Blohm & Voss P 215

The Blohm & Voss P 215 was a late‑war German fighter project conceived in 1944 under the direction of chief designer Richard Vogt. Conceived for the Luftwaffe as a heavy, twin‑engine interceptor, the P 215 was intended to replace earlier B&V designs such as the BV 141 and compete with contemporaries like the Messerschmitt Me 262 and Heinkel He 162. The aircraft featured a compact, low‑drag fuselage with a distinctive forward‑swept wing that promised excellent maneuverability at high speed. Power was to be supplied by two Daimler‑Beckenbauer DB 603E-2 liquid‑cooled V12 engines, each feeding a four‑blade propeller, delivering a combined output of roughly 3,200 hp. Armament plans called for a centralised nose cannon cluster—typically two 30 mm MK 108s and four 20 mm MG 151/20s—providing a potent punch against Allied bombers. Though a full prototype never left the drawing board, the P 215 illustrated Vogt’s willingness to experiment with unconventional layouts and advanced aerodynamics. Its design foreshadowed post‑war concepts of high‑speed, twin‑engine fighters and contributed to the broader narrative of German innovation during the final phase of World War II. Today, scale models and archival drawings keep the P 215 alive among enthusiasts, serving as a reminder of the ambitious engineering that emerged from the war’s closing months.