Messerschmitt Bf-110G-2/R3 Zerstorer

From The Air Combat Wiki

Contents 1 Fighter Ace Screenshots 2 Fighter Ace Ratings 3 Fighter Ace Performance 4 Historical Statistics 5 Strengths 6 Weaknesses 7 History 8 Sources 9 See Also

Fighter Ace Screenshots

Screenshot by JG51 Nevermiss	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ
Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ	Fighter Ace museum screenshot by Doug@HQ

Fighter Ace Ratings

Durability: 6

Speed: 6

Maneuverability: 5

Firepower: 8

Climb Rate: 5

Ground Attack: 7

Fighter Ace Performance

Top Speeds						Climb Rates
	Sea Level	4921' 1500m	9843' 3000m	19685' 6000m	Best Speed	Best IAS	to 1000m	to 3000m	to 6000m
mph	306	326	343	360	360@ 20013'	177 mph	1:25	3:42	8:11
mph WEP	316	336	346	370	370@ 20013'
kph	493	524	552	579	580@ 6100m	275 mph
kph WEP	509	540	557	595	595@ 6100m

Historical Statistics

Service Date: December 1942

Primary Guns: 2x MG151/20 20mm cannon with 300 (port) and 350 (starboard) rpg in nose

Secondary Guns: 2x MK 108 30mm cannon with 135 rpg in nose

Defensive Guns: 2x MG81Z 7.92mm flex machine guns with 400 rpg in dorsal position

Ordnance: 2x 551 lb (250 kg) bombs or 2x 1103 lb (500 kg) under fuselage, plus 4x 121 lb (55 kg) or 2x 551 lb (250 kg) or 4x 245 lb (111 kg) WGr.21 rockets under wings. Maximum load of 4,410 lbs.

Engine(s): 2x Daimler-Benz DB-605B-1 in-lines rated for 1,475 hp at sea level

Int Fuel Capacity: 2,016 lbs (914 kg)

Ext Fuel Capacity: 950 lbs (430 kg, 2 drop tanks under wings)

Maximum Speeds: 342 mph (550 kph) at 22,900 ft (6,980 m)

Ceiling: 26,065 ft (7,950 m)

Loaded Weight: 20,700 lbs (8,380 kg)

Wing Area: 413.3 sq ft (38.4 sq m)

Wing Loading: 50.0 lbs/sq ft (218.2 kg/sq m)

Strengths

Firepower: The heavy 30mm and 20mm cannon armament and large ammo load gives the Bf-110G-2/R3 one of the better firepower combinations in the game.

Weaknesses

Speed: With a top speed of 342 mph and it being even slower when fully loaded, the Bf-110G-2 can’t run from anything except the slowest of early war fighters.

History

As it became more and more apparent that the Zerstörer was not capable of fighting against single-engine planes on an equal basis, the type began to be used more and more for the ground-attack role. The D, E, and F versions made incremental improvements to the engine power and carrying capacity until the bomb load exceeded 4,400 lbs.

With the failure of the Messerschmitt Me-210 as a replacement, work began on a more powerful version of the Bf-110 powered by the new Daimler-Benz DB-605 engines. The armament of the initial Bf-110G-0, as it was known, was the same as in the final D and F versions, four MG-17 7.9mm machine guns and two MG-FF 20mm cannon in the nose, but the MG-FF were replaced with the more powerful MG-151/20s in the production G-1 version. However, the G-1 was soon supplanted by the G-2, which was designed to use a variety of Rüstsätze field conversion kits.

The /R3 variant was designed as a heavy ground-attack and bomber-interceptor. The four nose-mounted MG-17 machine guns were replaced with a pair of 30mm MK-108 cannon with 135 rpg. The large 30mm "mine" shells were devastating to bombers and soft ground targets, while the MG-151/20s provided decent penetration against lightly armored targets.

The twin-engined Messerschmitt played a strictly limited role in the opening phase of Operation Barbarossa. By the beginning of 1943, the Bf 110s use in the Zerstörer role was restricted to the surviving Gruppen of ZG 1 and ZG 26, but it was widely used by reconnaissance units and had become the backbone of the Nachtjagdverbände. Not that it was by any stretch of the imagination an ideal night fighter, but the Himmelbett system of clearly defined areas of operation for the interceptors made no great demands on range or endurance, and at this stage of the air war the Bf 110 was considered to be entirely adequate, and indeed, highly successful.

A dozen Bf 110 G-4/U5 equipped with Lichtenstein radar were in the spring of 1943 delivered to the Italian night fighter force Forza Aera Intercettatori. During the summer of 1943 Bf 110-equipped Nachtjagdgruppen were sent against US bomber formations whenever these flew unescorted. Despite the potency of the Bf 110s armament, the operation of the night fighters by day was limited in its success, for the night fighter’s practice of going in close before opening fire proved costly owing to the strong defensive fire from the bomber formations.

Its heyday had passed by the autumn of 1944, when the exigencies of the operational situation necessitated the increasing use of the Bf 110 in the close-support and intercept roles by day, with heavy attrition in consequence. This, coupled with serious fuel shortages, drastically reduced the potency of the Nachtjagd, the numbers of Bf 110s in the first-line inventory steadily dwindling.

Sources

Campbell, Jerry L.; Messerschmitt Bf-110 Zerstörer In Action; Squadron/Signal Publications, Carrollton, TX; 1977.

Donald, David; Warplanes Of The Luftwaffe; Aerospace Publishing, London; 1994.

Chant, Chris; German Warplanes Of World War II; Amber Books, Ltd., London; 1999.

Green, William; Warplanes of the Third Reich; Doubleday and Company, Garden City, NY; 1970.

See Also

Fighter Ace Planes Inventory

Messerschmitt A.G.

Aircraft Manufacturers During World War II