German Bombers of WW2: The 10 Most Important, Ranked

The most important German bomber of World War II was the Junkers Ju 88. The Heinkel He 111 is better known and the Stuka was more feared, but more than 15,000 Ju 88s were built, and they flew on every front from the invasion of Poland to the surrender.

That is the measure used here: combat impact and production scale. A bomber earns its place by what it did, how many were built, and whether the air war would have gone differently without it.

The list covers ten types across every job the Luftwaffe gave its bombers: fast medium bombers, dive bombers, a maritime patrol bomber, a guided-weapon carrier, the only heavy bomber it ever put into service, and the world’s first jet bomber. The fighters that escorted them are ranked separately in our guide to German fighter planes of WW2.

The Most Important German Bombers of WW2, Ranked

Rank	Aircraft	Role	Built	Top speed
1	Junkers Ju 88	Fast medium bomber	15,183	292 mph (470 km/h)
2	Heinkel He 111	Medium bomber	6,508	273 mph (440 km/h)
3	Junkers Ju 87 Stuka	Dive bomber	~6,000	255 mph (410 km/h)
4	Dornier Do 17	Fast medium bomber	2,139	255 mph (410 km/h)
5	Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor	Maritime patrol bomber	276	236 mph (380 km/h)
6	Dornier Do 217	Bomber, guided-weapon carrier	1,925	295 mph (475 km/h)
7	Heinkel He 177 Greif	Heavy bomber	1,169	303 mph (488 km/h)
8	Junkers Ju 188	Medium bomber	1,000+	310 mph (499 km/h)
9	Arado Ar 234 Blitz	Jet bomber	214	461 mph (742 km/h)
10	Heinkel He 115	Torpedo floatplane	138	203 mph (327 km/h)

The difference between a heavy, a medium and a light bomber is mostly range and load, and it is explained in full in our guide to the types of bomber planes.

1. Junkers Ju 88

The Ju 88 is first because it did everything. It was built as a Schnellbomber, a fast bomber meant to outrun the fighters of its day, and it went on to serve as a dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and, at the very end, a flying bomb.

It first flew on 21 December 1936 and entered service in September 1939. The assembly line then ran for the rest of the war and built 15,183 aircraft across dozens of variants.

That made it the most-produced twin-engine German aircraft of the period and the second most-produced bomber of all time. Only the four-engine B-24 Liberator, covered in our guide to American bombers of WW2, was built in bigger numbers.

The Ju 88 A-4 bomber carried a crew of four and reached 292 mph (470 km/h) at about 17,400 feet. Its maximum bomb load was 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg), although 3,300 to 4,400 pounds (1,500 to 2,000 kg) was the standard load in practice.

Fitted with Lichtenstein radar, it was used extensively as a night fighter against RAF bombers. Late in the war, Ju 88s were turned into unmanned flying bombs as the lower half of the Mistel, a composite aircraft steered by a fighter mounted on top.

Production at this scale is a theme our look at the most produced aircraft in WW2 follows across every combatant.

2. Heinkel He 111

The He 111 is perhaps the best-recognized German bomber of the war, with its fully glazed nose. It served on every front where Germany fought, and it was one of the three types that flew the Blitz on Britain.

It began as a deception. After World War I Germany was banned from building bombers, so the He 111 was presented solely as a civil airliner, even though it was designed from the start to give the new Luftwaffe a bomber.

It first flew on 24 February 1935 and was blooded with the Condor Legion in the Spanish Civil War. A total of 6,508 were built, including prototypes and 12 civil airliners.

Over Britain in 1940 its defensive armament proved inadequate against RAF fighters. It stayed in service anyway, flying transport missions into the Demyansk and Stalingrad pockets and, late in the war, air-launching V-1 flying bombs.

The He 111 H-16 carried a crew of five at up to 273 mph (440 km/h). In Spain, licence-built versions called the CASA 2.111 remained in service until 1973.

3. Junkers Ju 87 Stuka

The Ju 87 Stuka was the symbol of Blitzkrieg, a dive bomber that worked as flying artillery for the German army. Records show 366 Ju 87s ready for operations on the eve of the invasion of Poland in 1939, and they were involved in the attacks on the Polish town of Wieluń.

It first flew on 17 September 1935, and about 6,000 were built between 1936 and August 1944. Automatic dive brakes pulled it out of its dive even if the pilot blacked out under the g-forces.

The sound was deliberate. Early Stukas carried propeller-driven sirens, the so-called Jericho trumpets, about 2.3 feet (0.7 m) across, which cost the aircraft 12 to 15 mph (20 to 25 km/h) in drag.

