Messerschmitt Bf 109 was called the Me 109R, suggesting it was just another variant of the standard fighter, but in fact it was a racing aircraft having little in common with the Bf 109. It was powered by the DB 601ARJ, producing 1,156 kW (1,550 hp), but capable of reaching 1,715 kW (2,300 hp). This world record for a piston-engined aircraft was to stand until 1969, when Darryl Greenamyer's modified Grumman F8F Bearcat, "Conquest I", broke it with a 777 km/h (483 mph) record speed. When the Bf 109 was designed in 1934, by a team led by Willy Messerschmitt and Robert Lusser,
Luftwaffe request to Ernst Heinkel concerning the He 177, who vehemently opposed such an idea, which ruined its development as a heavy bomber. Göring was not able to rescind the dive bombing requirement for the He 177A until September 1942. By the summer of 1939, the "Luftwaffe" had ready for combat nine "Jagdgeschwader" ("fighter wings") mostly equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E, four "'Zerstörergeschwader" ("destroyer wings") equipped with the Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighter, 11 "Kampfgeschwader" (bomber wings) equipped mainly with the Heinkel He 111 and the Dornier Do 17Z, and four "Sturzkampfgeschwader" ("dive bomber wings") primarily armed with the iconic