Junkers Ju 87 and D-3 variants operated in combat with the BK 37 cannon in 1943. Known prototypes With the G variant, the ageing airframe of the Ju 87 found new life as an anti-tank aircraft. This was the final operational version of the Stuka, and was deployed on the Eastern Front. The reverse in German military fortunes after 1943 and the appearance of huge numbers of well-armoured Soviet tanks caused Junkers to adapt the existing design to combat this new threat. The Henschel Hs 129B had proved a potent ground attack weapon, but its large fuel tanks made it vulnerable to enemy
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