Arado Ar 196

Arado Ar 196 History

The Arado Ar 196 was the main seaplane of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The aircraft was on display in large numbers on almost all of Germany's threatened or threatened fronts, and was excellent against Allied convoys, even claiming numerous Allied aircraft en route. With nearly 600 production examples, this state-of-the-art seaplane has been in service with Germany and its allies Bulgaria and Romania.

A key component of Axis naval reconnaissance, the Arado Ar 196 became more versatile by engaging enemy targets from ship or shore launch points.

The Ar 196 was designed to replace the Heinkel He 60 seaplanes on various German warships existing or under construction. The plane itself was designed to succeed another Arado product, the now obsolete Ar 95.

Following a request from Germany for a new carrier-based catapult-based reconnaissance seaplane (with a secondary role as a coastal patrol platform), Arado submitted his design, consisting of two all-metal skinned monoplanes. Focke-Wulf also responded and submitted a biplane design.

After an evaluation period, the Arado design was selected and development began in 1937.

Development produced four prototypes, testing two floating point arrays. One prototype was equipped with a centerline pontoon and two outboard pontoons, while the remaining three used more traditional twin pontoon pontoons, each located under their respective wings. The selected aircraft design was subsequently put into production and designated Ar 196A.

Production will take place throughout Germany as well as in Axis-controlled areas in France and Denmark.

Ar 196 consists of two production series, separated by assortment roles. On the one hand is the Ar 196 "Schiff" series used to eject German warships. The series includes models A-1 and A-4. On the other hand is the "coastal" variant Ar 196, which was of course designed for the defense of coastal areas, whose actions involved launching and returning to the respective port areas.

The production line includes the A-2 and A-3 models. Later, the A-5 model was equipped with upgraded radio equipment and two 7.92mm machine guns for the radio operator in the rear cockpit. Basic armament consists of a variable number of 20mm cannons and 7.92mm machine guns.

What's more, the Ar 196 can hit with two 110-pound bombs.

The aircraft ended up in service on many notable German warships, including Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, Admiral Hipper, and Leipzig.

Specification

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