Me 210: The Hornet Swarm

In the next major update, several variants of the classic and long-awaited Me 210 heavy fighter will be arriving for several nations!

Vehicle History

The Me 210 was developed in the late 1930s as a heavy multirole fighter intended to replace the Bf 110. Under the aviation development program approved in 1938, the Luftwaffe ordered 1000 Me 210 aircraft, and production plans predicted the delivery of over three thousand examples of the Me 210 and Bf 110 by spring 1942. As ambitious as this production and development program was, the aircraft faced serious difficulties. The first prototype, the Me 210 V1, took flight on September 5th 1939. From the very beginning, severe issues regarding stability quickly became apparent. Engineers attempted to mitigate these issues by increasing the surface area of the tail among other minor tweaks, but even with these modifications the problems could not be eliminated. Work was also underway to install more powerful engines on the aircraft; however, their production was limited, which further delayed the refinement process.

Despite ceaseless improvements, including the installation of automatic slats and lengthening the fuselage, the fundamental stability and controllability shortcomings could not be overcome. The once promising Me 210 was unsuccessful, and production was halted. The experience of the Me 210 was subsequently relied on heavily through the development of the more successful Me 410.

Introducing the Me 210s!

The predecessors of the well-known Me 410 will be landing in the game with the release of the next major update! We’re excited to introduce the Me 210, a multirole heavy fighter that was once intended to be one of the Luftwaffe’s primary aircraft.

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Let’s start by taking a look at the addition for Germany. The Luftwaffe will be receiving the quintessential Me 210 variant, the A-1. This example will feel quite familiar overall, with the same armament as the early Me 410 (a pair of 20 mm cannons and a pair of 7.92 mm machine guns). It can carry internal HE bombs from 50 kg to 500 kg, or a 1000 kg AP bomb to combat ships. Flight performance will be similar to the Me 410, though the engines on the A-1 are slightly weaker, so expect reduced flight performance.

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Japan will be receiving the Me 210 V22, this was a trial aircraft used by Germany to test potential improvements of the Me 210 before being approved for production. After these trials were completed, the aircraft was purchased by Japan and sent by submarine. It features a lengthened fuselage, and can equip the same weaponry as the A-1. This unique test variant will be joining Japan as a premium.

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Finally, we have two interesting modifications coming to the Hungarian branch in the Italian tree; two variants focused on close air support and anti-aircraft respectively. The first variant is the Me 210 CA-1, mounting more powerful DB 605B engines, an improved air brake design and additional structural modifications. It is armed with the same weaponry as the previous variants.

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The final example is the Me 210 CA-1 39M, this aircraft retains the 20 mm cannons but trades the 7.92 mm machine guns for a 40 mm Bofors cannon with 12 rounds. It can also equip six 150 mm rockets under the wings. While this weaponry was