Junkers Ju488 long range bomber

The Ju 488 was a design by Junkers to rapidly produce a long range bomber using compo­nents of aircraft then in production. Combin­ing parts from the Ju388K, Ju 188E, Ju88A-15 and Ju288C bombers, construction of two Ju488 prototypes was begun (V401 and V402), but prior to completion these were destroyed by French resistance forces in July

1942. In November 1944, the Ju488 program was cancelled. In January 1945, the Ju488 design was offered to Japan but neither the IJA nor IJN took any interest in it. This rejec­tion sealed the fate of the project.

Messerschmitt Bf 109E-7 fighter

In 1941, the Japanese obtained three Bf 109E-7 fighters. These were pitted against various Japanese fighter designs for compar­ison purposes. Despite the Japanese having no intention of licence building the fighter, the Allies anticipated that they would be encountered in combat and gave the plane the codename Mike.