Junkers 288 — High Hopes

By the late 1930s, Germany had built up a sizable fleet of bombers, but technology was rapidly advancing, and the aircraft rolling off production lines were starting to fall behind the times. Engineers at Junkers had been toying with the idea of a next-generation bomber that could meet these new challenges, but real progress only came with the launch of the ambitious Bomber B competition in mid-1939. The goal was to develop a fast, modern bomber to replace the aging Ju 88 and Do 17.