Junkers Ju 87 It was produced until 1944 for lack of a better replacement. By then ground-attack versions of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 had largely replaced the Stuka, but Stukas remained in service until the end of the war. An estimated 6,500 Ju 87s of all versions were built between 1936 and August 1944. "Oberst" Hans-Ulrich Rudel was the most successful Stuka ace and the most highly decorated German serviceman of the Second World War. The Ju 87's principal designer, Hermann Pohlmann, held the opinion that any dive-bomber design needed to be simple and robust. This led to many technical innovations, such as
Junkers aircraft engines, albeit in the absence of its founder, who had been removed by the Nazis in 1934. The history of Junkers aircraft production begins with the Junkers J 1 mid-wing monoplane (not to be confused with the later, all-metal sesquiplane ground attack aircraft with the "IdFlieg" designation J.I which had a factory designation of J 4). Research for this aircraft began in 1914 and was interrupted by the start of the First World War. The prototype aircraft, named the "Blechesel" (Tin or Sheet-metal Donkey), was completed in very late 1915 after the outbreak of the war. This aircraft is