LUFTWAFFE RESOURCE CENTER > BOMBERS > HEINKEL He 177 > PREVIOUS PAGE
8 prototypes built in total. He 177V4 and subsequent aircraft powered by DB 606 A/B engines.
He 177V-1.
[Source: Unknown]
Pre-production series, 35 built. First to use the "Cabin 3" cockpit with "fishbowl" framed glazed nose, as with production A-series. He 177A-1
First production series, 130 built. Armed with a single MG 81 in the nose, a single MG FF cannon in the forward end of the Bola ventral gondola, a remote controlled dorsal turret with a single (later twinned) MG 131, and a single tail mounted MG 131. He 177A-1/R1
Equipped with a supplementary pair of aft firing MG 81 in the rear of the Bola ventral gondola. He 177A-1/R2
Equipped with a sighting station in the rear of the Bola ventral gondola for a remotely controlled ventral turret housing a single MG 131. He 177A-1/R4
Equipped with a supplementary aft firing MG 131 in the rear of the Bola ventral gondola and a manned aft dorsal turret containing an MG 131. He 177A-1/U2
Zerstörer heavy fighter with a pair of limited-traverse 30 mm MK 101 cannon in enlarged Bola lower nose mount, twelve conversions. He 177A-2
Proposed four-man pressurized variant with reduced defensive armament of six MG 81 and a single MG 131, never built. He 177A-3
Second production series, 170 built, with 1.6 meter-longer lengthened rear fuselage. Sixteenth and subsequent aircraft powered by DB 610 A/B engines. He 177A-3/R1
Powered by two Daimler-Benz DB 606 A/B engines, fifteen built. He 177A-3/R2
Improved electrical system. MG FF cannon replaced by an MG 151 cannon in the Bola ventral gondola. Larger redesigned tail position, MG 131 replaced by MG 151 cannon in the tail position. He 177A-3/R3
Anti-shipping version capable of using the Henschel Hs 293, equipped with Kehl control gear. He 177A-3/R4
Bola Ventral gondola lengthened by 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) to provide room for the FuG 203b Kehl III missile-control equipment. He 177A-3/R5
Planned, never-built Stalingradtyp version armed with a 75 mm Bordkanone BK 7,5 cannon based on the 7.5 cm PaK 40 installed in the ventral Bola gondola, also used on the Junkers Ju 88 P-1, based on a small number of 177As actually field-equipped as A-3/Rüstsatz 5 machines, with the KwK 39-based Bordkanone BK 5 cannon. He 177A-3/R7
Torpedo bomber version abandoned in favor of the He 177A-5, only three built. He 177A-4
Proposed high altitude pressurised version, never built under the designation, and later developed into the Heinkel He 274. He 177A-5
Main production series, 826 built. Standardized the A-3's longer rear fuselage, strengthened wing, shortened undercarriage oleo legs, increase in maximum external bombload.
He 177 A-5 tail gun position, with MG 151 cannon.
