Ju-88C

High-Speed Medium Bomber

Junkers

Ju 88 C Zerstörer, fighter-bomber and night fighter, based on A-series, but with sheet metal nose.

Ju 88 C-1 The C-1 version remained an unrealized heavy fighter project based on the Ju 88A-1 through a simple alteration. Therefore, on the Ju 88C-1 aircraft, as well as on the Ju 88V7, the “beetle eye” should have been preserved. It was planned to install Jumo 211 engines or radial BMW 80IMA on aircraft of this modification. Jumo engines were also installed on the next modification of the heavy fighter - Ju 88C-2.

Ju 88 C-2 The Ju 88C-2s were the first Ju 88-based fighters to be used in combat. Like the Ju 88V15 and VI9 prototypes, the Ju 88C-2 received an all-metal nose instead of the "beetle eye". On some machines, small windows were made on the sides of the hull below the cockpit. An 11-mm armored shield separated the cockpit from the bow, which protected the crew and provided mounting for guns and machine guns. Three 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns and a 20 mm MG FF or 15 mm MG 151/15 cannon were placed in the nose of the aircraft. The armament was fixed motionless at an angle of -5 degrees to the horizon. Ammunition for machine guns was 800 rounds per barrel, for MG FF - 90 rounds, and for MG 151/15 - 350 rounds. C-2 aircraft were equipped with Jumo 211B or 211G engines. In the field, the engine exhaust system was often equipped with flame arresters. The Ju 88C-2 could take up to 500 kg of bombs into the front bomb bay, and an additional 1600 liter fuel tank was placed in the rear bomb bay.

Heavy Ju 88C-2 fighters entered the KG 30 fighter division in May 1940.

Ju 88 C-3 This designation was assigned to the aircraft, which was completely similar to the Ju 88C-1, except for the engines. On aircraft of this type, it was planned to use BMW 80IMA engines with a power of 1176 kW / 1600 hp. This project remained on paper (however, some sources claim that 25 machines of this modification were built).

Ju 88 C-4 The Ju 88C-4 heavy fighter was based on the Ju 88A-5 bomber. The Ju 88C-4 had the airbrakes and ETC bomb racks removed, the windows in the sides of the fuselage patched up, and a plexiglass radome fitted to the FuBl 2 radar antenna located under the fuselage. Part of the Ju 88C-4 was equipped with Junkers Jumo 21 IF engines with a power of 1029 kW / 1400 hp. The armament was no different from that used on the Ju 88C-2, only a part of the later Ju 88C-4 received an upgraded 20 mm MG FFM cannon. The MG 15 machine gun, fixed in the front window of the cockpit, was removed. In the ventral gondola, instead of MG 15, it was possible to install MG FFM guns. One MG 15 was placed in the rear installation, and in the field it was often replaced with a twin MG 15 or MG 811. At first, the rear installation was unprotected, but from the middle of 1942, armor plates and bulletproof glass began to be used. In 1941, 66 Ju 88C-4s were built. Some German sources claim that the Ju 88C-4 was also used as a long-range reconnaissance fighter (Zerstoerer-Fernraufklaerer), installing two Robot Rb 50/30 or RB 20/30 type cameras on it. It is likely that reconnaissance units experiencing a chronic shortage of Ju 88D reconnaissance units received converted Ju 88C-4 fighters.

Ju 88 C-5 Heavy fighter, like C-4 but with BMW 801 engines, up to four converted

Ju 88 C-6 At the beginning of 1942, the Ju 88C-6 aircraft, based on the Ju 88A-4 bomber, was accepted for serial production. As on the A-4, the Ju 88G-6 was equipped with Jumo 211J-1 or 211J-2 engines. The aircraft were not equipped with air brakes, although air brakes were installed on some aircraft in the field. The armament scheme of the Ju 88C-6 did not differ in principle from that of the Ju 88C-4. In the nose of the aircraft, three machine guns and a cannon were fixedly fixed. In the lower mount, on a Bola 39 or 81Z carriage, there was a MG 15, 81Z or MG 131 machine gun. fuel tanks with a volume of 1600 and 650 liters. The cockpit and rear installation were protected by armor. The FuBl 2 antenna, covered with a plexiglass fairing, was moved forward a little. Some aircraft of this modification did not have a ventral gondola.

