Focke-Wulf FW 190 in Action

The noted aviation writer, William Green, has pointed out that "it is axiomatic that when a new combat aircraft is added to the Inventory, Its potential successor should have begun its passage across the drawing boards". Unfortunately for Germany's enemies the potential successor to the Messerschmitt Bf 109, which was reaching first line units, was on the drawing boards of Dipl.-lng Kurt Tank of the Focke-Wulf Flugzeugbau. Many obstacles, however, would have to be overcome before Kurt Tank's design would be found in the war darkened skies of Europe. Many so-called experts at the Reichiuftministerium (RLM-German Air Ministry) felt that the Messerschmitt design was so far advanced that no successor could approach it in performance, and "besides", they were prone to point out, "there was no foreseeable war which would last long enough for another aircraft to find enough employment to justify the expense and time for its development." German military thinking was centered around the concept of a short tactical war.