-290 ‘Orel’. It was not adopted as an airliner due to the lack of internal equipment for this role and the lack of BMW engines. A single A-5 (thought to be no. 170) was captured in Tripoli by advancing allied forces, and after some evaluation was left in Greek possession post-war. Outside of some limited evaluation and propaganda purposes the type saw no service and was scrapped in 1949. Soviet forces may have captured a number of 290s on the eastern front, though in a damaged condition - none were repaired or flew in Soviet service.

No Junkers Ju 290s survive intact today, though some are thought to lie in the Atlantic and Mediterranean - possibly in salvageable condition.