Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito

The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a fast twin-engined night fighter aircraft designed by the German aeronautical engineer Kurt Tank and produced by the aircraft manufacturer Focke-Wulf. It was unofficially named Moskito due to its similarities with the de Havilland Mosquito (which was also largely made of wood) that were already in service with the Royal Air Force (RAF).

The Ta 154 commenced development in 1942 and was worked on during much of the latter half of the Second World War. It was designed to replace variants of the Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88 and function as a specialised night fighter. As per a stipulation issued by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium (RLM), wood comprised over half of the material needed to build the Ta 154. A special phenolic resin adhesive called Tego film was used to bond sections together. It was originally designated Ta 211 in reference to the intended Jumo 211R engine, although it was subsequently decided to adopt the more powerful Jumo 213 powerplant instead. Following a review of Focke-Wulf's submission, a development contract was issued to the company during late 1942.

On 1 July 1943, the prototype Ta 154 V1 performed its maiden flight; it was piloted by Kurt Tank. One of the early prototypes undertook competitive flight testing against both the Heinkel He 219 and the Junkers Ju 388, besting both of these rival aircraft. During March 1944, even though the first eight pre-production aircraft were yet to be completed, the Jägerstab decreed that 37 Ta 154s ought to be completed by May 1944 and that 250 aircraft were to be produced each month by November 1944. This schedule proved highly unrealistic in light of various technical and logistical issues, with key parts (such as engines) not being available in sufficient quantity. Perhaps most crucially, the only factory that produced Tego-Film, in Wuppertal, was bombed by the RAF while replacement bonding agents proved to be inferior and a source of catastrophic mid-flight structural failures.

During September 1944, amid a complete production stoppage, the RLM opted to terminate the Ta 154 programme. Only a few production standard aircraft were completed, and these proved to possess less impressive performance than the prototypes. Several pre-production aircraft were also converted for operational use. Several Ta 154s were flown by Nachtjagdgeschwader 3 (Night Fighter Wing 3) while a handful are believed to have been also used as training aircraft for jet pilots. Furthermore, at least three Pulkzerstörer (Formation Destroyer) and Mistel parasite fighter schemes were mooted for the type.