[Source: Bundesarchiv, Bild 101I-676-7972A-34/Blaschka/CC-BY-SA]
Version optimized for Fritz X and Hs 293 guided bombs, equipped with Kehl control gear. He 177A-5/R2
Armed with a single MG 81 in the nose, a single MG 151 cannon in the forward end of the Bola ventral gondola, a pair of MG 81 in the rear end of the ventral gondola, a pair of MG 131 in an FDL 131Z remotely controlled forward dorsal turret, a single MG 131 in a manned aft dorsal turret, and a single tail mounted MG 151 cannon. He 177A-5/R4
Simplified bomb rack installation, equipped with Kehl control gear. He 177A-5/R5
Tested with a supplementary pair of MG 131 in an FDL 131Z aft ventral remote turret aft of the rear bomb-bay, only one built. He 177A-5/R6
Replacement of the forward and central bomb-bays with enlarged, full-fuselage-depth fuel tanks. He 177A-5/R7
Pressurised cockpit study with a projected ceiling of 15,200 m (49,869 ft) and similar reduced armament to the He 177A-2. He 177A-5/R8
Armed with FDL-series remote gun turrets. Abandoned as a result of difficulties with the turrets, only one built. He 177A-5 Grosszerstörer
Anti-bomber variant based on the He 177A-5, armed with up to 33 spin-stabilised 21 cm calibre rockets obliquely mounted in fuselage, replacing bomb bays and auxiliary fuel tanks, and most likely based on components of the 21 cm Nebelwerfer 42 infantry barrage rocket system. Five examples delivered in January 1944 for operational trials. Abandoned due to increasing numbers of Allied escort fighters. He 177A-6
Meant to be a "32 metric-ton" loaded-weight long-range bomber, as a planned improvement over the A-5 version, the A-6 dispensed with the rear manned dorsal turret, and retained the A-5/R2's single MG 151 flexible cannon at the front of the Bola, the flexible ball-mount MG 81 in the "fishbowl" nose glazing, along with the regular A-series FDL 131Z remote forward dorsal turret, and standardized the rear armament with the planned Hecklafette manned HL 131V quadmount MG 131 machine gun turret for the first time. Not produced, due to building volume of design work on the He 177B-series four-engined aircraft. He 177A-6/R1
Replacement of the forward and central bomb bays with full-fuselage-depth fuel tanks (as on the A-5/Rüstsätz 6 modification) and the addition of external bomb rack under the new fuel tank bays, capable of carrying a single 2,500 kg (5,511 lb) bomb or Fritz X/Hs 293 in addition to the rear bomb-bay loadout, if equipped with Kehl control gear. Range of 5,800 km (3,604 mi), only six test conversions built, from A-5 versions. He 177A-6/R2
Equipped with a redesigned fuselage nose of improved aerodynamic form, abandoning the earlier "Cabin 3" A-series cockpit, with the new nose being generally the same as intended for He 177A-7 and all He 177B development versions. Retained the FDL 131 remotely controlled forward dorsal turret, a single flexible-mount MG 131 in the rear of the Bola, a pair of MG 151 cannon in a remotely controlled FDL 151Z "chin" turret (to be standardized on the B-version) at the front of the Bola, and a manned HL 131V MG 131which itself was wrecked in a mishap in late July 1944. He 177A-7
High-altitude bomber with an extended wing spanning 36 m (118 ft 11/3 in) and with DB 610 A/B engines instead of the intended 3,800 PS (3,748 hp, 2,795 kW) DB 613 "power systems", using pairs of twinned DB 603 engines. Six examples, for wing tests, converted from He 177A-5 airframes, but never fitted with the intended He 177B-series advanced cockpit. One captured by American forces, scrapped postwar and believed buried under the grounds of Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. He 177A-8
First proposed He 177design to feature four individual engines, using the A-3 or A-5 fuselage with a new wing design, and either Daimler-Benz DB 603 or Junkers Jumo 213 engines with Heinkel He 219 style annular radiators. Remained a paper project only, before re-designation as the "He 177B-5" by August 1943. He 177A-10
Proposed four-engined He 177design, similar to the He 177A-8, but based instead on the He 177A-7 definitive production fuselage, with manned rear dorsal gun turret omitted, and re-designated as the "He 177B-7" in August 1943. He 177B
Developed as the direct, "separate four-engined" development of the "coupled engine" powered He 177A-series, four prototypes ordered (He 177V101 to V104) with three built and flown under DB 603 power. Originally postulated in postwar aviation books to have been a "cover designation" for the never-produced, paper-only He 277 Amerika Bomber design competitor. He 177H
Initial project designation for the Heinkel He 274. He 177V38
An A-5 (Werknummer 550 002, bearing Stammkennzeichen of KM+TB) – documented use was as testbed for FuG 200 Hohentwiel ASV maritime patrol radar with flexible MG 131Z nose gun installation, speculated to have been intended for the installation of an enlarged bombbay to be used in the Junkers Ju 287. A common myth claims V38 was the prototype for a German "atomic bomber" (purportedly capable of carrying a fission device as a droppable weapon). Remains found at Prague's Rusiye field on V-E Day.
Source:
WikiPedia
LUFTWAFFE RESOURCE CENTER > BOMBERS > HEINKEL He 177 > PREVIOUS PAGE