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Arado Ar TEW 16/43-23

1943 SECRET WEAPONS OF THE LUFTWAFFE WORLD WAR 2 X-PLANE

History

The single-seat jet Arado Ar TEW 16/43-23 was designed sometime in 1943. Classified as fighter jets, this type of fighter could be an impressive addition to the ranks of the Luftwaffe, where jet-powered aircraft began to take precedence over piston-powered aircraft.

In any case, Arado never realized the potential of the Ar TEW 16/43-23, and the company pioneered another revolutionary single-seat jet bomber design - the Ar 234 "Blitz" (or "Lightning").

The aircraft is equipped with a pair of Heinkel He S 011 series underwing turbojets in a streamlined nacelle. The main wing assembly is mounted near the middle of the fuselage and is also mounted higher to allow clearance for the engines. Each wing system has a good sweep at the leading edge, and a soft sweep along the trailing edge, both of which eventually taper at the rounded wingtip. The tail consists of a vertical tail with a pair of horizontal planes attached.

The tail surface also uses sweep and is covered with rounded ends. The pressurized cockpit is designed to remain far away, allowing the pilot to sit under a large two-piece canopy and behind a short nose cone assembly.

The raised fuselage spine will almost certainly limit visibility in key rear areas. The tricycle landing gear is fully retractable and consists of two single-wheel main landing gear struts embedded directly into each engine wing and a single-wheel nose landing gear strut embedded forward into the nose cone. The front wheels will rotate 90 degrees to lay flat.

The long, streamlined fuselage was designed to house the three large internal fuel tanks needed to fuel the early thirsty turbojets.

The weapons are relatively modest, all systems are logically located under the nose of the fuselage. This will consist of a pair of MG 213/20 20mm cannons, complemented by an MG 151/15 15mm machine gun. In addition, no other forms of carrying weapons have been found.

Performance is purely speculative and includes an estimated stop speed of 572 mph and a service cap of 39,370 feet. Dimensions include a wingspan of 34.9 feet, a length of 40.1 feet, and a height of 8.9 feet.