Its weakness was that it needed air superiority. Over Britain, more than 20% of the Stuka force was lost between 8 and 18 August 1940, and it was pulled out of the battle after 16 were destroyed on 18 August, the Hardest Day.

It carried on over the Eastern Front, where the Ju 87 G, armed with two 37 mm cannons, attacked Soviet tanks. The Ju 87 D-1 reached 255 mph (410 km/h) at 13,500 feet with a crew of two.

4. Dornier Do 17

The Do 17 was the slender “Flying Pencil,” and in 1939 and 1940 it was one of the Luftwaffe’s three main bombers. It fought in Poland, Norway, France and the Battle of Britain.

It first flew on 23 November 1934, reportedly as a fast six-passenger mail plane. At the 1937 international military aircraft competition in Zürich, a Do 17 flew faster than the fastest foreign fighter there, the French Dewoitine D.510.

That speed advantage was gone by 1940. The Do 17 Z reached 255 mph (410 km/h) at 16,400 feet and carried only 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg) of bombs, and its small load and short range curtailed its front-line use after the end of 1941.

A total of 2,139 were built. Its most famous survivor is covered in the section on surviving German bombers below.

5. Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor

The Fw 200 Condor ranks this high despite only 276 being built, because it had an outsized effect on the Battle of the Atlantic. Winston Churchill called it the “Scourge of the Atlantic.”

From June 1940 to February 1941, Condors were claimed to have sunk 365,000 tons (331,122 tonnes) of shipping. They attacked at very low altitude, bracketing a ship with three bombs, which almost guaranteed a hit.

It was never meant to be a warplane. The Condor first flew on 27 July 1937 as a four-engine airliner, and on 10 and 11 August 1938 one flew nonstop from Berlin to New York in 24 hours and 56 minutes.

Its structure was a weak point: several early-build Condors broke up on landing, often because the rear spar failed. The C-3/U4 reached 236 mph (380 km/h) with a crew of five and a range of about 2,210 miles (3,560 km).

6. Dornier Do 217

The Do 217 was a bigger, heavier successor to the Do 17, and it was the first aircraft to use precision-guided weapons in combat. On 9 September 1943, Do 217s of the bomber wing KG 100 sank the Italian battleship Roma with Fritz X radio-guided bombs.

It first flew on 4 October 1938, and 1,925 were built. It served as a bomber, a reconnaissance aircraft and a night fighter, and it could carry up to 8,800 pounds (4,000 kg) of bombs.

Only the Do 217, He 177 and Fw 200 could carry the Fritz X or the Hs 293 glide bomb. In February 1944, Do 217s and He 177s used Hs 293s against Allied shipping off the Anzio beachhead.

7. Heinkel He 177 Greif

The He 177 was the only long-range heavy bomber the Luftwaffe put into service during the war, and it was a troubled aircraft. Its payload and range were similar to the Allies’ four-engine heavies, but it matured too late to matter.

The trouble was its engines. Each of its two nacelles held a coupled pair of Daimler-Benz engines driving a single propeller, and they were infamous for catching fire in flight.

Crews called it the Reichsfeuerzeug, the “Reich’s lighter.” Of 14 brand-new He 177s sent out during Operation Steinbock, the 1944 “Baby Blitz” on Britain, eight returned with overheating or burning engines.

Part of the problem was an order in November 1937 that the heavy bomber must also be able to dive-bomb. The extra strengthening added weight and complexity, and Göring did not drop the requirement until 15 September 1942.

It could still fight. Over Britain in 1944 its loss rate was below 10%, against an average of 60% for the bomber types in Steinbock, and around 87 He 177s attacked rail targets at Velikiye Luki on 19 July 1944. It also appears in our roundup of the worst non-fighter planes of WW2.

A total of 1,169 were built. It reached 303 mph (488 km/h) at 19,700 feet and carried up to 15,400 pounds (7,000 kg) of bombs internally.

8. Junkers Ju 188

The Ju 188 was the Ju 88’s planned successor, rushed in as a stopgap when the Ju 288 intended for the Bomber B program stalled over engine problems. It entered service in February 1943.

Its first mission, on 18 August 1943, was against a factory in Lincoln, England. By the end of that year 283 had been delivered, and more than 1,000 were built in all.

It was a real improvement, with a crew of four, 6,600 pounds (3,000 kg) of bombs, and a top speed of 310 mph (499 km/h) at about 19,700 feet. It arrived too late and in too few numbers to change anything, which is why it ranks eighth.

9. Arado Ar 234 Blitz

The Ar 234 Blitz, meaning lightning, was the world’s first operational jet bomber. At 461 mph (742 km/h), it easily eluded the Allied piston-engine fighters sent to catch it.

