Fw 190F-8 Schlactflugzeug

Production of the Fw 190F-8, which was to become the standard Luftwaffe close-support fighter-bomber of the last year of the war, was initiated in March 1944. The first examples were produced by Arado at Warnemünde, which delivered a total of 98 aircraft that month. A second production line was set up by Norddeutsche Dornierwerke at Wismar, a plant that had delivered 40 F-8s by the end of March.

The Fw 190F-8 entered service with the Luftwaffe in spring 1944. The first recorded losses date from 13th - 20th April 1944 (J. Beaman pers. comm.) and were suffered by Flugzeugüberführungsgeschwader 1, a unit tasked with transferring planes from aircraft depots and factories to operational units. The first F-8s went into service with Schlachgeschwadern on the eastern Front.