- For the Steel Division: Normandy 44 unit see SD:FW 190 A8 Dogfighter
FW 190 A8 Dogfighter is a German Air unit in Steel Division II.
Background[ | ]
Although the Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter was a powerful fighter, Reich authorities were concerned that future designs might outclass it. The eventual winner of the competition, Focke-Wulf Fw 190 Würger (Shrike) was a single-seat, single-engine fighter designed by Kurt Tank in 1937. A veteran of World War I, Tank saw the punishment military equipment endured in the field and envisioned a plane that would not be a racehorse, like the Bf 109 and Spitfire, but a Dienstpferd, a rugged, powerful war mount.
His design was exactly that: Fast, well armored and armed, forgiving of mistakes, and capable of operating in the most adverse of conditions. It eschewed hydraulics in favor of the more reliable electric operation for most of the Fw 190's system, a system of pushrods and bearings instead of cables for controls, ensuring consistent operation, and generally increasing the pilot's comfort by reducing trim maintenance requirements and introducing a vacuum-formed bubble canopy that increased visibility. The end result was a powerful fighter that outperformed all contemporary aircraft at the time of its introduction in 1941. Together with the Bf 109, it became the backbone of the Jagdwaffe, Luftwaffe's fighter forces, adapted for a multitude of roles - day fighter, fighter-bomber, ground-attack plane, night fighter - and served until the end of the war.
The A8 variant production in February 1944, powered either by the standard BMW 801 D-2 or the 801Q/TU (unitized powerplant installation with an armored front cowling). It was also outfitted with a C3-injection emergency boost system, and the two fuselage-mounted 13 mm (.51 in) MG 131s, instead of two MG 17s.