War Machines Drawn: Arado TEW 16/43-15

Tuesday 19 April 2016

Arado TEW 16/43-15

This design was proposed simultaneously with the other TEW ones, which were a rocket fighter (TEW 16/43-13), a pure jet fighter powered by two engines (TEW 16/43-23) and a mixed rocket/jet fighter one, (TEW 16/43-15).
As it happened with another Focke-Wulf design, the similarities with the Heinkel He.162 "Salamander" are evident.

This design would've been almost impossible to materialize given the hard problems that the intended powerplant would have given at the time.

This project, dating from 20th March 1943 was to be for an all-metal fuselage aircraft with a fuselage identical to that of the TEW 16/43-13, except that it was lengthened in order to fit an extra fuel tank and the extra engine. Most probably it would've been powered by the Heinkel HeS 011A delivering a thrust of 1300Kg mounted atop of the fuselage behind the cockpit. In order to improve the climb rate above the 10000m high a Walter HWK 509A bi-fuel rocket engine was fitted at the rear of the fuselage together with the T-Stoff and C-Stoff tanks, just like an afterburner. Wings were swept back at 25 degrees and were low on the fuselage.
Due to the particular placement of the engine, a twin fin and rudder configuration was chosen and, in order to save more space within the fuselage, a new type of landing gear was proposed. Main wheels were replaced with small ones placed in tandem, so the space needed when retracted was minimal. Those placed at the nose and the main ones retracted forwards.
The cockpit was going to be placed at the front and would've offered and excellent field of view, but, on the other hand, the rear vision would've been really poor due to the engine and air intake position.
It was going to be armed with a pair of 15mm MG151 or two 20mm MG151 cannons and one or two 30mm MK103 or MK 108 cannons, all of them located at the forward fuselage sides.

It's worth to mention that after the war, the Allies built many "combination fighters" albeit most of them in prototype form in order to perform the interceptor role, those are, among other, the American Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor, the French Dassault MD.550 Mirage I and SNCASE SE.212 Durandal and the British Saunders-Roe SR.53, amont others, even if all of them were abandoned during the development stage in favour of the fast climbing fighters having more powerful afterburners.