It first flew on 30 July 1943. On 2 August 1944, Erich Sommer flew a prototype over the Allied beachhead in Normandy and, in about two hours, gathered more useful intelligence than the Luftwaffe had obtained in the previous two months.

As a bomber, Ar 234s of III/KG 76 attacked the Ludendorff Bridge at Remagen again and again, from its capture by the Allies on 7 March 1945 until its collapse on 17 March.

It was a single-seater, powered by the same Jumo 004 jet engines as the Messerschmitt Me 262, and carried up to 3,300 pounds (1,500 kg) of bombs. Only 214 were built, so it ranks ninth, and its jet stablemates are covered in our guide to German jet aircraft of WW2.

10. Heinkel He 115

The He 115 was a twin-engine floatplane that worked as a torpedo bomber, minelayer and reconnaissance aircraft. Flying from bases in Norway, it was effective against the Arctic convoys carrying supplies to the Soviet Union.

It first flew in August 1937, and in March 1938 a prototype set international floatplane records over 620-mile (1,000 km) and 1,200-mile (2,000 km) closed circuits at 204 mph (328 km/h).

Only 138 were built, with a crew of three and a top speed of 203 mph (327 km/h). It makes the list as the only floatplane here, a torpedo bomber and minelayer that flew from sheltered water instead of an airfield.

Two German Bombers That Did Not Make the List

Junkers Ju 388 Störtebeker

The Ju 388 was built to meet a threat that never came. The Luftwaffe learned that the B-29 could cruise at about 225 mph (360 km/h) at 26,000 to 33,000 feet, an altitude where none of its aircraft was effective, and ordered a high-altitude aircraft in bomber, fighter and reconnaissance versions.

It had a pressurized cockpit and a remote-controlled tail turret with two 13 mm machine guns, aimed through a periscope. It first flew on 22 December 1943 and could reach 383 mph (616 km/h), but only about 100 were built.

Messerschmitt Me 264 “Amerika Bomber”

The Me 264 was Germany’s answer to the question of how to bomb New York. It was chosen for the Amerika Bomber program, which wanted a strategic bomber able to attack New York City from bases in France or the Azores.

It had a wingspan of 141 feet 1 inch (43 m) and a design range of 9,300 miles (15,000 km). The first prototype flew on 23 December 1942, but only three prototypes were started, and the program was cancelled on 23 September 1944.

Why Germany Never Built a Heavy Bomber Fleet

Every entry on this list except the He 177 is a medium bomber, a dive bomber or a specialist. That was a choice, and it explains how the Luftwaffe won its early campaigns and lost the later ones.

In the mid-1930s, Luftwaffe chief of staff Walther Wever championed the Ural bomber, a long-range four-engine heavy bomber. Two prototypes competed, the Dornier Do 19 and the Junkers Ju 89.

Wever died in an air crash on 3 June 1936. According to historian James Corum, Göring cancelled the project on the advice of Kesselring, Udet and Milch, and Milch’s argument was that German industry could not build a large heavy bomber fleet.

The contrast with the RAF is stark. Britain built a whole force of four-engine heavy bombers, covered in our guide to British bombers of WW2, while the Luftwaffe fielded one troubled type.

German Bombers in the Battle of Britain and the Blitz

Three types carried the Luftwaffe’s offensive against Britain: the He 111, the Ju 88 and the Do 17. Between July and October 1940, the Luftwaffe lost 303 Ju 88s over Britain, along with 252 He 111s and 132 Do 17s.

The Ju 88 losses were the highest even though fewer Ju 88s were deployed than either of the other two. Poor coordination between German fighters and bombers was one of the reasons.

After daylight losses mounted, the campaign became the Blitz, a mostly night bombing offensive from 7 September 1940 to 16 May 1941. It killed about 40,000 to 43,000 civilians, with the heaviest raids on London on 29 December 1940 and on the night of 10 to 11 May 1941.

It did not break Britain. The German bombers could fly strategic missions, but their small bomb loads limited the damage, and the effort was spread across too many industries instead of kept on the most vital ones.

What Was the Biggest German Bomber of WW2?

Measured by bomb load, the biggest German bomber to fight in numbers was the He 177, which carried up to 15,400 pounds (7,000 kg) internally. It had a wingspan of 103 feet 2 inches (31.44 m) and was 72 feet 2 inches (22 m) long.

The Fw 200 Condor, an airliner conversion, was slightly wider at 107 feet 9 inches (32.85 m), but its internal bomb load was only 2,205 pounds (1,000 kg).

Two larger types flew but saw little or no use as bombers. The Junkers Ju 290, built as a long-range transport and maritime patrol aircraft as well as a bomber, spanned 137 feet 10 inches (42 m), and only 65 were built. The Me 264 prototype spanned 141 feet 1 inch (43 m).