The use of the designations Ju 88C-6a, Ju 88C-6b and Ju 88C-6c in some works is not entirely clear (the use of these designations is not confirmed in official documents. Probably, here we are talking about so-called field modifications). Apparently, the following specialized models are hidden under them:

- Ju 88C-6a - a day fighter armed with three MG 17s, three MG FFs and MG 15s - used in 1942;

- Ju 88C-6b - a night fighter equipped with a FuG 212 Lichtenstein C1 radar;

- Ju 88C-6c - a night fighter, armed like the Ju 88C-6b and equipped with a FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar with a range of 300-4000 meters, as well as other equipment, including the FuG 227 Flensburg.

Ju 88C-6 was equipped with a standard set of radio equipment consisting of FuG 101, FuG25, FuBl 2.

Ju 88C-6 aircraft were used primarily as night fighters. At first, the aircraft used the FuG 202 Lichtenstein aircraft radar, then the FuG 212 Lichtenstein C-l appeared, and at the end of 1942, aircraft began to be equipped with the FuG 220 Lichtenstein SN-2 radar. Some aircraft, in addition, were equipped with a warning radar located in the tail section of the machine. On machines produced at the end of the war, to protect the rear hemisphere, one MG 131 was installed in the rear installation. At night fighters, flame arresters were installed on the exhaust pipes.

The FuG 202 radar operated at a frequency of 490 MHz and had a range of up to 5 km. The FuG 212 radar at an operating frequency of 91 MHz had a range of 6 km.

Radar antennas FuG 202, 212 and 220 were installed in the bow of the hull. The FuG 227 Flensburg radar antennas were located in the wings. The FuG 227 radar was designed to detect British Monica airborne radars at a distance of up to 65 km.

A curious armament scheme used on the Ju 88C-6 aircraft was the almost vertical installation of two Rhine-metal-Borsig MG FF guns or, more often, a Mauser MG 151/20 with 500 rounds of ammunition per barrel. The guns were installed at an angle of 70 ° -80 ° to the horizon and made it possible to attack enemy aircraft from below (in German, this installation was called Schraege Musik (jazz). At the same time, there is a play on words, in German "schraege" means "located obliquely"). These guns were in the bomb bay. So that nothing interfered with the fire of the guns, the antenna of the FuG 10ZY radio station was moved to the left of the longitudinal axis of symmetry of the fuselage. Some aircraft were equipped with not two, but only one cannon.

Junkers 88C-7. In various sources on this issue, there are disagreements as to which aircraft bore the designation Ju 88C-7. The Ju 88C-7 is most commonly said to be a C-6 that had its radar equipment removed, as this version was used as a day fighter. The Ju 88C-7 is reported to have been an aircraft with improved aerodynamics. Finally, it was suggested that the Ju 88C-7 was equipped, like the Ju 88C-5, with a ventral gondola, which housed two 20 mm MG FF cannons and MG 17 machine guns.

Only a few aircraft of this modification were produced. Known for the K9 + VH aircraft, which took off in June 1942. This aircraft was powered by BMW 801B turbocharged GM 1 radial engines.

As in the case of the Ju 88C-6, the Ju 88C-7 is divided into three classes: C-7a - with Jumo 221J-1 engines, carrying 500 kg of bombs. C-7b - with the same engines, but with a bomb load of 1500 kg and C-7c with BMW 801 MA radial engines.

Aviation of World War II

Ju-88C

High-Speed Medium Bomber

Junkers

Bibliography