Horten H.XVIII

H.XVIII
Artist's concept of the aircraft in the air
Role	Long-range bomber
National origin	Nazi Germany
Designer	Walter and Reimar Horten

The Horten H.XVIII was a proposed German World War II intercontinental bomber, designed by the Horten brothers with pioneering features such as a flying wing configuration, turbojet engines and stealth characteristics. The unbuilt H.XVIII represented, in many respects, a scaled-up version of the Horten Ho 229, a prototype jet fighter. The H.XVIII was one of many proposed designs for an Amerika Bomber, and would have carried sufficient fuel for transatlantic flights.

In recent years, software modelling has suggested that the stealth and speed of the Hortens' flying wing jet designs would have made interception, prior to bombing, difficult and unlikely. For instance, modelling suggested that hypothetical Ho 229 raids on England may have been undetectable by radar, until such a bomber was within eight minutes or 80 miles (129 km) of its target.

The ability of bomber crews, in an aircraft such as the Horten H.XVIII, to attack targets in North America, may have been hampered by existing and emerging Allied air defence strategies and technologies, such as:

The A model of the H.XVIII was a long, smooth blended wing body. Its six turbojet engines were buried deep in the wing and the exhausts centered on the trailing end. Resembling the Horten Ho 229 flying wing fighter there were many odd features that distinguished this aircraft; the jettisonable landing gear and the wing made of wood and carbon based glue, are but two. The aircraft was first proposed for the Amerika Bomber project and was personally reviewed by Hermann Göring: after review, the Horten brothers (with deep dissatisfaction) were forced to share design and construction of the aircraft with Junkers and Messerschmitt engineers, who wanted to add a single rudder fin as well as suggesting underwing pods to house the engines and landing gear.

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