One Ju 290 was fitted out for Hitler, with an armored passenger compartment and bulletproof glass, but he never flew in it. His pilot, Hans Baur, landed it at Munich-Riem on 24 March 1945, and American bombers destroyed both the hangar and the aircraft.

Do Any German WW2 Bombers Survive?

A few do, and several types are down to a single example. The only Do 17 left is the one shot down by Boulton Paul Defiants of 264 Squadron on 26 August 1940, which crash-landed on the Goodwin Sands off Kent.

It lay in about 50 feet (15 m) of water until the RAF Museum raised it on 10 June 2013. The museum announced that its wing section, engines and propellers would go on display at RAF Museum Midlands at Cosford in early 2025, beside a Defiant.

The only Ar 234 is a B-2 at the Smithsonian’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia. The only complete Fw 200 ditched in Trondheim Fjord in Norway in February 1942, was raised on 26 May 1999, spent 22 years being rebuilt at Airbus in Bremen, and went to the Deutsches Technikmuseum at Berlin’s former Tempelhof airport.

An He 115 was recovered from Hafrsfjord in Norway on 2 June 2012 and taken to the Flyhistorisk Museum at Sola to await restoration. The Smithsonian also holds a Ju 388 L-1 that is awaiting restoration.

The famous types have done a little better. Two intact Ju 87s survive, a G-2 at the Royal Air Force Museum in London and an R-2 at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, and five original German-built He 111s are in museums.

Only two complete Ju 88s exist, and both were flown into Allied hands by defecting crews. One, a Romanian reconnaissance aircraft named Baksheesh, is at the National Museum of the US Air Force.

No He 177 survives. Every remaining airframe was scrapped by the end of the 1950s. The bombers that came after the war are ranked in our list of the best bombers in the world.

FAQ

What was Germany's best bomber in WWII?

The Junkers Ju 88. It served from September 1939 to the end of the war as a bomber, dive bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, and 15,183 were built across all variants. The Heinkel He 111 is better known, but the Ju 88 was built in more than twice the numbers and in far more roles.

What was the main German bomber in WWII?

In 1939 and 1940 the main German bombers were the Heinkel He 111, the Dornier Do 17 and the Junkers Ju 88, the three types that flew the Battle of Britain and the Blitz. The Do 17 was curtailed after 1941, while the Ju 88 stayed in production until 1945 and was built in the largest numbers.

What was the worst German bomber of WW2?

The Heinkel He 177 Greif is the usual answer. Its coupled engines were infamous for catching fire in flight, crews nicknamed it the Reich’s lighter, and an order that the heavy bomber must also dive-bomb added weight and years of delay. It matured too late to play an important role.

What was the most produced German bomber of WW2?

The Junkers Ju 88, with 15,183 built across all variants, including night fighters and reconnaissance versions. It was the most-produced twin-engine German aircraft of the period and the second most-produced bomber of all time, behind the American B-24 Liberator.

What was the biggest German bomber of WW2?

Measured by bomb load, the Heinkel He 177, which carried up to 15,400 pounds (7,000 kg) internally and had a wingspan of 103 feet 2 inches (31.44 m). The Fw 200 Condor was slightly wider but carried far less. The Junkers Ju 290 and the Messerschmitt Me 264 prototype were larger still, at 137 feet 10 inches (42 m) and 141 feet 1 inch (43 m), but saw little or no use as bombers.

Did Germany have heavy bombers in WW2?

Only one type became operational, the Heinkel He 177. The Ural bomber program for a four-engine heavy bomber was cancelled after its champion, Walther Wever, died in an air crash on 3 June 1936, partly because German industry could not build a large heavy bomber fleet. The Luftwaffe fought the war mainly with medium and dive bombers.

What German bombers were used in the Blitz?

The Heinkel He 111, the Junkers Ju 88 and the Dornier Do 17. The Blitz ran from 7 September 1940 to 16 May 1941 and killed about 40,000 to 43,000 civilians, but the small bomb loads of these medium bombers limited the damage they could do.

What was the first jet bomber?

The Arado Ar 234 Blitz was the world’s first operational jet bomber. It first flew on 30 July 1943, reached 461 mph (742 km/h), and flew its first combat mission on 2 August 1944, a reconnaissance flight over the Normandy beachhead. Only 214 were built.

Why did the Stuka make a siren sound?

Early Ju 87s carried propeller-driven sirens known as Jericho trumpets, about 2.3 feet (0.7 m) across, which wailed as the aircraft dived. They were fitted on purpose, and the drag they created cost the Stuka 12 to 15 mph (20 to 25 km/h) of speed.