Arado Ar 195

The Arado Ar 195 was a German carrier‑borne attack aircraft developed by Arado Flugzeugwerke in the late 1930s. Intended as the primary torpedo‑bomber for the Kriegsmarine’s projected aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin, the Ar 195 first flew in early 1939 from the company’s Warnemünde test field. It was a low‑wing, all‑metal monoplane powered by a BMW 132 radial engine delivering about 960 hp, driving a three‑blade propeller. The design featured a semi‑enclosed cockpit, retractable main gear, and a shallow‑angled wing that allowed dive‑bombing as well as torpedo release from a specialized under‑wing rack. Armament provisions included a forward‑firing 7.92 mm MG 15 and space for up to 500 kg of ordnance. Although flight trials demonstrated satisfactory handling and a maximum speed near 460 km/h, the Ar 195 lost the naval contract to the more powerful Blohm & Voss BV 141 and to the eventual adoption of land‑based Ju 87 dive bombers. The programme was cancelled when the carrier project was abandoned in 1942. The surviving prototype is displayed at Berlin’s German Museum of Technology, highlighting an unrealized naval ambition that still influences German aeronautical engineering.

Arado Flugzeugwerke

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Design & Classification