The Arado Ar 195 was a single-engine
prototype
A prototype is an early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. It is a term used in a variety of contexts, including semantics, design, electronics, and Software prototyping, software programming. A prototype ...
carrier-based
A carrier-based aircraft (also known as carrier-capable aircraft, carrier-borne aircraft, carrier aircraft or aeronaval aircraft) is a naval aircraft designed for operations from aircraft carriers. Carrier-based aircraft must be able to launch ...
torpedo bomber
A torpedo bomber is a military aircraft designed primarily to attack ships with aerial torpedoes. Torpedo bombers came into existence just before the World War I, First World War almost as soon as aircraft were built that were capable of carryin ...
, built by the
German firm
Arado for service on the , during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Due to performance issues and a lack of aircraft carrier construction, only three prototype units were produced and the aircraft never entered service.
Design and development
The Arado Ar 195 was designed as a derivative of the
Ar 95, which had been designed as a torpedo and reconnaissance aircraft.
It was a two-seat biplane powered by an 880-hp
BMW 132 9-cylinder radial piston engine that could produce a range of and a top speed of .
The weapons included a forward-facing synchronized 7.92-mm
MG 17 machine gun, a manually-aimed
MG 15
The MG 15 was a German 7.92 mm machine gun designed specifically as a hand-manipulated defensive gun for combat aircraft during the early 1930s. By 1941 it was replaced by other types and found new uses with ground troops.
History
The MG ...
in the rear cockpit, and a bomb capacity of .
Wingspan was and total length was .
The Ar 195 was intended as a
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
bomber
A bomber is a military combat aircraft that utilizes
air-to-ground weaponry to drop bombs, launch aerial torpedo, torpedoes, or deploy air-launched cruise missiles.
There are two major classifications of bomber: strategic and tactical. Strateg ...
to equip
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
's first
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
, the ''
Graf Zeppelin'', which was named after
Graf Ferdinand von Zeppelin, of dirigible fame. Construction of the carrier had begun in 1938, but over the course of the war, aircraft carriers were seen as less of a priority for the navy and construction was still complete in 1945 and never saw action.
The Ar 195 was fitted with an
arrestor hook and
catapult equipment as well as a taller
canopy than the Ar 95. Although three prototypes were flown in 1937, the design did not meet the requirements of the specification. It suffered an excess of drag which was detrimental to its flyability, and so was rejected in 1938
in favour of the
Fieseler Fi 167, which was considered superior.
Operator
;
* ''
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
''
Specifications (Ar 195)
See also
References
{{RLM aircraft designations
Ar 195
1930s German bomber aircraft
Carrier-based aircraft
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Biplanes
Aircraft first flown in 1937
Aircraft with fixed conventional landing gear