Junkers Ju 87 armoured protection of the Ilyushin Il-2 "Sturmovik" - a feature pioneered by the 1916-17 origin Junkers J.I all-metal sesquiplane of World War I Imperial Germany's Luftstreitkräfte - was copied to protect the crew from ground fire now that the Ju 87 would be required to conduct low level attacks. Hans-Ulrich Rudel, a Stuka ace, had suggested using two 37 mm (1.46 in) Flak 18 guns, each one in a self-contained under-wing gun pod, as the "Bordkanone BK 3,7", after achieving success against Soviet tanks with the 20 mm MG 151/20 cannon. These gun pods were fitted to a Ju 87
Junkers Bomber" design competition for a trans-Atlantic range strategic bomber saw the Junkers firm build two prototypes of its six-engined Junkers Ju 390, basically a stretch of the four-engined Ju 290 transport — competing against the trio of Me 264 four-engined prototypes as the only fully airworthy competitors for the contract, which had included designs from Focke-Wulf and Heinkel that were never built, with the competition ended in July 1944 due to the developing need for interceptors to defend the Reich. The Junkers company survived the Second World War and was reconstituted as Junkers GmbH and eventually merged into the MBB